| 1. |
- Broström, Anders, 1978-, et al.
(author)
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Engaging Experts : Science-Policy Interactions and the Introduction of Congestion Charging in Stockholm
- 2018
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In: Minerva. - : SPRINGER. - 0026-4695 .- 1573-1871 .- 1393-614X. ; 56:2, s. 183-207
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article analyzes the conditions for mobilizing the science base for development of public policy. It does so by focusing upon the science-policy interface, specifically the processes of direct interaction between scientists and scientifically trained experts, on the one hand, and agents of policymaking organizations, on the other. The article defines two dimensions - cognitive distance and expert autonomy - which are argued to influence knowledge exchange, in such a way as to shape the outcome. A case study on the implementation of congestion charges in Stockholm, Sweden, illustrates how the proposed framework pinpoints three central issues for understanding these processes: (1) Differentiating the roles of, e.g., a science-based consultancy firm and an academic environment in policy formation; (2) Examining the fit between the organizational form of the science-policy interface and the intended goals; and (3) Increasing our understanding of when policymaker agents themselves need to develop scientific competence in order to interact effectively with scientific experts.
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| 2. |
- Peterson, Jesse, et al.
(author)
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Bringing Together Species Observations: A Case Story of Sweden’s Biodiversity Informatics Infrastructures
- 2023
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In: Minerva. - : SPRINGER. - 1393-614X .- 0026-4695 .- 1573-1871. ; 61, s. 265-289
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biodiversity informatics produces global biodiversity knowledge through the col- lection and analysis of biodiversity data using informatics techniques. To do so, bio- diversity informatics relies upon data accrual, standardization, transferability, open- ness, and “invisible” infrastructure. What biodiversity informatics mean to society, however, cannot be adequately understood without recognizing what organizes biodiversity data. Using insights from science and technology studies, we story the organizing “visions” behind the growth of biodiversity informatics infrastructures in Sweden—an early adopter of digital technologies and significant contributor to global biodiversity data—through interviews, scientific literature, governmental re- ports and popular publications. This case story discloses the organizational forma- tion of Swedish biodiversity informatics infrastructures from the 1970s to the pres- ent day, illustrating how situated perspectives or “visions” shaped the philosophies, directions and infrastructures of its biodiversity informatics communities. Specifi- cally, visions related to scientific progress and species loss, their institutionalization, and the need to negotiate external interests from governmental organizations led to unequal development across multiple infrastructures that contribute differently to biodiversity knowledge. We argue that such difference highlights that the social and organizational hurdles for combining biodiversity data are just as significant as the technological challenges and that the seemingly inconsequential organizational aspects of its infrastructure shape what biodiversity data can be brought together, modelled and visualised.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Benner, Mats, et al.
(author)
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Shaping strategic research : Power, resources, and interests in Swedish research policy
- 2007
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In: Minerva. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0026-4695 .- 1573-1871. ; 45:1, s. 31-48
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 'Strategic research' has become a goal of government policy throughout the industrial world. This paper follows the emergence of new approaches to the funding of 'strategic research' in Sweden, by examining three research foundations created in the late 1990s, and considers their ambitions, limitations, and achievements.
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| 5. |
- Björk, Ragnar
(author)
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Inside the Nobel Committee on Medicine : Prize competition procedures 1901-1950 and the fate of Carl Neuberg
- 2001
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In: Minerva. - 0026-4695 .- 1573-1871. ; 39:4, s. 393-408
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The present study explores some of the mechanisms at work in the award of the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology during the period 1901-1950. In his will, Nobel mentioned three explicit criteria for the Nobel Committees, but an examination of the fate of German biochemist Carl Neuberg reveals how implicit criteria came to be added. For example, the Nobel Committees in Medicine and Chemistry were challenged by the emergence of new disciplines such as biochemistry, and in response began to rotate awards around different specialities.
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| 6. |
- Bragesjö, Fredrik, 1974, et al.
(author)
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Continuity or Discontinuity? Scientific Governance in the Pre-History of the 1977 Law of Higher Education and Research in Sweden
- 2012
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In: Minerva. A Review of Science, Learning and Policy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0026-4695. ; 50:1, s. 65-96
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The objective of this paper is to balance two major conceptual tendencies in science policy studies, continuity and discontinuity theory. While the latter argue for fundamental and distinct changes in science policy in the late 20th century, continuity theorists show how changes do occur but not as abrupt and fundamental as discontinuity theorists suggests. As a point of departure, we will elaborate a typology of scientific governance developed by Hagendijk and Irwin (2006) and apply it to new empirical material. This makes possible a contextualization of the governance of science related to the codification of the "third assignment" of the Swedish higher education law of 1977. The law defined the relation between university science and Swedish citizens as a dissemination project, and did so despite that several earlier initiatives actually went well beyond such a narrow conceptualisation. Our material reveals continuous interactive and rival arrangements linking the state, public authorities, the universities and private industrial enterprises. We show how different but coexisting modes of governance of science existed in Sweden during the 20th century, in clear contrast with the picture promoted by discontinuity theorists. A close study of the historical development suggests that there were several periods of layered governance when interactions and dynamics associated with continuity as well as discontinuity theories were prevalent. In addition, we conclude that the typology of governance applied in the present paper is fruitful for carrying out historical analyses of the kind embarked upon in spite of certain methodological shortcomings.
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| 7. |
- Brodin, Eva, et al.
(author)
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Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration and Scholarly Independence in Multidisciplinary Learning Environments at Doctoral Level and Beyond
- 2020
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In: Minerva. - : Springer. - 0026-4695 .- 1573-1871. ; 58, s. 409-433
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study is to investigate how patterns of collaboration and scholarly independence are related to early stage researchers’ development in two multidisciplinary learning environments at a Swedish university. Based on interviews with leaders, supervisors, doctoral students, and post docs, results show how early stage researchers’ development is conditioned by their relative positions in time (career stage) and space (geographical and epistemic position). Through the theoretical notions of ‘epistemic living space’ and ‘developmental networks’, four ways of experiencing the multidisciplinary learning environment were distinguished. Overall, the environments provided a world of opportunities, where the epistemic living space entailed many possibilities for cross-disciplinary collaboration and development of scholarly independence among peers. However, depending on the members’ relative positions in time and space, this world became an alien world for the post docs who had been forced to become “over-independent” and find collaborators elsewhere. Moreover, it became an avoided world for absent mono-disciplinary supervisors and students who embodied “non-collective independence”, away from the environments’ community. By contrast, a joint world emerged for doctoral students located in the environment, which promoted their “independent positioning” and collaborative ambitions. Thus, early stage researchers’ collaboration and development of scholarly independence were optimised in a converged learning space, where the temporal and spatial conditions were integrated and equally conducive for learning. Based on these results, the authors provide suggestions for how to improve the integration of scholars who tend to develop away from the community because of their temporal and spatial positions.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Edlund, Peter, 1986-
(author)
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More Than Euros : Exploring the Construction of Project Grants as Prizes and Consolations
- 2024
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In: Minerva. - : Springer. - 0026-4695 .- 1573-1871. ; 62:1, s. 1-23
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In previous funding literature, ample attention has been devoted to the consequences of competition for project grants. These consequences tend to be fueled by status distinctions among grants, but scant attention has been directed toward how such distinctions are constructed. My aim with this paper is to develop new knowledge about the ways in which scientists ascribe meanings that construct status distinctions among grants. Employing qualitative data and a Bourdieu-inspired field perspective, I analyze how early-career scientists in Sweden attributed meanings that constructed and distinguished the status of European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants (StGs) and Swedish Research Council (SRC) Reserve Grants (RGs), which were otherwise closely connected by common evaluation procedures and equivalent monetary amounts. My findings show how scientists - despite having received equivalent monetary amounts - ascribed starkly different meanings to ERC StGs and SRC RGs, building on perceptions of minimal, yet competition-grounded and expert-sanctioned, divisions introduced by panelists among top-graded applicants during the ERC's evaluations. These divisions were amplified when scientists recast StGs as 'prizes' and RGs as 'consolations'. Such recasting was largely unaltered by acknowledgments that ERC StGs generated much more administrative burdens and economic troubles than SRC RGs. Those burdens and troubles were approached by StG and RG recipients alike as the cost of status, and they believed universities adopted a similar approach. I use my findings to propose contributions, policy implications, and future inquiry avenues suggesting evaluation procedures may play a larger role than monetary amounts for the construction of status distinctions among grants.
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| 10. |
- Edlund, Peter, 1986-, et al.
(author)
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Stress-Inducing and Anxiety-Ridden : A Practice-Based Approach to the Construction of Status-Bestowing Evaluations in Research Funding
- 2022
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In: Minerva. - : Springer. - 0026-4695 .- 1573-1871. ; 60, s. 397-418
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- More than resource allocations, evaluations of funding applications have become central instances for status bestowal in academia. Much attention in past literature has been devoted to grasping the status consequences of prominent funding evaluations. But little attention has been paid to understanding how the status-bestowing momentum of such evaluations is constructed. Throughout this paper, our aim is to develop new knowledge on the role of applicants in constructing certain funding evaluations as events with crucial importance for status bestowal. Using empirical material from retrospective interviews with Sweden-based early-career scientists who, successfully or unsuccessfully, applied for European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants, our findings show how these scientists interlinked experiences from various practices to construct the ERC's evaluations, in general, and the final-stage appointments at Brussels' Madou Plaza Tower, in particular, as apex-esque, crescendo-like status-bestowing events. We discuss our findings as instructional, preparatory, and demarcative practices that, by extension, distribute responsibility for the construction and reinforcement of high-stakes, career-defining evaluations through which considerable stress and anxiety is generated in academia.
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