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Funding Individuals – Changing Organisations: The Impact of the ERC on Universities

Abstract

University governance is constantly challenged by changing expectations and contexts. New, prestigious and well-endowed funding schemes are one possible source of pressure for change of university governance. This article analyses the impact of one such scheme, the grants of the European Research Council (ERC), on the governance of European universities. After outlining a model of how this impact on universities can be expected to occur, we present the results of an exploratory study at a very early stage of the ERC’s existence (2010–2011). The empirical analysis is based on an investigation of 11 universities in eight countries, which shows that different kinds of universities are affected in varied and often unexpected ways, with particular differences arising at different levels within the universities.

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This paper has its origins in the EURECIA project funded by the ERC as a CSA action within FP7’s IDEAS Programme (Grant No. 229286). EURECIA set out to develop and apply a novel conceptual framework and methodology to investigate, measure, attribute and assess the impact and outcomes of the ERC and its funding schemes. We are indebted for manifold feedback and suggestions for improvements to the leader of that project, Maria Nedeva, to the project team and the project’s Advisory Committee (see www.eurecia-erc.org for a list of those colleagues and the final report, Nedeva et al., 2012).

Citation

Edler, J., Frischer, D., Glanz, M. and Stampfer, M. (2014), "Funding Individuals – Changing Organisations: The Impact of the ERC on Universities", Organizational Transformation and Scientific Change: The Impact of Institutional Restructuring on Universities and Intellectual Innovation (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 42), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 77-109. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20140000042003

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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