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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article characterizes and analyses evaluation practice in national innovation policy across Europe. It is the first study that examines and interprets the characteristics, quality, usefulness, and consequences of evaluations in a systematic way. The analysis is based on the comprehensive I NNO-Appraisal repository of 171 evaluation reports of national innovation policies of EU25 countries, conducted between 2002 and 2007. The article seeks (1) to assess the state of the art of evaluation in innovation policy at national level, (2) to understand how different key dimensions of evaluation (timing, purpose, methods, tendering process, etc.) relate to each other, and (3) to explore types of evaluations. On that basis, we (4) draw lessons as to what constitutes good practice in evaluation, as the results of the survey have been exchanged and discussed with a number of policy makers of the sample responsible for the evaluation. The article thus both contributes to the academic understanding of policy evaluation and supports use in policy practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationalization in R&D is further growing; it is changing its geographical balance, as it is shifting somewhat to the Far East, and its nature, increasing the global quest for talent and good research conditions as well as for low cost R&D. This paper focuses on the European perspective, i.e. it discusses current challenges Europe faces vis-à-vis trends in industrial R&D, but the findings and arguments are more general ones. It argues that our perspective on internationalization is still shaped too much by a zero sum-rationale, whereby one location wins R&D capacity that another location loses. It develops a cost–benefit matrix in order to capture the overall costs and benefits of international R&D activities more broadly. The paper argues that more creativity is needed, that our perspective needs to be broadened to tackle all variables conditioning international activities in R&D (including local conditions of demand and discourse) and to stress the importance of the absorption of global knowledge by as many actors within an innovation system as possible. On the basis of recent survey data the paper furthermore concludes that public research should be thought of as a trans-national transmission belt of knowledge and as the prime factor that shapes the attractiveness and effectiveness of a location for business R&D. Finally, it is argued that policy schemes geared towards international R&D need to accept and tackle the issue of co-ordination of governance and to take advantage of the flexible possibilities offered at the European level, beyond the logic of the European Framework Programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, the future patenting of software-related inventions has been the subject of intensive discussions for some time, since there exists a strong dispute between the supporters of the U.S. practice of allowing patents in order to increase Europe's competitiveness and the opponents postulating negative impacts of patents on the software development process. This paper presents empirical results about the idiosyncrasies of the software development process and tests hypotheses on their impact on the likelihood of patents being obstacles for software dvelopment. The paper concludes with the identification of determinants for preferences concerning different possible patent regimes in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]