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International scientific mobility and research careers are two concepts that are intimately related. Yet, it has been very difficult for scholarship to pinpoint exactly how international mobility impacts on research careers. This paper contributes to this question by investigating links between international mobility, research career stage progression and job changes. It does so using a large-scale survey (MORE) which targets researchers based in European universities. The results establish that the profile of international mobility varies by academic research career stage. They also show that for researchers in the established mid-career phase who are working internationally, there are career advancement benefits associated with return mobility to their home country. However, these benefits may reduce if the timing of return is too delayed. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these results for researcher mobility policy in the context of the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area.

We conduct a laboratory experiment where groups of 4 subjects constrained to obtain at most one good each, sequentially bid for three goods in first and second price auctions. Subjects learn at the beginning of each auction their valuation for the good and exit the auction once they have obtained one good. We show that, contrary to equilibrium predictions, subjects' bidding behavior is excessively similar across units and across mechanisms at the aggregate level. We provide two (complementary) explanations for these departures. One is bounded rationality. Subjects do not fully comprehend subtle differences between mechanisms. The other is self-selection. Subjects are very heterogeneous and some of them deviate more from equilibrium than others. Since deviations take mostly the form of overbidding, these subjects win the first or second good and exit the auction, leaving those who play closer to theoretical predictions to bid for the third good. Support for this hypothesis comes from the documented higher bidding, lower efficiency and lower profits associated with the first and second unit compared to the third one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to determine pillars for fostering nautical tourism based on the beliefs and attitudes that professionals in the sector have towards the particularities and difficulties that the market is going through. To achieve these goals, in-depth interviews structured around 37 questions were carried out with agents of associations and nautical firms, public institutions, and the Chamber of Commerce. The qualitative analysis program NVIVO 11 was used to analyze the content of the gathered data. The findings reveal that the main difficulties are related to normative issues and taxation, illegal supply, and a lack of definition of the nautical tourist profile. This absence of definition causes a vagueness when estimating the total number of nautical tourists that visit a destination. Thus, this affects evaluation of the economic, social, and environmental impact of nautical tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the patterns of gender and temporary international research visits among researchers, using data from a population of 10,349 Spanish doctorate holders in nine research fields. It analyzes rates of international mobility, and the frequency, duration, and destinations of temporary visits, by gender, with implications for scientific careers. We find that in their overall rates of mobility across fields, women are more internationally mobile than men. But compared to men: first, women's frequency of international visits is lower; second, their visits occur at earlier ages and stages in their careers; third, their visits are shorter; and finally, their destinations are closer to home. Given the paucity of empirical research on gender and international research mobility, the patterns reported here are sound data points for continuing comparative, cross-national investigations, and point to consequential considerations for gender equity and science and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to identify some changes needed in Spain's innovation policy to fill the gap between its innovation results and those of other European countries in lieu of sustainable leadership. To do this we apply the Delphi methodology to experts from academia, business, and government. To overcome the shortcomings of traditional descriptive methods, we develop an inferential analysis by following a non-parametric bootstrap method which enables us to identify important changes that should be implemented. Particularly interesting is the support found for improving the interconnections among the relevant agents of the innovation system (instead of focusing exclusively in the provision of knowledge and technological inputs through R and D activities), or the support found for "soft" policy instruments aimed at providing a homogeneous framework to assess the innovation capabilities of firms (e.g., for funding purposes). Attention to potential innovators among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and traditional industries is particularly encouraged by experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a clear need to measure the correct implementation of the European Framework through the employability of the alumni. The evaluation of the deployment of the Qualifications Frameworks in the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA/QF) should shed significant light on the action that must be taken by legislators and higher education managers to foster employability and guarantee the sustainability of the EHEA. We propose a methodology based on a Survey on Access to the Labour Market (SALM) to assess the correlation between the education provided to the students and the practical utility of the knowledge acquired in the workplace. A questionnaire has been produced to measure the competencies and descriptors that had been theoretically defined within the QF-EHEA. Fifteen questions were disguised so that the six QF-EHEA descriptors were quantified through the difference between education and utility. The quantification methodology for the framework has been tested successfully on the former students of a higher education center in Spain. In this center, the alumni perceived that the utility of their acquired competencies and their employability level was greater than their education content, while both levels were reasonably high. The results hold for both Bachelor's and Master's degrees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A successful implementation of a simulation-optimization (SO) methodology is presented. Based on evolutionary algorithms with a multicriteria fitness function, the new SO is used to developed weekly schedules at a ship building factory that manufactures around 60 jobs per week. Simulation modeling is used to account for randomness on the input data, as well as to correctly abstract the complex operations carried out in the real system. A variant of genetic algorithms is used to search for the appropriate schedule. Its fitness function is a multicriteria process capability index that aggregates three individual criteria, namely, makespan, line blockage and idleness of resources. The index is based on the satisfaction of thresholds for each and every criterion, thresholds that are tightened as improved schedules are found. The thresholds are also used to reject non-promising alternatives without having to perform the same number of runs as for the candidates that stand out for implementation. The name of the methodology is meSO: multicriteria evolutionary SO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]