Case Studies of Use-Oriented Research David Cooper Published by HSRC Press Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa www.hsrcpress.ac.za First published 2011 ISBN (so cover) 978-0-7969-2347-9 ISBN (pdf) 978-0-7969-2348-6 ISBN (e-pub) 978-0-7969-2349-3 © 2011 Human Sciences Research Council e views expressed in this publication are those of the author. ey do not necessarily reect the views or policies of the Human Sciences Research Council (‘the Council’) or indicate that the Council endorses the views of the author. In quoting from this publication, readers are advised to attribute the source of the information to the individual author concerned and not to the Council. Copyedited by Lee Smith and Karen Press Typeset by Robin Yule Cover artwork by Marko Petrik Cover design by Nicole de Swardt, Flycreative Printed by [Name of printer, city, country] Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver Tel: +27 (0) 21 701 4477; Fax: +27 (0) 21 701 7302 www.oneworldbooks.com Distributed in Europe and the United Kingdom by Eurospan Distribution Services (EDS) Tel: +44 (0) 17 6760 4972; Fax: +44 (0) 17 6760 1640 www.eurospanbookstore.com Distributed in North America by River North Editions, from IPG Call toll-free: (800) 888 4741; Fax: +1 (312) 337 5985 www.ipgbook.com Contents Tables and figures v Preface vii Abbreviations and acronyms ix Part 1 A global second academic transformation: In symbiosis with a third capitalist industrial revolution Introduction: Investigating Western Cape university research groupings 3 New issues and perspectives: Their unfolding in the research process 5 Towards a new theoretical framework 20 The organisation of the book 24 1 A post-1970s second academic transformation: Questions and evidence 28 Etzkowitz’s hypotheses regarding a third university mission 28 Some pointers to the ‘new university mission’ 31 Cautionary remarks about a global second academic transformation 47 2 Use-inspired basic research and the third mission: Some cases of early developments 60 Pasteur’s Quadrant and UIBR 61 Embedding a third university mission linked to UIBR at MIT before the Second World War 65 An academic turning point: The Second World War and UIBR in the USA 73 The consolidation of UIBR at Stanford after 1945 80 3 The spread of a second academic transformation in the last quarter of the twentieth century: A critical assessment 91 A third capitalist industrial revolution: The underpinning of the second academic transformation 92 The importance of a fourth helix 104 Emergence of larger research centres linked to the third university mission 115 Part 2 Case studies at the universities in the Western Cape Introduction: A short overview of South African research and innovation 149 The evolving systems of research and innovation in South Africa 149 R&D indicators: Selective insights into our national system 158 4 Use-oriented research: ‘Model types’ of research groupings in the universities 170 Case 0: The ‘traditional’ Model T structure, exemplified by the Science Unit 171 Case 1: Model A, use-oriented research, exemplified by the Agriculture Centre 178 Case 2: Model B, use-oriented research, exemplified by the Genes Unit 200 Case 3: Model C, use-oriented research, exemplified by the Space Lab 213 5 Case studies of research groupings in between the traditional Model T and the new Models A, B and C 237 Research groupings in transition between Model T and Model B 238 Research groupings in transition between Model T and Model A 251 Research groupings in transition between Model T and Model C 271 Part 3 Drawing together the threads from the 11 case studies 6 Interpreting the data from 10 use-oriented research groupings 305 Another look at the second academic transformation 305 Internal modes of research organisation: Findings from the cases studies 310 Factors enhancing and inhibiting use-oriented research: Findings from the case studies 323 7 The idea of a second academic transformation: Implications for new concepts and new policies 349 Missing discourses and absent concepts 349 Some new policy implications 356 Appendix 1: Research methodology employed in the study 362 Appendix 2: The case studies 367 References 368 Index 379 v Tables and figures Tables Table i.1 The three major industrial revolutions 22 Table i.2 The structure of the book 24 Table 3.1 Conceptualisation of capitalist very long waves: Technological forces and socio-economic relations of production 93 Table ii.1 Ratio of South African GERD to GDP, 2001–06 158 Table ii.2 A global snapshot of overall and business investment in national R&D, 2005 159 Table ii.3 Main performers of R&D (2005/06) by source of R&D funding 160 Table ii.4 R&D researchers (FTE), 1992 and 2005 161 Table ii.5 Higher education research-related indicators, 2005 165 Table A2.1 The case studies: Model type, pseudonyms and mode of internal organisation of each case 369 Figures Figure i.1 The ‘orphan’ U–CS link, alongside the U–I–G triple helix 11 Figure i.2 Research model types as hypothesised after the first phase of interviews 13 Figure i.3 Research model types as hypothesised after the second phase of interviews 15 Figure i.4 A proposed typology of the 11 cases 16 Figure 2.1 Stokes’s quadrant model of scientific research 61 Figure 2.2 The ‘investigation work spectrum’: Regions of use-oriented work and new knowledge (i.e. research) production 64 Figure 3.1 Research model types of the first and second academic transformations 133 Figure 3.2 A shift to use-oriented research: Maintaining the core internal organisational structure of the small PI-unit 135 Figure 3.3 A radically new internal organisational structure of a ‘real’ centre 137 Figure 3.4 A network of PI-units (research subgroups): A new ‘virtual’ structure combining features of both a small unit and a large centre 140 Figure ii.1 Full-time equivalent researchers per 1000 total employment 162 Figure ii.2 Researchers by institutional type, race, dominant age and gender 163 Figure ii.3 PhD graduates per million population, 2005 164 Figure 4.1 Transformation of traditional Model T into new Model A, or B or C 170 Figure 4.2 Personnel structure of the Agriculture Centre in 2000 179 vi Figure 4.3 Research (biotechnology) sub-programmes of the Agriculture Centre 180 Figure 4.4 Funding of salaries of the Agriculture Centre, c. 2000/01 181 Figure 4.5 Structure of the Agri-Sector Industry Network 185 Figure 4.6 Research roles of the university (with Agriculture Centre), Agricultural Research Council and Agricultural College 187 Figure 4.7 Structure of the Academic Department–Agriculture Centre, early 2005 194 Figure 5.1 Cases in between traditional Model T and new Models A, B andC 237 Figure 5.2 Research groupings in between Model T and Model B 238 Figure 5.3 Research groupings in between Model T and Model A 251 Figure 5.4 Research groupings in between Model T and Model C 272 Figure 6.1 Modes of organisation of use-oriented groupings: Models A, B andC 310 Figure 6.2 A new national researcher career track 327 Figure 7.1 A reconceptualised quadruple helix 355 vii Preface As outlined in the Introduction to Part 1, and in more detail in Appendix 1, the project of which this book is the main output spanned a period of just over 10 years, beginning in 2000. I am thus indebted to many people, of whom only the main ones can be acknowledged here. Firstly, I wish to acknowledge the directors and researchers of each of the 11 research groupings in the universities and universities of technology of the Western Cape, which formed the case studies of Part 2. In the interests of anonymity, I cannot identify them but I wish to express my deep appreciation of the time and generous support that they gave me for the lengthy interviews and document-collection process. Without this support, the arguments and theoretical framework embedded in this study would never have emerged. Similarly, I wish to salute the group who undertook the first phase of interviews in 2000: research assistants Carlene Davids, Deon Ruiters, Chupe Serote, Rosemary Wolson, and especially senior researchers Drs Alexandra Hoffmanner and Sharman Wickham, who produced such excellent interview material that I was encouraged to build on it, by my undertaking a second phase of interviews with each of the research groupings in 2005, and a third phase in 2007. For encouragement to embark on the first phase of the project, I am indebted to David Kaplan who in 2000, as director of the Science and Technology Policy Research Centre at the University of Cape Town, helped me secure funding and helped in my early conceptualisation of issues around ‘unlocking university knowledge for society’, which theoretical scaffolding grew as my book expanded into its eventual title of The University in Development. For the second phase of interviews in 2005, I am grateful to Michael Kahn, then Executive Director of the Knowledge Systems Research Programme of the HSRC, who helped me secure funding and who gave generously of his ideas, which later culminated in his co-authorship of the Introduction to Part 2 of this book. Thanks also to David Lincoln who, in 2008/2009, stood in for me briefly as Head of Department of Sociology, so that I might complete the analysis phase. I am also grateful to Tara Weinberg for creating some of the figures in this book. And I will keep memories of the discussions with my friends Jonny Myers and Sue Myrdal, who over the years spanning this project always helped me to maintain optimism. Final editing of the book after 2008 took longer than I expected, with Regine Lord, Doug van der Horst and particularly Biddy Green playing important parts. In particular, I must express my admiration for the editing skills and especially intellectual acumen of Karen Press, who quickly grasped the core themes of the viii book and helped shorten it in such a collegial way. During the last six months of production, collegial advice about editing from Brenda Cooper, Zimitri Erasmus and Ian Scott helped me take courage when tasks seemed daunting. Finally too, I am indebted to Roshan Cader and Inga Norenius and their team at HSRC Press who helped steer through the final publication efficiently. I am also very grateful to the UCT Research Office for providing a generous grant towards the costs of producing the book. Every one of the above-named acted as friends as well as colleagues at work. However I need to acknowledge three people who made special contributions, often not intentionally, without which this book would never have emerged in the form it finally did. My son Adam read a few chapters while in China in 2005 and encouraged me in the following years to continue with the theoretical journey and further phases of interviews, while my daughter Sara saw clearly some of the difficulties of finalising the book and came forward with insights and encouragement. Particularly to Judy, my wife, who lived through a decade of regular stories about the book and my cycles of anxiety about achieving ‘strong knowledge’ via sociological analysis, I am forever grateful, including for the way she created mental and physical spaces for my work. These are three special people to whom I dedicate the book, in the hope that I will not disappoint the faith they continuously showed in my project: to produce a relative degree of strong knowledge so as to influence change in research policies and practices at our South African universities, around what I have termed the global second academic transformation. ix Abbreviations and acronyms AAU American Association of Universities AD–AC Academic Department–Agriculture Centre ANC African National Congress ARC Agricultural Research Council BERD business expenditure on R&D BRIC Biotechnology Regional Innovation Centre CNRS Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CoE centre of excellence CS civil society CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research DACST Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology DoE Department of Education DST Department of Science and Technology EPU Education Policy Unit ERA European Research Area ERC Engineering Research Centre EU European Union FP framework programme (of the EU) FRD Foundation for Research Development FTE full-time equivalent GDP gross domestic product GERD Gross Expenditure on R&D GNN government national network GNP gross national product HEI higher education institution HERD higher education R&D HoD head of department HSRC Human Sciences Research Council ICT information and communications technology ILRIG International Labour Research and Information Group IP intellectual property ISG International Study Group IT information technology IUCRC Industry/University Cooperative Research Centre MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology MMURC multipurpose, multidiscipline university research centre NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation x NCE network of centres of excellence NDRC National Defense Research Committee NGO non-governmental organisation NIH National Institutes of Health NoE network of excellence NRF National Research Foundation NSF National Science Foundation NSI national system of innovation NTC Nanoscience and Technology Centre OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ONR Office of Naval Research ORU organised research unit OSRD Office of Scientific Research and Development OTL office of technology licensing PAR Pure Applied Research PBR Pure Basic Research PD postgraduate diploma PI principal investigator R&D research and development S&T science and technology SARChI South African Research Chairs Initiative SET science, engineering and technology SETA Sector Education and Training Authority SOE state-owned enterprises SRC science research centre STC Science and Technology Centre SYS Stanford-Yale-Sussex THRIP Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme TNC transnational corporation TTO technology transfer office UCT University of Cape Town UIBR use-inspired basic research U–I–G university–industry–government UIRC university–industry research centres UK United Kingdom UoT university of technology URC university research centre USA United States of America [...]... midway into the research process, and which helped significantly to shape the development of this new theoretical framework I will briefly discuss each of them, although they are examined in greater detail later in Part 1, as well as in the analysis of the case studies in Part 2 These involve: Before exploring these themes further, however, I will contextualise the research by giving a very brief outline... had had no idea of these MIT–Stanford links during the first interviews at the Space Centre in 2000, but the second interview showed that the professors there had brought some of the ideas across the skies from America, and had planted them in the Space Lab of their university There had undoubtedly been a conscious theorisation by some of these professors of how they should undertake their research, particularly... explored in Part 1 In the period 2005/06, at the time of the second phase of interviews, I focused on the international literature relating to the second academic transformation in symbiosis with a third capitalist industrial revolution, that is, the focus was on the theoretical work of Part 1 These emerging theoretical perspectives were then used in the analysis of the case material, especially after the. .. research groupings? And does this help in assessing the factors that enhance and inhibit their research work? Moreover, following this line of thought, I proposed by the end of the phase-three interviews to conduct the analysis of all 10 use-oriented research groupings in terms of the typology shown in Figure i.4 (an elaboration of the typology presented in Figure i.3) 15 THE UNIVERSITY IN DEVELOPMENT. .. transformation: In symbiosis with a third capitalist industrial revolution Introduction: Investigating Western Cape university research groupings The research for this study involved an in- depth investigation of 11 research groupings at Western Cape universities The investigation incorporated detailed interviews with key members of each grouping in 2000, further follow-up interviews in 2005 and 2007, and final... research’ In investigating each case, the main research methods comprised in- depth interviews and the use of documents and website information At a theoretical level, the original research proposal invoked Etzkowitz’s framework of first, second and third ‘missions’ of universities: The first academic revolution, 7 THE UNIVERSITY IN DEVELOPMENT taking off in the late 19th century, made research [the second... established in the course of the ‘first academic revolution’ (Etzkowitz 1994) in the 1800s, which consolidated basic research at universities alongside teaching 13 THE UNIVERSITY IN DEVELOPMENT Thus, after the first phase of interviews, I hypothesised that we are seeing a new Model B small unit type emerging for use-oriented research, which in many respects is internally organised in the same way as the nineteenth-century-based... analysis of each case in 2009 – a project thus spanning nearly a decade It is therefore useful to begin the presentation of the findings of the investigation with an outline of how the central theoretical issues of the study were conceptualised at the start of the process The research project was conceived in the late 1990s, influenced by my personal experiences of South African university research centres... evolution.3 The context and initial design of the research Embedded within the research questions I posed at the beginning of the first phase of interviews in 2000 was the idea of ‘applied research’ (see the two quotations above from the original research proposal) The sampling approach of the investigation was thus to select such ‘applied’ cases rather than ‘pure research’ groups, because the latter... comprising the network of professors In particular, I wondered whether some of the modes of undertaking research seen by these professors at MIT and Stanford, and transferred to their own university, were central to the fact that this virtual centre was still flourishing at the time of the final interviews in 2007 Again, therefore, a new perspective had emerged, leading to the need to address further . It is therefore useful to begin the presentation of the findings of the investigation with an outline of how the central theoretical issues of the study. such new THE UNIVERSITY IN DEVELOPMENT 4 centres and units in the Western Cape region, in order to examine more closely the inhibiting factors being experienced