Thesis supervisor: Zoltán Birkner
co-supervisor: István Szabó
Location of studies (in Hungarian): University of Pannonia Abbreviation of location of studies: PE
Description of the research topic:
Description of the research topic:
1 / The research focuses on the examination of the third mission activities of universities, which involves the analysis of the applications and their implementation in the Hungarian innovation ecosystem, the tasks of further transformation and their quantitative and qualitative methods. The research investigates third mission activities especially in relation to the University Innovation Ecosystem, Science Parks, for the preparation and implementation of National Laboratories and specific projects related to the Competence Centres and related physical infrastructures. The steps involved in complex structural transformation tasks build on each other. Previous research outcomes are also investigated to assess the strength as well as shortcomings of the already established systems, which reveals the areas where additional methods and tools are necessary to ensure efficient operation and further structural transformation.
The National Research, Development and Innovation Office has established cooperation with 22 Hungarian universities, the aim of which is to strengthen the regional role of universities. The conditions of the present research (personal relationships, indicators, common interest) are given, as the literature and practical experience related to the third mission had already been available when the conditions for cooperation were defined. Furthermore, the candidate will be responsible within the Office for the professional supervision of the cooperation.
In addition to the analysis of the processes that are transforming both structural and internal operations, the study will also assess domestic and international practices, and a detailed, deductive analysis of the transformation of the third mission activities of the universities in Hungary will be carried out. In the systems under development during the implementation of the university innovation ecosystem, it is necessary to analyse in detail the high level of access to research infrastructures and its implementation in each of the system elements, as well as the quality assurance processes of the services offered by the universities.
A detailed analysis of the sources of the cooperation between the higher education system and the market, as well as the indicators measuring the efficiency of the use of these sources is necessary for the examination of the funding mix related to the given projects. The analyses must be able to show which are the specific determining factors, financing and management tools that are outstanding in terms of the expected end results and output as well as the competitiveness of the given area and the organisations operating there, and also where there is need for further development.
2 / Companies are increasingly connected to professional organizations operating locally or in their region, as well as to knowledge centres that gather local and regional knowledge and connections, to universities, and to their knowledge transfer offices, which unite their one-stop-shop network to internal management organizations with similar remits. In recent decades, these collaborations have moved away from ad hoc relationships towards regular infrastructure, and towards the knowledge and research capacity used through it.
During the transformation of university higher education, several management based scientific works focusing on knowledge and research infrastructure discuss the importance of patents (Szűcs et al. 2014), collaborations and partnerships in the field of innovation (Vilmányi et al. 2008). Furthermore, these works also assess the services developed and the quality of these services, the exploration, systematization and access to research infrastructures based on “science hubs”, and the how the use of physical infrastructure and available resources can be increased.
These works address the importance of each topic separately and their findings suggest directions along which the reorganization of the RDI ecosystem, the operation of the innovation-based ecosystem, and the improvement of its efficiency can be further examined. The review requires the analysis, systematisation and measurement of the actors and decision-makers involved in the processes and their activities, as well as their effectiveness and efficiency, systems approach and risk-taking, including the efficient use of resources from the financing side and their utilization in the economy.
3. / Based on the examination of the opinion and expectations of university researchers about technology transfer offices, it can be stated that “in a significant part of the university technology transfer process, university researchers and technology transfer offices’ staff need to work together, furthermore their specialization on certain tasks - thus complementing each other's competencies - can greatly contribute to more efficient technology management and unified action in consultation with industry” (Hellmann 2006), quoted by Huszár, Prónay, Buzás in their 2018 analysis, which summarizes and analyzes the relationship between technology transfer offices and researchers.
Siegel et al. (2003) highlighted three key groups among the participants in university technology transfer: 1. university researchers, 2. university technology managers and 3. industry actors. One of the keys to effectiveness is the efficiency of the cooperation of the actors, and the presentation of the results of the collaborations with specific descriptive data and thus the implementation of time series analyses by different indicators in order to measure the effectiveness.
Researchers examining the role of small and medium-sized universities in the Central and Eastern European region concluded that the role of universities located far from cities is key in the regional innovation system however, the economic impact of these universities is still smaller than in more developed countries (Gál-Ptacek, 2011; Birkner-Mahr, 2016). Through their relationships, universities can be the engines of development in these areas. All in all, with the real contribution of universities, increasingly complex networks can be established, building new local / regional innovation ecosystems.
4. / The aim of the research is to examine which variables can best characterize the innovation potential of universities. Is there a correlation between the number of new corporate relationships, the number of publications, the number of patents created as a result of joint university and corporate research, the existence, extent and scale of the products created through patent registrations and the revenue generated from them? What is the correlation between the number of university-company relations and the number of companies affiliated with the university within the framework of universities or the number of companies affiliated with the university and their effectiveness? What is the degree of effectiveness in these collaborations?
What factors can be used to explain successful local and regional university-company collaborations? In the cases examined from an international perspective, what policy responses have been or will be made to increase the effectiveness of a cooperation? What are the differences and similarities between the good practices identified for the European countries studied? Is there a general recipe, or can we talk about regional or regionally specific solutions?
The research will be fundamentally exploratory and explanatory research, applying the methods of innovation management research and practice used to measure innovation potential, as well as conducting international comparative analyses.
The following research methods provide an appropriate methodological basis for the processing of the topic during the doctoral research:
Qualitative methods: review of relevant international and domestic literature (topics: RDI financing policy, competitiveness, enterprise development, economic development, innovation policy, territorial and settlement development, cluster development, examination of start-ups and spin-offs, locally available financing and professional services), regional development and territorial and settlement development strategies (RDI-related sectoral strategies primarily - as well as EU-funded Regional Operational Programs) and the Horizon Europe program.
• topics of secondary research: during the literature review relevant models of sustainable territorial and settlement development (e.g. sectoral, multisectoral, territorial, local; Hodge and Midmore: 2008) are also the subject of the study,
• conducting at least 30 structured interviews with university leaders and knowledge transfer office staff, business leaders involved in cooperation with university(ies), policy stakeholders (policy management, professional chambers, regional professional organizations, county / district administration institutions, municipalities, researchers, regional development experts, local service providers’ clusters).
Quantitative methods:
• statistical data analyses (domestic and international RDI databases, such as EUROSTAT, KSH – Hungarian Central Statistical Office, or economic, development, competitiveness data) and correlation studies (cross-tabulation analysis, cluster analysis, correlation and regression analysis) for the target area and collaborations.
We expect results from the research that can be used both in theory and practice. By gaining a detailed understanding of the success factors of policies affecting the RDI ecosystem based on European comparison, we can get a realistic picture of the situation of the Hungarian RDI ecosystem, so we can formulate a number of recommendations worthwhile.
Required language skills: english Recommended language skills (in Hungarian): english Number of students who can be accepted: 1
Deadline for application: 2022-06-30
2024. IV. 17. ODT ülés Az ODT következő ülésére 2024. június 14-én, pénteken 10.00 órakor kerül sor a Semmelweis Egyetem Szenátusi termében (Bp. Üllői út 26. I. emelet).
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