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One of the main elements of dendrochronological standardization is removing the biological trend, i.e. the progressive decline of ring width along a cross-sectional radius that is caused by the corresponding increase in stem size and tree age over time. The ‘‘conservative’’ option for removing this biological trend is to fit a modified negative exponential curve (or a straight line with slope ≤ 0) to the ring-width measurements. This method is based on the assumption that, especially for open-grown and/or shade-intolerant species, annual growth rate of mature trees fluctuates around a specific level, expressed by a constant ring width. Because this method has numerical and conceptual drawbacks, we propose an alternative approach based on the assumption that constant growth is expressed by a constant basal area increment distributed over a growing surface. From this starting point, we derive a mathematical expression for the biological trend of ring width, which can be easily calculated and used for dendrochronological standardization. The proposed C-method is compared to other standardization techniques, including Regional Curve Standardization (RCS), of tree-ring width from ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P.Lawson & C.Lawson) located at the Gus Pearson Natural Area (GPNA) in northern Arizona, USA. Master ring-index chronologies built from ring area, RCS, and C-method reproduced stand-wide patterns of tree growth at the GPNA, whereas other standardization options, including the ‘‘conservative’’ one, failed to do so. In addition, the C-method has the advantage of calculating an expected growth curve for each tree, whereas RCS is based on applying the same growth curve to all trees. In conclusion, the C-method replaces the purely empirical ‘‘conservative’’ option with a theory based approach, which is applicable to individual ring-width measurement series, does not require fitting a growth curve using nonlinear regression, and can be rigorously tested for improving tree-ring records of environmental changes.

Un rattachement ou une formation disciplinaire, pas plus que la relation à des espaces de travail et des instruments spécialisés, ne suffisent seuls à définir une culture scientifique. Ce sur quoi des chercheurs issus d’horizons divers travaillent, construit un mode singulier de conception de leurs activités, pratiques et rapport au monde. Leur réussite est irrémédiablement liée à un sujet, à la fortune que rencontre celui-ci comme innovation dans un contexte social qui le borne et qu’il crée simultanément. Comment s’organise cette (re)conversion vers une nouvelle thématique, alors que l’évolution des modes de financement privilégie aujourd’hui précisément ce cadrage ? Cette thèse propose une enquête sur la notion de « domaine de recherche », que nous définissons a priori comme le cadre des interactions entre l’activité professionnelle de chercheurs et la société autour d’un thème partagé ; elle défend sa dimension épistémique.Ce manuscrit décrit en parallèle le développement des bioénergies, une des principales formes d’énergie dites renouvelables ou encore durables, issue de la biomasse, ses acteurs et leurs jeux d’actions, dans un contexte de forte incitation à conduire une transition énergétique globale, mais aussi de controverses sociales vives. Les deux objectifs de cette thèse convergent :décrire le style de pensée inhérent à un domaine de recherche particulier est nécessaire à l’appréhension, au-delà des seuls discours et promesses, des modes effectifs de développement d’une innovation (ici la mobilisation à grande échelle de végétaux, microorganismes ou déchets pour produire des biocarburants) et donc in fine, à l’évaluation par tout un chacun, de sa pertinence. / Neither academic training within scientific disciplines, nor the daily work in the lab involving specialised equipments, define alone a scientific culture. What diverse researchers from various backgrounds work on, builds a specific way of designing their own activities, practices and relationships with the world. Their individual success is irrevocably bound to a subject, to its fortune as an innovation within the boundaries of a social context it simultaneously changes. How do they perform this (re)conversion to a new domain, as funding agencies nowaday favor this thematic framing? This thesis proposes an investigation into the notion of “research area”, which we a priori define as the frame of interactions between the professional activity of researchers and society around a shared theme; it stands up for its epistemic dimension.This manuscript parallelly describes the “bioenergy” development, a major form of renewable or sustainable energy derived from biomass, its social actors and their interrelations, as strong incentives towards a global energy transition meet sharp social controversies. The two objectives of this thesis meet: describing the inherent style of thinking within a particular research area is required to grasp, beyond the hopes and promises, the actual patterns of development of an innovation (in this case, the large-scale mobilisation of plants, microorganisms or waste to produce biofuels) and thus, ultimately, to collectively evaluate its relevance.

Le secteur public subit, avec la fin de l’Etat providence, des changements ayant comme but de rendre la bureaucratie plus efficiente, par l’intermédiaire d’un ensemble d’outils et de méthodes managériaux issus du secteur privé, ainsi que par la participation d’acteurs non-étatiques à la prise des décisions. La performance de l’action publique suppose un double objectif : l’efficacité de l’utilisation des ressources, ainsi que la prise en considération des intérêts de divers participants au processus. Cette problématique s’exprime avec d’autant plus avec acuité au niveau de l’Union Européenne où s’y développe un une gouvernance « multi- niveaux » par excellence, surtout dans les domaines pour lesquels l’Union partage ses compétences avec ses Etats membres, comme c’est le cas de la recherche et l’innovation. Comment assurer donc la performance de la politique de recherche européenne par la méthode ouverte de coordination et le soft law? Est-ce que l’Union dispose des moyens juridiques pour faire de l’Espace Européen de la Recherche un espace pour la libre circulation des connaissances et des chercheurs ? L’auteur répond à ces questions par une analyse des sources juridiques de l’Union Européenne, ainsi que des initiatives managériales dans le domaine de la recherche et de l’innovation, comme, par exemlple, les partenariats public-privé et la création des agences executives de recherche. / The public sector faces many changes with the objective of making public bureaucracy more efficient by, on the one hand, using private management tools and instruments and, on the other hand, by involving stakeholders in the decision making process. The performance of the public action has a double objective: the effectiveness of using the public ressources and and taking into consideration the interests of different stakeholders. This is even more noticed at the level of the European Union which is a multilevel governance sui generis and especially in the fields where the EU has not exclusive competences, but it shares them with its Member States, as for example, in the field of research and innovation. The question is how to ensure the performance of the EU research policy by the Open Method of Coordination and soft law? Has the EU the legal instruments in order to complete the European Research Area as a space for the free circulation of knowledge and researchers? The author adresses these questions by analyzing the EU acquis in the field of research as well as the public management initiatives in the field of research, such as the public private partnerships in research and the establishment of the research executive agencies.

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Globalization has motivated universities to calibrate institutional responses for strategic purposes. Yet, specific challenges remain for Ukrainian National Research Universities insofar as the interplay between global and (post-)Soviet knowledge discourses reveal a dual framework, whereby adaptive responses to globalization and entrenched state-centered logics run parallel, and often in conflict, with one another. This study took a critical approach to identify and interpret how the phenomenon of internationalization manifested in the development of strategic partnerships, was translated and re-contextualized into structural innovations, and resulted in systemic institutional change. The thesis delves into the institutional behaviour of three flagship universities in Kyiv, Ukraine and their respective doctoral schools. The selected universities – Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv – represent a mixture of organizational types which fall into one or more of the three education archetypes, including the Humboldtian, Soviet and Anglo-American models. These governance models allow for differentiation of institutional interpretations of internationalization and a means of capturing the various ways in which university actors negotiate their spaces of action and translate higher education discourses into practice. The analysis addresses issues of ‘hybridity’ which is not evident in this categorization. The study attempts to problematize internationalization anew by shifting focus on non-linear accounts of the phenomenon in order to comprehend the complex, multi-faceted and often contradictory ways the process plays out across different university landscapes. The inquiry employs conceptualizations combining the Delta Cycle for Internationalization (Rumbley 2010) and a new institutional approach (North 1990). The study is structured as a single-case embedded case study design as described by Yin (2015). Data were collected via 45 semi-structured interviews with university actors and higher education stakeholder agencies, including: senior administrators, mid-level leaders, faculty members and doctoral candidates. The data were supported by scholarly literature, official documents, reports, strategy papers, grey materials, policy statements, field notes. as well as university and ministerial websites. These data were analyzed for content and triangulated according to a modified content analysis approach. This study expands and contributes knowledge on the internationalization of higher education by distinguishing variations of how the phenomenon manifested within different university settings. It examines the place of the university as an organization that not only produces and disseminates knowledge, but assimilates and adapts global knowledge to national needs. Finally, the inquiry explores internationalization as an academic innovation and a process of institutional change which shapes academic identities and legitimizes the university as a global actor.

大學，一向被視為知識的殿堂；大學裡的實驗室，更是激盪新概念、產生新知識的重要場域。因此，大學實驗室可說是知識殿堂裡的智慧泉源；新的知識，不論是對於基礎科學的貢獻，或是應用技術的開發，都可以不斷地在那裡被製造出來。 為了明瞭大學實驗室裡持續創新的樣貌，特別是經過多代傳承、創新成果仍如湧泉般不斷出現的實驗室，本研究針對已在科學界屹立不搖一百三十三年的卡文迪什實驗室與八十三年的台大藥理學教室，進行分析後發現：維持優良的傳統與學風、仔細選擇研究領域並用心地開拓與經營、選擇優秀人才並加以培育，是他們得以歷經艱困草創期、成長期與轉型期，經過多代的傳承，仍在不同研究時期或領域都能獨領風騷的三項重要因素。 「傳統與學風」所保存的是實驗室的核心價值觀；這些核心價值是用以支持創新的土壤。「研究領域的開拓與經營」則須掌握大環境的變化，選擇適合發展的領域，並依據手中的資源擬定經營策略；這樣做即可保持身段的柔軟、不斷刺激進步。「人才的選擇與培育」則提供了足量的優質人力，可以執行創造的工作。 / Universities are considered as the knowledge palace while the laboratories therein are the most important places where surging the new concepts and producing knowledge. Therefore, the university laboratories become the wellspring of knowledge. Both basic and applied researches produced therein will contribute to the domain knowledge. In order to realize why some university laboratories can conduct persistent creation and innovation, two cases which have long history during several generations were analyzed; one is the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University, U.K. and another one is the Pharmacology Laboratory of National Taiwan University, College of Medicine. Both laboratories are considered as the outstanding ones with very good performance in frontier researches. Moreover, many great scientists including Nobel Prize Laureates and Academicians were educated and trained in these laboratories. Most important of all, each generation of these laboratories kept producing creative and innovative accomplishments as well as the long-lived companies do in the business world. The main findings of this research are: 1. retaining the excellent traditions and academic atmosphere; 2. choosing research area carefully and managing it attentively; 3. selecting outstanding talents and educating them, are the key success factors to foster the university laboratories toward incessant innovation. First of all, the traditions and academic atmosphere they preserved are considered to be the core values which cultivate the emerging of creation as well as innovation. Moreover, these long-lived laboratories devoted themselves to the research areas which had been chosen very carefully based on the macro-environment and resources they had in hands. By doing so, they can keep on going forwards. Nevertheless, a lot of talents are necessary for implementing researches in these laboratories. After all, great creation or innovation could not come true without the elite.