M.B.A. / This study was conducted to investigate the strategy for sustainability of the Minerals Processing and Technology Research Group (MPTRG) of the University of Johannesburg. The background of the study established that a new institution, University of Johannesburg (UJ), was formed mainly from the merger of the previous Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR) and the Randse Afrikanse Universiteit (RAU). These two institutions had different vocations: career oriented and academic directed respectively. The merger has created a new institution with new needs, a new environment and new challenges. For a research group, each as the MPTRG, which existed in one of the merging institutions before the merger, to survive and to be sustainable, relevant strategies have to be designed and correctly implemented. The aim of the study was to develop a strategy for MPTRG's sustainability in terms of assisting the faculty of engineering and the built environment of the UJ to achieve its strategic objectives of higher levels of postgraduate students, community, industry and government service quality and productivity in research. The literature review investigated the research activities at university with focus on their sustainability, quality of services rendered (i.e. students trained, research projects conducted , reports drafted, stakeholders' satisfactions deriving from the above etc...) and the number and quality of research output generated. Particular emphasis was placed on the impact of people management in the quality of university research. This was with the assumption that the technology requirement was fulfilled. A mainly qualitative research design was used as the primary methodology in this study and a deductive approach was adopted. As a result, Ulrich's (1997) conceptual model depicting the role of human capacity in assisting the organization to achieve its strategic objectives was used to formulate the study's theoretical propositions. The findings from the literature review revealed that the role of the MPTRG as a strategic partner, is central to the achievement of higher levels of postgraduate students service, research training quality and research productivity. It is therefore recommended that the MPTRG must fully align with the corporate strategy of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. The following sequential steps must be undertaken: The MPTRG manager, together with his team, should conduct an organizational diagnosis of the group's organizational architecture, which specifies systems that constitute the Faculty. These include the organization's shared mindset and culture, research staff competency levels, systems and standard for progressive assessment and evaluation of postgraduate students performance, assessment of the standards to use to benchmark progressive and final group research output etc... A formal integrated strategy including human capital, technology, relations (i.e. local and international collaborations with industry, as well as other institutions) must be developed which shall provide alternative and or supplementary actions and practices for each of the factors that were identified in the organizational diagnosis. The qualitative and quantitative findings lead to conclude that the MPTRG is currently active in mainly administrative tasks including hiring postgraduate students, arranging their registration, securing scholarships, drafting reports and applications, following up on order to procurement etc... In order to enable the MPTRG to assist the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment to achieve its strategic objectives, the MPTRG must engage itself with direct research oriented tasks, writing more publications, engaging with community outreach projects, engaging with professional body activities etc.... It is therefore recommended that the MPTRG must shift its focus away from administration in order to create scope and capacity to perform activities over and above administrative and transactional tasks. Complementary strategic research staff be recruited, appropriate research equipment be procured, number of postgraduate students be increased, number of postdoctoral fellows be increased, visiting scientists be attracted, collaborative projects with industry be expanded etc... This would require a high level of assistance from support and service departments (postgraduate student registration, research office, administration, finances, procurement, transport, secretary, etc...).

A Master’s dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Commerce (School of Economic and Business Sciences) Johannesburg, 2016 / It has been suggested that a global ‘Second Generation’ of innovation (SGI) is required in order to address the deficiencies of contemporary innovation practice. In the commercial context, contemporary innovation practice is often constrained by market forces and the profit mechanism, effectively resulting in stagnation in the innovation pipeline. As a consequence, many potentially profitable and beneficial innovations are not pursued. SGI is a proposed new paradigm that makes use of open innovation, open source and crowdsourcing in order to extricate the full potential of distributed knowledge systems to ultimately ameliorate the free flow of knowledge and innovation. Much of SGI theory relates to pharmaceutical research but there exists a paucity of literature that applies SGI theory in the academic research context, where similar problems exist. It has been purported that academic research is inherently non-innovative and the occurrence of ‘academic failure’, or the inability of academia to produce innovative research output is a serious concern. In order to examine the relationship between SGI and academic research, a mixed methodology approach, which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies has been used. First, a model of relationships between important theoretical concepts was derived from the literature. Next, a questionnaire survey was distributed to a sample of 529 academic researchers across South African universities and research institutions in order to gauge potential ‘SGI Propensity’ in relation to academic research output (or productivity) along with all other relevant variables in the literature-derived model. It is argued that the relationship between SGI Propensity and academic research productivity can provide a clear indication of the potential of SGI in the South African academic context. Aggregated data collected from this sample was then tested using a variety of statistical tests, including correlation analysis, hierarchical multiple regression, as well as tests of moderation and mediation. Additionally, a sample of 30 high-ranking South African academic researchers was also sampled for a parallel qualitative study, which occurred through a one-on-one interview process. Results from both studies were recorded, analysed and contrasted. Thereafter, conclusions were drawn and recommendations made. / MT2017

Errata pasted onto front fly leaf. / Bibliography: leaves 329-355. / xx, 361, [15] leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Studies the expansion of postgraduate education in Australia, particularly the research degree. Analyses the credentialling role of the postgraduate degree and the influence of overseas models of postgraduate education. Argues that the changing relationship between the state, the universities and the research sector has had a strong impact on the postgraduate sector. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1998

Errata pasted onto front fly leaf. Bibliography: leaves 329-355. Studies the expansion of postgraduate education in Australia, particularly the research degree. Analyses the credentialling role of the postgraduate degree and the influence of overseas models of postgraduate education. Argues that the changing relationship between the state, the universities and the research sector has had a strong impact on the postgraduate sector.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement of the Doctor of Technology degree in Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Research productivity is one of the core functions of a university and it plays a crucial role for a nation to develop and find its standing in our global world. This study examined the effect of ICT adoption and training on the research productivity of university academics. Much research has been done on using technology in research with a view to increase productivity. However, hardly any research could be found on the use of ICT combined with ICT training with a view to increase research productivity. This study addressed this gap in the literature. The study sought to design a model that can increase research productivity of academics while optimizing ICT adoption and training effects. The study was conducted at four public universities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, whilst the part of the study on ICT training was conducted at one of the four universities. This study was conducted both in the form of a survey of 103 university academics and in the form of experimental sessions, where the use of ICT (EndNote, NVivo, AMOS, SPSS, and Turnitin) with training was used for research, the use of ICT without training was used for research and, finally, a session where a manual system (without using research software/tools and training) was used for research. The overall aim of the study was to investigate and design a model for the increase in research productivity of academics in universities after having adopted ICTs. The final results of the research revealed that the use of ICT tools (EndNote, NVivo, AMOS, SPSS, and Turnitin) with training increases research productivity as compared to using ICT tools without training, and/or using a manual system (without using research software/tools and training). A statistically proven model is recommended with a view to increase research productivity of academics.

submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Department of Chiropractic and Somatology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Background: The recent increase in the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) in the Chiropractic profession and the call within the profession for validation of its claims has seen a growing interest in good quality research. It is advocated that the future of Chiropractic research and thus the success of the profession is dependent on future practitioner and student research endeavours. It was the aim of this study to evaluate the student research agendas at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). Secondly, local Chiropractors were asked what they perceived to be clinically relevant Chiropractic research agendas. The agendas that were under-studied by the students, but perceived as important by the practitioners, were recommended as suggestions for more clinically relevant future student research. The intention of this was that future student research would become more congruent with local and international Chiropractic research trends. Methodolody: The study was a prospective exploratory study, which utilised a mixed method approach. Documented evidence giving an overview of student research completed at the DUT was combined with a qualitative questionnaire that was circulated to all Chiropractors practicing in KwaZulu-Natal. The questionnaire aimed to give insight into the research agendas perceived to be most relevant for future research by Chiropractic professionals. Incongruence between the research completed at the DUT and the research that is perceived to be of highest professional relevance by Chiropractors in KwaZulu-Natal was determined. All the Chiropractors practicing in KwaZulu-Natal as per the AHPCSA list received the questionnaire. A neutral third party at DUT collected the returned questionnaires and data analysis followed. The student research completed at the DUT between 1994 and 2013 was obtained from the Institutional Repository (IR) and library archives. These studies were descriptively analysed and compared with the respondents’ perceptions of clinically important Chiropractic research. Data analysis highlighted the overlap of agendas and gaps in the research. Following this was a statistical analysis of the questionnaire responses using Pearson’s chi square tests for two independent samples. A p value of ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The results were interpreted using frequency tables and bar charts for categorical variables, while summary statistics such as mean, standard deviation and range were used for continuous variables. A descriptive comparison was performed to determine the congruency between the student research agendas and the research perceived to be of relevance by Chiropractors practicing in KwaZulu-Natal. Results: The response rate of 66.3 % was regarded as representative of the entire Chiropractic population. The overall practitioner perception of research was positive with 64.4% of the respondents perceiving improved Chiropractic abilities due to previous research experience. The prevailing practitioner reason for research conducted was that it increased recognition as an EBP, increased development within the profession and validated its claims and theories. An investigation into the student studies found that the majority of the research agendas recommended by the respondents had been undertaken at DUT. Future research into the following areas is encouraged:  Neurological testing.  Orthopaedic testing.  Reduction of posture related disorders.  Gross anatomical changes as a result of the Chiropractic manipulation.  Range of Motion (ROM) assessment.  Muscular testing, motion and/ or static palpation.  Gait and posture assessment. The respondents were asked to give recommendations for future Chiropractic research; the majority was willing to contribute a database of shared research ideas. It was anticipated that the sharing of the practitioner ideas with the students would result in more clinically relevant student research being produced. Conclusion: A comparison of the DUT student research agendas and those of Chiropractors in KwaZulu-Natal highlighted an incongruence of purpose between the two. The research agendas recommended by the Chiropractic respondents were recommended for future student uptake. A shared database of student and practitioner research ideas aimed to encourage future student research that is more clinically relevant and in line with local and international research trends. / M

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement of the Doctor of Technology degree in Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Research productivity is one of the core functions of a university and it plays a crucial role for a nation to develop and find its standing in our global world. This study examined the effect of ICT adoption and training on the research productivity of university academics. Much research has been done on using technology in research with a view to increase productivity. However, hardly any research could be found on the use of ICT combined with ICT training with a view to increase research productivity. This study addressed this gap in the literature. The study sought to design a model that can increase research productivity of academics while optimizing ICT adoption and training effects. The study was conducted at four public universities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, whilst the part of the study on ICT training was conducted at one of the four universities. This study was conducted both in the form of a survey of 103 university academics and in the form of experimental sessions, where the use of ICT (EndNote, NVivo, AMOS, SPSS, and Turnitin) with training was used for research, the use of ICT without training was used for research and, finally, a session where a manual system (without using research software/tools and training) was used for research. The overall aim of the study was to investigate and design a model for the increase in research productivity of academics in universities after having adopted ICTs. The final results of the research revealed that the use of ICT tools (EndNote, NVivo, AMOS, SPSS, and Turnitin) with training increases research productivity as compared to using ICT tools without training, and/or using a manual system (without using research software/tools and training). A statistically proven model is recommended with a view to increase research productivity of academics. / D

Orientador: Renato Peixoto Dagnino / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T23:16:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_RogerioBezerrada_D.pdf: 1172901 bytes, checksum: f226bbaeb5d9f902cf179859222cbada (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Este trabalho trata da relação entre o governo e a comunidade científica no Brasil focando nos condicionantes da agenda de pesquisa da universidade. Sua hipótese é a de que o governo, ao aumentar o dispêndio para a pesquisa universitária, poderia estar limitando as autonomias - de gestão, financeira e de pesquisa - da universidade. Para evidenciar o comportamento político da comunidade científica e do governo no processo decisório das políticas públicas relacionadas à universidade e à C&T, o trabalho adota, no plano metodológico, o enfoque da Análise de Políticas. No plano analítico-conceitual, tem como referência os Estudos Sociais da C&T; o que permite classificar aquela relação segundo duas lógicas. A primeira é a da "política para a ciência", onde o "para" indica que o propósito do governo seria fomentar a pesquisa sem interferir na definição do que deve ser pesquisado. A segunda lógica é a da "política da ciência", em que o "da" igualaria a Política de C&T a outras políticas acerca das quais o governo, em função das demandas cognitivas que elas colocam, possui interesses específicos; e, por isso, privilegiaria as pesquisas cujos resultados podem alavancar outras políticas. O objetivo deste trabalho é entender como a agenda de pesquisa da universidade, condicionada pelos valores e interesses desses dois atores, é elaborada. Ele está organizado em cinco capítulos. O primeiro apresenta o referencial teórico-metodológico utilizado para analisar a relação entre esses dois atores. O segundo trata das noções de autonomia encontradas na literatura sobre o ensino superior latino-americano. Limitando o escopo dos Estudos Sociais da C&T, o foco do capítulo três é a autonomia da pesquisa universitária. O Capítulo quatro indica, através de informação secundária, como essa autonomia é condicionada por aquela relação. Em seguida, se analisa a partir de dados primários como essa relação se apresenta na Unicamp; a qual por ser atípica é especialmente adequada para reforçar os resultados mostrados no capítulo anterior. O trabalho conclui sugerindo, por um lado, que, mais do que incorporar à sua agenda de pesquisa as demandas, do governo e das empresas, colocadas pelas políticas públicas, a comunidade científica parece estar apenas declarando sua aderência a elas. E, assim, tentando manter sua legitimidade social para seguir acessando os fundos provenientes dos impostos que paga a população. Por outro, e contrariando os que entendem a autonomia da universidade como uma condição para sua adesão aos anseios dessa população, que a autonomia de pesquisa parece estar atuando num sentido oposto / Abstract: This thesis deals with the relationship between the government and the scientific community in Brazil focuses on the constraints of the research agenda of the university. Its hypothesis is that the government, to increase the spending to university research, may be limiting the autonomies - management, financial and research - of the university. To highlight the political behavior of the scientific community and the government into the decision-making process related to the higher education and the S&T policies, the work adopts, on the methodological level, the Policy Analysis. In addition, on the analytical and conceptual level it follows the S&T Studies approach; which allows classifying that behavior according to two logics. The first logic is named "policy for science", where the "for" indicates that the purpose of government would be to promote research without interfering with the definition of what should be researched. The second, "policy of science" in where the "of the" means S&T Policy should be focused by government, as many other policies, depending on its contribution to fulfill cognitive demands. Which means that government should restrict its support to the research that would produce results that could leverage other public policies. The objective of this work is to understand how the university research agenda, conditioned by the values and interests of these two actors, is been formulated. The thesis comprises five chapters. The first, presents the theoretical and methodological frameworks used to analyze the relationship between the two actors. The second, is centered on the notions of autonomy found in the literature on higher education in Latin America. Using a line of inquiry pertaining to the S&T Studies, the next chapter focuses on one of these autonomies, the autonomy of research. Chapter IV indicates, through secondary information, how the relationship between the government and the scientific community conditions this autonomy is conditioned. Then, with the same purpose, it analyzes primary data concerning the State University of Campinas that is especially suitable to reinforce the results shown in the previous chapter. The thesis concludes by suggesting that the scientific community is not including into its research agenda the government and enterprises cognitive demands introduced into S&T Policy. On the contrary, it seems to be declaring their adherence to these demands just in order to maintain the social legitimacy that authorize it to access government funds. Secondly, and contrary to what is usually supported the work stress that research autonomy is not favoring the arrival of population concerns and demands to university research agenda / Doutorado / Politica Cientifica e Tecnologica / Doutor em Política Científica e Tecnológica

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's Degree in Information and Communication Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / Research has become one of the major activities of higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide. Increasingly important is research information that emanates from the published research as it has now become one of the major sources of funding especially within the South African higher education landscape. However, many HEIs are facing numerous problems managing research information to sustain and attract more funding. The lack of resources to build or acquire appropriate systems for managing research information has been identified as one of the major challenges in HEIs. However, recent studies show that advancements have been made in some countries to address the challenge. For instance, in South Africa, a proprietary research information management system (RIMS) has been implemented in some HEIs. Nevertheless, some HEIs still face problems regarding the use of RIMS. Studies further show that most proprietary systems do not adequately satisfy requirements as desired by the HEIs. This is mostly because proprietary systems are developed without fully understanding the user requirements of individual HEIs. Moreover, most proprietary systems are developed following ad hoc approaches which neglect the requirements specification stage in the development life cycle. Requirements specification is important as it brings developers and users to a common understanding about the requirements of the system before development. The initial lack of consensus about system requirements results in systems that have technical barriers which make users shun from using them. For instance, such systems do not adapt very well to devices with small screens such as mobile phones, and do not have attractive interfaces to make users want to use them. Proprietary systems are also costly to acquire and maintain. Moreover, HEIs may not be able to immediately implement the new desired features in the system because proprietary systems usually do not allow them access to the source code. This study develops a web-based research administration and management system (RAMS) as a proposed solution to the problems of using a proprietary system to manage research information at a South African higher education institution. The study emphasises the use of formal methods for requirements specification to build an optimal system. Consequently, the Zermelo-Fraenkel Z specification language was used to specify the requirements of the proposed system which was developed in close collaboration with the intended users who also assessed its usability. The system evaluation responses were made on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. The overall results of the evaluation show that RAMS is usable and suitable for managing research information, nonetheless improvements are recommended. / M

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Technology: Public Management, Durban University of Technology. Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Globally, commercialization of university innovation has increased and gained in interest by universities, industry and politicians. The idea of marketing innovation produced by universities is the practice embraced in most advanced economies. However, government’s investment in R&D have not generated the anticipated return. A gap has been identified between innovation developed from publicly financed research and the failure to convert these findings into tangible outcomes. This thesis reports on an investigation of the reasons for the current low rate of commercialization of innovations at South African universities, with a view to increasing this rate. From a survey of intellectual property and technology transfer (IP&TTO) managers and interviews with individual innovators, the main contributory factors were found to be a lack of support from university management, insufficient incentives for innovators, limited access to funding opportunities, institutional bureaucratic regulations and an inefficient system of decision making with regards to intellectual property. Accordingly, the critical measures which can be modified in order to build university IP&TTO success are senior executive support for innovation and commercialization activity, a greater share of financial rewards to individual innovators and a streamlined decision making procedures concerning intellectual property assets. University, government and industry executives need to demonstrate genuine support for research and innovation development activity over the long term, allocate the necessary resources required for its success, and implement a long term strategy for intellectual property.