<p>Legislative changes in the U.S. and more recently Germany, require universities and research institutes to act as entrepreneurs, something that is not necessarily in their nature. Therefore, a number of Technology Transfer Organizations or Evaluation Agencies have been established to handle the evaluation, patenting and commercialization of inventions. The process of evaluating inventions, in this thesis termed DEAR, poses two major challenges for evaluation agencies: (1) the process must be aimed at keeping the inventions that will generate revenues and filtering out those that will not; and (2) the time spent on evaluation should be kept to a minimum, but must never be reduced below the point where potential commercial successes will be lost. The purpose of this thesis is to benchmark the practices of evaluation agencies in order to establish whether time can be reduced in any part of the DEAR process and if so where. We find that there are aspects in almost every stage of the DEAR process that could be made more effective. For instance, it may be worthwhile for the German agencies to reflect on the fact that their U.S. counterparts generally seem to rely on the scientific information given in the disclosure. Also, even though valuation of inventions often becomes a case of"Garbage In - Garbage Out", such valuation may be worthwhile for younger agencies since it may signal that the DEAR process is conducted in a thorough and accurate manner.</p>

Legislative changes in the U.S. and more recently Germany, require universities and research institutes to act as entrepreneurs, something that is not necessarily in their nature. Therefore, a number of Technology Transfer Organizations or Evaluation Agencies have been established to handle the evaluation, patenting and commercialization of inventions. The process of evaluating inventions, in this thesis termed DEAR, poses two major challenges for evaluation agencies: (1) the process must be aimed at keeping the inventions that will generate revenues and filtering out those that will not; and (2) the time spent on evaluation should be kept to a minimum, but must never be reduced below the point where potential commercial successes will be lost. The purpose of this thesis is to benchmark the practices of evaluation agencies in order to establish whether time can be reduced in any part of the DEAR process and if so where. We find that there are aspects in almost every stage of the DEAR process that could be made more effective. For instance, it may be worthwhile for the German agencies to reflect on the fact that their U.S. counterparts generally seem to rely on the scientific information given in the disclosure. Also, even though valuation of inventions often becomes a case of"Garbage In - Garbage Out", such valuation may be worthwhile for younger agencies since it may signal that the DEAR process is conducted in a thorough and accurate manner.

Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Motivation von Mitarbeitern an öffentlichen wissenschaftlichen Einrichtungen. Anhand einer Mitarbeiterumfrage am Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik Potsdam-Bornim e. V. werden mehrere Hypothesen untersucht, die auf der Self-Determination-Theory basieren. Die Analyse zeigt, dass viele Befragte eine hohe autonome Motivation aufweisen. Insbesondere das Gefühl, Wahlmöglichkeiten und Gestaltungsspielräume bei der Arbeit zu besitzen, beeinflusst die Motivation positiv. Während Führungskräfte dieses Gefühl der Autonomie stärken können, haben Charaktereigenschaften keinen Einfluss hierauf. Darüber hinaus zeigt sich, dass in der Wissenschaft ein Gefühl der sozialen Eingebundenheit im Arbeitskontext keine bedeutende Rolle zu spielen scheint. / This thesis deals with the motivation of employees at public scientific institutions. Based on a survey conducted at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim e. V., several hypotheses, grounded on the Self-Determination-Theory, are investigated. The analysis shows that many respondents have an autonomous motivation. In particular, having feelings of choice and leeway regarding the work positively affects motivation. While leaders can strengthen this feeling of autonomy, personality traits have no influence. Furthermore, a feeling of relatedness within the work place seems to play no significant role in scientific contexts.

This research study focused on measuring the impact of structures that support community-university research partnerships. The broad research question asked: How can we determine the impact of community-university research partnership support structures such as the Office of Community Based Research at the University of Victoria, within the university and within local, regional, national and international communities? Methods of inquiry included: participatory research, institutional ethnography and case study. These are among an increasing number of research approaches consistent with what is called engaged scholarship. Congruent with the methods of inquiry, methods of investigation included: in-context immersion, participant-observer-listener, use of available documents and information, use of an impact assessment framework prototype designed pre-data collection, key informant interviews, field notes, research journaling and the writing process. Data contributing to this study were drawn from key informant interviews. Interview participants were situated within local, regional, national and international communities. Methods of analysis included: a two-pronged approach to organising data, deductive and inductive approaches, the lens of praxis, and the prototype as an analytical framework. Assessment as praxis is proposed as broad analytic framework. Theory was constructed through data analysis. This study’s data and analysis point to impact assessment as a cycle of inquiry and eight elements that inform impact on and through community life and impact on and through the university. The proposed Impact Assessment and Measurement Framework (IAMF) includes eight elements: coupling intention with impact, spheres of impact, categories of impact, conditions of impact, points of impact, impact-focused documentation, multiple perspectives of impact, and impact assessment and measurement statements. Contributions of this study include: recognition of staff who support community-university research partnerships through their varied work spaces, research councils as a type of support structure, impact assessment as a cycle of inquiry, explicating impact through elements of impact assessment, and a literature consolidation of impact assessment in the context of support structures. Future research may include revision and refinement of the IAMF across different types of community-university research partnership support structures. / Graduate

Our brochure is designed to give you an initial overview of “Saxony – the Science State”. We called on our universities and research institutes in the various science regions to present short profiles of themselves. Redaktionsschluss: 15.11.2014 / Sachsen hat eine der dichtesten Forschungslandschaften deutschlandweit. In der reich bebilderten Broschüre stellen sich Hochschulen und Forschungseinrichtungen vor.

Sachsen hat eine der dichtesten Forschungslandschaften deutschlandweit. In der reich bebilderten Broschüre stellen sich Hochschulen und Forschungseinrichtungen vor. Redaktionsschluss: 15.11.2014 / Our brochure is designed to give you an initial overview of “Saxony – the Science State”. We called on our universities and research institutes in the various science regions to present short profiles of themselves.

Intellectual property, particularly patents, plays a major role in innovation and discovery in biotechnology. Likewise, since the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1981, patents have become an increasingly important factor in U.S. university-driven basic research, especially in the life sciences where patented technologies have transformed agriculture. Specifically, this paper looks at the potential impacts of these trends on university driven research, the university researcher, the pharmaceutical industry, and the farm sector with an emphasis on recent and pending court cases and legislation. This paper examines policy and adoptions issues in biotechnology and biomedicine in depth and touches on important developments in the tech sectors as a back drop for pending legislation and recent court rulings. How policy is adopted, implemented and interpreted have profound impacts on food production, medical ethics, ecology, U.S. and international farm and innovation sectors and the competiveness of the U.S. in the global economy

This study explains the rise and fall of the Innovations Foundation, the University of Toronto's first office dedicated to the transfer of university-developed technologies to industry. Drawing on extensive archival research, ten interviews with key informants, and other sources, the case study traces the evolution of the Foundation from its launch in 1980 to its closure in 2006. The study delineates three distinct business models under which the Foundation operated from 1980 to 1990, 1990 to 1999, and 1999 to 2006. The reasons for the adoption and failure of each model are explored and a historically grounded, context-sensitive explanation of the university's decision to dismantle the Foundation in 2006 is provided. This explanation emphasizes the importance of managing unrealistic expectations for Canadian university technology transfer, and adds weight to a growing consensus on the importance of historical path-dependence as a conceptual tool for understanding the persistence of differentials in technology transfer performance among universities.

This study explains the rise and fall of the Innovations Foundation, the University of Toronto's first office dedicated to the transfer of university-developed technologies to industry. Drawing on extensive archival research, ten interviews with key informants, and other sources, the case study traces the evolution of the Foundation from its launch in 1980 to its closure in 2006. The study delineates three distinct business models under which the Foundation operated from 1980 to 1990, 1990 to 1999, and 1999 to 2006. The reasons for the adoption and failure of each model are explored and a historically grounded, context-sensitive explanation of the university's decision to dismantle the Foundation in 2006 is provided. This explanation emphasizes the importance of managing unrealistic expectations for Canadian university technology transfer, and adds weight to a growing consensus on the importance of historical path-dependence as a conceptual tool for understanding the persistence of differentials in technology transfer performance among universities.

Im Jahr 2009 sind die deutschen Hochschulen für beruflich qualifizierte Bewerber ohne schulische Hochschulzugangsberechtigung geöffnet worden. Der Beitrag fragt, inwiefern sich diese nicht-traditionellen Studierenden hinsichtlich des Studienerfolgs von traditionellen Studierenden mit Abitur unterscheiden. Auf der Basis von Überlegungen zu Kompetenzunterschieden aufgrund unterschiedlicher Bildungsverläufe und der kulturellen Schließung des akademischen Feldes für Personen mit niedrigerer sozialer Herkunft bilden wir Hypothesen zu Leistungsunterschieden. Diese überprüfen wir anhand von Studien- und Prüfungsleistungsdaten von 4.224 B.A.-Studierenden eines Fachbereichs einer deutschen Universität. Die Analysen zeigen, dass nicht-traditionelle Studierende im Vergleich zu Personen mit Abitur im ersten Studienjahr 7,4 Prozent weniger Lehrveranstaltungen bestehen, eine um ein Fünftel geringere Wahrscheinlichkeit aufweisen, das Studium innerhalb eines Zeitraums von mindestens neun Semestern zu beenden und das Studium mit einem durchschnittlich um 0,15 Notenpunkte schlechteren Endergebnis abschließen. Aufgrund der spezifischen Bedingungen des analysierten Fachbereichs schlussfolgern wir, dass diese Leistungsunterschiede in der Breite der deutschen Hochschullandschaft stärker ausgeprägt sein müssten als in dem untersuchten spezifischen Fall.