The conference seeks to improve our understanding of science as an institution in advanced political economies and in global culture. While commentators agree that the governance of research has undergone substantial change, many fundamental questions implied in this transformation await systematic treatment. This conference addresses some of these questions with regard to intellectual and institutional innovation in science. First, the conference explores the capability of research organizations and research systems to produce original and transformative intellectual contributions, such as new theories, methods, instrumentation or empirical discoveries. We invite papers that discuss factors and mechanisms at the level of research organizations and the wider institutional environment that enable scientists and research groups to accomplish ground-breaking results. The second theme addresses the capability of research organizations and research systems to take up new intellectual developments and to institutionalize new fields of research. We invite papers that discuss how the fundamental tension between established intellectual doctrines and demands for novel research areas drives institutional renewal and contributes to organizational change. Investigating the connections between intellectual and institutional innovation requires a long-term perspective with contributions from historical, sociological and policy outlooks. Therefore, the conference invites scholars from various fields, including science history, organizational sociology, institutional theory, economics of science, higher education, scientometrics, and research policy, to submit abstracts on topics related to the two broad thematic lines.

Conference Location: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Jägerstraße

Conference Time: September 13-15, 2012, Berlin

Conference Sponsor: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Program: New Governance of Science

Conference Organizers: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Heinze, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Richard Münch

Conference Flyer