Third Party Funding

The interdisciplinary project "Science Communication and Knowledge Transfer" at the FSU Jena is investigating the role of press releases in the transfer of knowledge between public research and society. Volker Gast (Institute of English and American Studies) and Holger Graf (Economics) are using computer-aided text analysis to investigate the phases and mechanisms of knowledge diffusion via various communication channels. Focussing on the connection between scientific publications, press releases and daily press articles, the aim is to trace the paths of knowledge dissemination from researchers to society. The intended project results should contribute to the optimisation of science communication and knowledge transfer.

Duration 2024-2025

Funded by: Research Network on Old Age Security (Forschungsnetzwerk Alterssicherung FNA)

The project analyses from the perspective of employers and employees which factors influence whether employees close to retirement continue to work or retire (early). We consider monetary and non-monetary incentives as well as individual circumstances. The comparison of the employer and employee sides provides important insights into how the effective retirement age can be increased.

The ageing of society, and in particular the imminent retirement of the baby boomer generation, poses a major challenge. In addition to the increasing labour shortage, this development has a major impact on the financial stability of the pay-as-you-go statutory pension scheme. It is therefore important to identify short to medium-term options for action. A key factor is the age at which employees are no longer available to the labour market. Many employees leave the labour market before reaching the statutory retirement age by taking advantage of partial retirement, severance schemes or the deduction-free pension for very long-term insured persons.

Later retirement, especially for baby boomers, could lead to some short-term relief for the statutory pension scheme. This proposal centres on the question of how the effective retirement age can be increased. We look at this question from the employee and employer perspective. The existing literature shows that workplace characteristics, institutional framework conditions and individual factors are important. With the help of interviews and surveys with experiments among (near-retirement) employees and employers, we will investigate which factors are central to staying in the labour force longer, taking into account trade-offs on the employee and employer side. In addition, willingness to pay for key job characteristics will be determined and how this is influenced by the institutional framework (e.g. additional pension points). By considering the employer and employee side, factors can be determined that are desired by employees and appear possible from the employer's perspective. Focussing on these factors is a promising strategy to counteract the demographically induced decline in the short and medium term.

Together with Prof. Dr. Sarah Necker, ifo Institute and Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen Nuremberg

Duration: 2024-2027

Funded by DFG

The aim of the project is to analyse the effects of multiple competition in the higher education system against the background of its increasing internationalization. To this end, changes in job advertisements for professorships are to be examined. The filling of professorships plays a decisive role in the strategic positioning of universities in multiple competition. It can be assumed that the requirements of the various competitions in which universities find themselves are reflected in job advertisements for professorships. 

Empirically, the research project focuses on the analysis of job advertisements for professorships in different disciplines at German universities between 1990 and 2020. Based on a detailed content analysis of these job advertisements, the research project aims to show how different competitions in the higher education system and in particular the increasing internationality of these competitions are reflected in job advertisements over time. Furthermore, the project aims to explain the alignment that occurs in the job advertisements of different disciplines and types of higher education institutions as well as the observable variation with the help of various contextual factors. Both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used. Theoretically, the project is based on institutionalist theories, in particular on arguments from neo-institutionalism (with particular reference to world society theory and the glocalization perspective), as well as imprinting theory. As a result, contributions to research on multiple competitions in the higher education system, on the strategic positioning of universities and on institutionalist organizational theories are expected.

Project leader: Prof. Dr. Peter Walgenbach
Project member: Lisa-Maria Gerhardt

Funded by BMBF

The BMBF has been funding regional innovation alliances, R&D alliances, junior research groups and other innovation-promoting activities in eastern Germany through the ‘Unternehmen Region’ programme (since 1999). The funding was provided against the background that, as a result of the economic, political and social upheaval, the East German economy had not yet been able to develop important innovation-promoting factors such as large companies with strong research capabilities, internationally successful SMEs or strategic co-operation between players from science and industry. The individual programmes were developed successively over the years and each addressed current developments and challenges in the East German innovation system with specific objectives. The funding expired in 2022. The research consortium (consisting of the universities of Marburg and Mannheim as well as Prognos AG) is now evaluating the effects of the ‘Unternehmen Region’ programme family with regard to relevant individual actors (e.g. companies and research institutions) and the regional innovation system. The underlying evaluation concept is based on various success indicators (including research and innovation performance) and a mixed-method approach that includes both extensive qualitative procedures (e.g. regional case studies) and complex counterfactual analyses.

Duration 2023-2025