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This Ph.D. by Published Works examines the dynamic interaction between a\ud re-thinking and a re-scaling of science. The ten Published Works are located at the\ud intersection between debates on the changing governance of science and science\ud policy governance in the context of a multi-scalar knowledge-based economy. Three\ud critical themes are examined relating to the relationship between excellence and\ud relevance, the roles of universities in knowledge-based coalitions and the relative\ud significance of regional and local knowledge-based developments for science policy\ud governance. The empirical emphasis is on two case studies of regional and local\ud science policies in North West England between 2002 and 2008, in international\ud comparative context.\ud The Published Works collectively construct a powerful story-line of change\ud and continuity within contemporary developments, undermining claims that a\ud paradigm shift has occurred in either the re-thinking or re-scaling of science.\ud Disembedded understandings of excellence predominate, despite the articulation of\ud alternative discourses on the roles of different knowledges for sub-national socioeconomic\ud development. Universities occupy ambiguous roles, with some better able\ud than others to mobilise institutional power to provide relative shelter from external\ud pressures. Sub-national interventions emphasise the re-development of physical\ud spaces and are acquisition-oriented, rather than predicated upon shifts in modes of\ud knowledge production.\ud A critical contribution of the Published Works is the forging of an\ud interdisciplinary agenda around re-thinking and re-scaling science that is both\ud academically excellent and policy relevant. The Ph.D. illustrates the need for more\ud integrated theoretical and practical understandings of the relationship between the\ud governance of science and of science policy governance and both defines and seeks to\ud populate critical gaps in this agenda. |
