The Research Game in Academic Life

• What are the implications of an increasingly competitive global system of higher education research?
• In what ways have policy changes to the evaluation and funding of university research impacted on higher education institutions in the UK and in other countries?
• How do institutional and departmental managers and individual academics organise and manage research to best maximise the gains of being successful in research?

The Research Game in Academic Life turns a spotlight on the importance of research in determining the reputation and success of universities and the academics who work within them. It provides an overview of the changing policies of funding and evaluating university research during the last twenty years and analyses how this has impacted on the status and hierarchical positioning of universities in the United Kingdom. Comparisons of research policies in other national systems of higher education are also made, with examples from Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Australia.

Empirical data is drawn from qualitative case studies of two UK universities and focuses on the way in which the management and organisation of research within these institutions has responded to the demands of economic and accountability pressures and successive rounds of the Research Assessment Exercise. More particularly, the book reflects the human stories and accounts from the individuals who serve to maintain the important research and teaching work of these institutions.

The Research Game in Academic Life offers a thoughtful analysis and will make essential reading for researchers, department leaders, policy makers and managers in higher education.