HIEST seminar 30 October 2024: Elisa Kurtti
Dilemmatic research funding
In RUU E314 Isa; Teams meeting link (public, free)
Presentation summary:
The presentation is about my doctoral thesis that delves into the emotional practices attached to research funding from the perspectives of academic leaders, researchers and research funding specialists. I will first talk about my thesis on a general level, and will then dive into its latest part, an article about academic leaders’ affective dilemmas that revolve around funding.
Competition over research funding increasingly structures the everyday life of both researchers and universities’ leadership. Universities’ leadership worry about the success of their universities within the confines of global competition and performance criteria, while researchers struggle with limited research time, unrealistic expectations, and the dependence on research funding that comes with career precarity.
The strong focus on attaining funding also shows in university leaders’ orientation towards often hierarchical leadership strategies. Top-down led resource prioritization within universities also affects what kinds of research efforts are supported e.g. via the availability of research support services. These developments are often at odds with the more traditional ideals of freedom of science, democracy and collegiality, which creates affective complexities in universities on structural, collegial and personal levels.
Presenter: Elisa Kurtti (elisa.p.kurtti@jyu.fi)
Presenter background: Doctoral Researcher (Social psychology, Tampere University), Information Specialist (JYU)