In Between New Public Management and Network Governance in Austria, Finland and Scotland: Potential Conflicts in Autonomy Understandings of Governments and Universities [Scholarly Article - Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 2022]

Title:

In Between New Public Management and Network Governance in Austria, Finland and Scotland: Potential Conflicts in Autonomy Understandings of Governments and Universities

 

Author:

Kajetan-Stransky-Can

University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

 

Published:

Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 9 March 2022

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13132-021-00881-z

 

Abstract:

The political science doctoral thesis project is focussing on comparing university policies with the background of different welfare state types: Austria as a conservative-corporatist, Finland as a social democratic and Scotland as a liberal welfare state. As universities are pre-constitutional entities, it seems to be legitimate to search for fit from welfare state policy-making with the practices of university steering. Here, I will present paradigm evidence of top-down-oriented New Public Management (NPM) and bottom-up-formed Network Governance (NG) at a macro-level, i.e. governance by the state. The paradigms connect with the theme of institutional autonomy, which differentiates into an academic, a financial, an organisational and a staffing aspect. As a result, I propose the following hypothesis for the cases of Austria, Finland and Scotland: NPM is present, but not dominant in higher education (HE) policies. More likely, NPM and NG appear simultaneously within the university policies of Austria, Finland and Scotland. How do these paradigms transfer within the institutions? In this article, a concept for this transfer of action in horizontal autonomy to actors in vertical autonomy through communication and through management committees’ interplay elaborates and, additionally, hypotheses formulate. The extent of the space for alternative paradigms to join the paradigm transfer game, for example, for Epistemic Governance (EG), might be larger, the higher the regulative density of university policies is. The borders of every paradigm in university policy, however, constitute with (a) strong welfare state traditions for governance and (b) strong university traditions for steering. Conservative-corporatist welfare state tradition as in Austria shows an inclination for university policy governance to be control-oriented, whereas social democratic welfare state tradition as in Finland relies on trust in university policy formulation (and implementation). It has to remain open how the liberal welfare state of Scotland would classify.

Estimates of excess mortality for the five Nordic countries during the Covid-19 pandemic 2020-2021 [Preprint - medRxiv, May 2022]

Title:

Estimates of excess mortality for the five Nordic countries during the Covid-19 pandemic 2020-2021

 

Authors:

Kasper P. Kepp, Jonas Björk, Kristoffer T. Bæk & Tea Lallukka

 

Published:

medRxiv, 7 May 2022

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.07.22274789v1

 

Abstract:

Excess deaths during the covid-19 pandemic are of major scientific and political interest. Here we review excess all-cause death estimates from different methods for the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden), which have been much studied during the covid-19 pandemic. In the comparison of the methods, we use simple sensitivity estimates and linear interpolations of the death data to discuss uncertainties and implications for reporting ratios and infection fatality rates. We show using back-calculation of expected deaths from Nordic all-cause deaths that a recent study in Lancet, which is a clear outlier in the overviewed estimates, most likely substantially overestimates excess deaths of Finland and Denmark, and probably Sweden. The other estimates are more consistent and suggest a range of total Nordic excess deaths of approximately half of that in the Lancet study, a more uniform ability to identify covid-19-related deaths, and more similar infection fatality rates for the Nordic countries.

The World’s First Deep Geological Nuclear Vault Will Store Radioactive Waste in Finland for 100,000 Years [SingularityHub, 2022]

Title:

The World’s First Deep Geological Nuclear Vault Will Store Radioactive Waste in Finland for 100,000 Years

 

Author:

Vanessa Bates Ramirez

 

Published:

SingularityHub, 25 March 2022

Click here to read

 

From the article:

Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the world was on the cusp of an energy crisis. As countries scramble to set ambitious carbon neutrality targets, it remains wholly unclear how those targets will be met, as eagerness to exit coal and other fossil fuels is far from matched by an equivalent capability to replace it with clean, cheap energy sources. In light of the geopolitical shift taking place around energy in the last month, with countries shunning Russia’s oil and gas but needing replacement sources—and not wanting to go back to long-term reliance on coal—the debate around nuclear energy has reignited. Except this time, there’s even more reason to be in favor of the ever-contentious power source than against it.

Analysis of citation inequality in Finland and Nigeria using the Lorenz curve [South Africa Journal of Science, September 2021]

Title:

Analysis of citation inequality in Finland and Nigeria using the Lorenz curve  

 

Author: 

Remare Ettarh 

Health Systems Evaluation and Evidence, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Canada

 

Published:

South Africa Journal of Science, Volume 117, No 9/10 (29 September 2021)

https://sajs.co.za/article/view/10726 

 

From the article:

Scientometric assessments have become an essential component of research evaluation, and central to these is the use of citation indicators. Citations are used in the performance measurement of research departments and institutions1 , assessment of research funding applications2 , and promotion and hiring of research scientists3 . Although there have been strong arguments for and against the use of citations for these purposes due to concerns about their reliability and validity as performance indicators, most research institutions across the world continue to make decisions partly based on citation data.4  Citation counts are still widely used to judge scientific impact and quality, but the significant field-related and temporal variations that exist within the data make comparisons based on absolute counts inappropriate unless done with normalisation.

 

Finnish Biotech Secures U.S. Patent for Ivermectin-based Nasal Spray to Take on COVID-19 in Low-to-Middle-Income Countries [TrialSiteNews, June 2021]

Title:

Finnish Biotech Secures U.S. Patent for Ivermectin-based Nasal Spray to Take on COVID-19 in Low-to-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

 

Published:

TrialSiteNews, 2 June 2021

https://trialsitenews.com/finnish-biotech-secures-u-s-patent-for-ivermectin-based-nasal-spray-to-take-on-covid-19-in-low-to-middle-income-countries-lmics/

 

From the article:

A biotech venture based in Turku, Finland, called Therapeutica Borealis just secured a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its COVID-19 therapy based on ivermectin and a few other notable therapies: hydroxychloroquine and aprotinin. Developed as a nasal spray, which can challenge the virus’ ability to enter the body and replicate, this particular investigational product can be mass-produced at low cost and distributed to parts around the world where vaccination may be less pervasive. Now the company seeks pharmaceutical company partners to scale up research and go-to-market.

 

FINLAND - What makes international students want to stay on or go?

Title:

What makes international students want to stay on or go?

Author:

Jan Petter Myklebust

Published:

University World News, 17 October 2020

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201016145617425

From the article:

Three-quarters of bachelor degree graduates and two-thirds of masters and doctoral graduates live on in Finland for three or more years after their degree, according to new research.  

 

The study by Charles F Mathies and Hannu Karhunen, researchers at Jyväskylä University and the Helsinki Institute of Labour Economics, tracked a sample of 13,046 international students graduating at 24 universities of technology and 14 universities in Finland between 1999 and 2011, via the Finnish personal identity code.

 

Academics' effectiveness and professional development in Croatia: Challenges for human resource management in higher education institutions

Title:

Academics' effectiveness and professional development in Croatia: Challenges for human resource management in higher education institutions

 

Authors:

Zoran Sušanj, Ana Jakopec & Ana Đorić

Published:

European Journal of Education, 10 October 2020

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejed.12422

Abstract:

The relationship between higher education and profound global economic, social, technological and political transformations underway in recent decades is attracting growing public and professional interest. In this context, governmental bodies, higher education institutions and academics are under pressure to improve the effectiveness and professional development of academic staff. This article explores the need to adapt current human resource management practices in higher education in Croatia as a response. The article presents recent empirical data from higher education institutions in Austria, Croatia and Finland collected in the international project “Modernisation of Higher Education Institutions through Enhancement of Human Resources Management Function”. Descriptive indicators of current human resource management practices in higher education institutions reveal substantially different levels of development and use of certain practices to manage the effectiveness and professional development of academics. This article discusses the role of the human resource function at higher education institutions, the possibilities of using specific human resource development activities designed for different job roles held by academics, the importance of a performance management system that suits the academic environment, and the need for a strategic approach to human resource management at higher education institutions.  

Older People Are Physically And Mentally Fitter Than 30 Years Ago, Says Finland Study

Title:

Older People Are Physically And Mentally Fitter Than 30 Years Ago, Says Finland Study

 

Author:

Carly Cassella

 

Published:

Science Alert, 23 September 2020

https://www.sciencealert.com/today-s-older-people-are-physically-and-mentally-better-off-than-they-were-30-years-ago

 

From the article:

Over the last few decades, human life expectancy has increased by an extraordinary amount. The average person born in the 1960s lived to around 52 - in Finland, they can now expect to live to over 80.

 

What's less clear is how many of those extra years are spent in good health with relatively good mental and physical function.

 

Scholarly Article (2020) - Change and continuity in the academic profession: Finnish universities as living labs

Title:
Change and continuity in the academic profession: Finnish universities as living labs.

Authors:
Siekkinen, T., Pekkola, E. & Carvalho, T.

Published:
Higher Education, 79, 533–551 (2020). 
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00422-3

Citation:
Siekkinen, T., Pekkola, E. & Carvalho, T. Change and continuity in the academic profession: Finnish universities as living labs. Higher Education, 79, 533–551 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00422-3

From the abstract:
"The academic profession is challenged by the changing environment. Global trends, such as managerialism and new public management, have been influencing all public organizations, including universities. The academic profession is dynamic by its nature; it reflects any changes in its environment. However, the academic profession is also characterized by continuity. In this study, we describe the current changes and continuities of the academic profession in Finland, as perceived by top and middle managers employed in Finnish Universities."