Commissioned research in neoliberal academia

What is it about?

Academia is increasingly structured by the measurement of research and researchers: papers, projects and funds are counted to define a researchers output and quality. As the ability of acquiring funding is a basic pillar in these measurements, there is also a difference in the kind of research the funding is given for. Basic or fundamental research is (at least in social sciences) valued higher than applied research such as in evaluations. In addition, commissioned research as we conducted it in the case of evaluations, also allows little time for the writing of scholarly papers and above all, the tight resource calculations usually also allows for little musing in order to gain a deep understanding of the researched questions.

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Why is it important?

It is important to think about the conditions under which we produce research: what do we need to produce good research, i.e. research that furthers our understanding of social questions.