Organized Research Units—Their Role in the Development of University Research

The Challenges of Conducting Interdisciplinary Research in Traditional Doctoral Programs

“…Since WWII, the federal government has deliberately located most federally-funded research inside of universities [rather than in independent labs, as is the case in many other countries ( Geiger 1990;Gumport 1993)] through research grants awarded to individual faculty members, who in turn use this money to fund their students' tuition and research expenses.…”

Graduate Employee Unionization as Symbol of and Challenge to the Corporatization of U.S. Research Universities

“…On the one hand, several studies focus on the adverse effects of privatization on the research ethics and practices of faculty (Anderson, 2001;Blumenthal, Campbell, Causino, & Louis, 1996;Campbell & Slaughter, 1999;Louis, Blumenthal, Gluck, & Stoto, 1989), and on resource allocation patterns in research universities (Slaughter, 1998). On the other hand, many scholars champion the desirability and significance of connecting with industry to enhance the economy and the growth of higher education (Clark, 2001;Fairweather, 1988;Geiger, 1990Geiger, , 1993Matkin, 1990;Stahler & Tash, 1994;Tornquist & Kallsen, 1994).…”

Centres and Institutes as Academic Organisational Units

“…Historical overview of the development of academic centres Geiger (1990) ascribes the development of the academic centre in distinction from the academic department (Organized Research Units, ORUs in literature) to features of USA universities after World War 2 (WW2). American universities' academic departments stood in contrast to the Continental model of the Research Chair that characterised the German research university development during the 19 th century.…”