The role of higher education institutions (HEIs) has expanded beyond education and research to encompass tasks that can be labelled as a ‘third mission’, aiming to generate direct impacts on society. HEIs are expected to facilitate science-based innovations and spin-off companies.
Current society is characterised by the introduction of novelties, some of which transform our lives, while others represent mere trivial changes. It is increasingly understood that innovations can pose potential risks and hazards, while innovations are also crucial in solving the existing economic, social and environmental challenges.
We are interested in theoretical and empirical work that addresses, for example, the following kind of questions: Where are the boundaries of scientific knowledge? How and why are science and technology contested in current societies? What are the hoped-for and unforeseen impacts of innovations? Which social environments are conducive to the emergence of innovations?
Keywords: science, technology, innovation, institutions, higher education, ‘third mission’
Contact persons: Mika Kautonen and Pia Vuolanto
Researchers: Mika Kautonen, Pia Vuolanto, Yuzhuo Cai, Anna Martikainen, Reetta Muhonen, Elina Mäkinen, Nadja Nordling, Sonja Tiitola
Selected publications
2025
- Huising, Ruthanne, Elmholdt, Kasper T., & Mäkinen, Elina I. (eds.) (2025). Expertise In and Around Organizations: The Changing Constitution and Ecology of Expertise. Research in the Sociology of Organizations.
2024
- Hokka, Johanna (2024). Science as an ‘object of love’. Affective milieus in the neoliberal university. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 27:5, 895–911.
- Hokka, Johanna, Kurtti, Elisa, Olsson, Pia & Suopajärvi, Tiina (2024). The gendered affective economy of funding. Conflicting realities of university leaders and researchers in Finnish academia. In Acker, Sandra, Ylijoki, Oili-Helena & McGinn, Michelle K. (eds.) The Social Production of Research. Perspectives on Funding and Gender. London: Routledge.
- Leponiemi, U., & Nordling, N. (2024). Transdisciplinary Innovation Ecosystems: Creating Societal Value. In Societal Value of Welfare Politics, Policies and Services (pp. 149–172). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
- Mäkinen, Elina I., Evans, Eliza D., & McFarland, Daniel A. (2024). Interdisciplinary research, tenure review, and guardians of the disciplinary order. The Journal of Higher Education, 96:1, 54–81.
- Nordling, N. (2024). Transformative Innovation Ecosystems: Fostering innovation to address grand challenges. Tampere University Dissertations. Tampere.
- Tellmann Silje & Muhonen Reetta (2024). Sociology in the impact agenda: is there room for public sociology? In Alis Oancea, Gemma Derrick, Xin Xu & Nuzha Nuseibeih (eds.) Handbook on Meta-Research, Edward Elgar, 73–88.
- Ylijoki, Oili-Helena (2024). Funding journeys in health technology in Finland: The atypical stories of Sara and Heidi. In Acker, Sandra, Ylijoki, Oili-Helena & McGinn, Michelle K. (eds.) The Social Production of Research. Perspectives on Funding and Gender. London: Routledge.
- Ylijoki, Oili-Helena, Hokka, Johanna, Kurtti, Elisa, Olsson, Pia & Suopajärvi, Pia (2024). Tiede ja tunteet. Tutkimustyön arki ja arvot kilpailuyliopistossa. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.
2023
- Albert, M., Vuolanto, P., & Laberge, S. (2023). Re-appraising disciplines: a commentary. Studies in Higher Education, 48(3), 413–423.
- Hokka, Johanna (2023). Emotional distance, detachment, compassion and care. The affective milieu of academic management in the neoliberal university. The Sociological Review, 7:6, 1322–1340.
- Mäkinen, Elina I. & Sapir, Adi (2023). Making sense of science, university, and industry: Sensemaking narratives of Finnish and Israeli scientists. Minerva: Review of Science, Learning and Policy, 61, 175–198.
- Nordling, N., & Kautonen, M. (2023). Sosiaali- ja terveysalan kehittyvät innovaatioekosysteemit: Tutkitun tiedon hyödyntäminen ja julkisten toimijoiden rooli. In Rannisto, P. H., Leponiemi, U., Nordling, N., & Kolehmainen, J. (Eds), Innovaatioekosysteemit sosiaali- ja terveysalan kehittämisessä (pp. 39–58). Tampere University Press.
2022
- Buitenhuis, Y. et al. (2022). Policies and Farming System Resilience, A Bottom-Up Analysis, in: Resilient and Sustainable Farming Systems in Europe, Meuwissen M.P.M. et al. (ed.), 63–87, Cambridge University Press.
- Muhonen Reetta & Kalalahti Mira (2022). Tutkijakollegiumit, tieteidenvälisyys ja huippututkimuksen ideaali (2022), Tiedepolitiikka 47(3), 7–22.
- Muhonen Reetta & Tellmann, Silje (2022). Challenges in reporting societal impacts for research evaluation purposes – the case of sociology. In Tim C.E. Engels & Emanuel Kulczycki (eds.) Handbook on Research Assessment in Social Sciences, Edward Elgar, 335–349.
2021
- Martikainen A., Kautonen, M. & Raunio, M. (2021). Towards Sustainable and Responsible Regional Innovation Policy—the Case of Tampere Region, in: W. L. Filho et al. (ed.), Innovations and Traditions for Sustainable Development, 279–294, Springer.