Transformation Processes

CHESS aims to shed light on the profound structural changes taking place within universities as sites of scientific research and teaching. These structural changes are partly the result of attempted regulation, and partly the result of endogenous changes in research and teaching practices in various fields. These transformations often do not follow a uniform logic but are composed of sometimes contradictory facets that are subject to social negotiation. CHESS focuses especially on the following transformations:

The withdrawal of the state from direct control of higher education institutions has resulted in these institutions gaining considerable autonomy in recent years. As a result, many are undergoing comprehensive (re)organization. A hybrid form of university administration is emerging in the process, with the merging of the organizational model of self-governance on the one hand and the management model on the other and each university emphasizing one or the other to a varying degree.

Higher education organizations are seeing greater demands than ever before for professionalism in management and administration (e.g., with regard to strategic, financial, or infrastructural issues) at all levels. More positions are also being created for the coordination and organization of scientific activities that cannot be clearly assigned to either administration or scholars and which are increasingly described as "new higher education professionals" or "third space".

Advantages and disadvantages as well as models of differentiation and de-differentiation are currently being widely debated in the context of higher education and science. These debates are most visible in discussions about universities, universities of applied sciences, universities of teacher education, etc., which consider their societal role along with issues relating to teaching responsibilities, rights to award doctoral degrees, and financing models.

The educational mission and teaching at higher education institutions are transforming as a result of and accentuated by the Bologna reform. Different forces are driving these processes, including modularization and crediting, the increasingly clear threefold structure of studies (BA, MA, PhD), and the tension between different orientations of higher education institutions and fields of study (occupational orientation in the sense of employability vs. disciplinary orientation).

Universities, research institutes, and individual scientists are all increasingly under external scrutiny. Society's perception of their quality and reputation also rests on their performance in university rankings and the general tone of media reports. Higher education institutions and science respond by adapting to these conditions with the aim of achieving the most positive possible public image and reputation gains.

Like other areas of society, institutes of higher education and scientific practice are currently being shaped, transformed, and challenged by digital transformation , with long-term consequences that are as yet unclear. These changes affect research (e.g., open access, altmetrics), teaching (e.g., Massive Open Online Courses), and their relationship to society (e.g., open science, citizen science).