The fundamental issue of the Third Mission is the flow of exchanges with society, based on the economic, social and cultural exploitation of knowledge produced by universities and research organizations. The heterogeneity and complexity of the activities of the Third Mission is a set of opportunities and resources from which Universities and Research Organizations can draw thanks to the role, recognized in modern knowledge society, of driver of the economic growth and social and cultural development. In the context of the Research system evaluation, the fundamental indicators are far from the standardization, comparability and aggregation required to allow metrics and synthetic comparisons, or any systematic weighing with Research and Didactics. In this framework, this dissertation was focused on the building of useful tools, both to define potentialities and specific and optimized actions, aimed at achieving the expected results or those one predetermined, and to provide the actors involved, not only a realistic evaluation, but also useful incentive for improvement. In addition, in the face of the constant reduction in public funding for Research, the representation of society and public opinion on the many positive effects of Research activities can help to positively guide the debate on the increasingly efficient use of public resources and the need to diversify funding tools and to exploit the achieved results. In the Chapter 1, the evolution of the role assigned to the Third Mission is described, together with a review of the main issues, arisen over the years, with regard to the evaluation of the activities that make up and the obstacles that arise to their organic analysis. In the Chapter 2, the process of institutionalization and the regulatory framework for the Third Mission evaluation entrusted, in the Italian context, to the ANVUR (National Agency for Evaluation of the University System), is presented. The introduction on how was carried out the latest VQR (Quality Research Assessment 2011-14) shows both assumptions and potentialities of the collected data that will be largely used for the applications described in the following chapters. Finally, in the Chapter 3, the partnerships between universities and Territorial Intermediary Structures for the Third Mission (SIT) is subject to a specific in-depth study: from the point of view of the acts of exploitation of the research on the territory, the presence of incubators, scientific and technologic parks, consortia, associations and foundations for the technology transfer, is a significant benefit, mainly if they are able to take advantage of concrete and efficient service collaborations. On the other hand, this presence, though extremely necessary, can lead to some damaging consequences often evident in some Italian experiences, but not only. In particular, based on the evaluation criteria and questions available for this context, some statistical methodologies were initially used to optimize the use of quantitative references in order to support the judgment of the expert in this field; subsequently, some homogeneous profiles obtained in this way have been described and tested in the light of specific interest variables. The relationship between quality of Research and quality of Third Mission is the focal point of the presented analysis. Verification of mutual influence seems to be largely demonstrated by correlating the various indices produced by ANVUR, for each of the 16 disciplinary areas, and 7 areas of the Third Mission identified. In this context, the limited reliability of some available indicators has suggested particular caution, especially for the macro-area of the cultural-artistic exploitation of research, without prejudice to the results of interest and ideas for further insights.
L’elemento portante della Terza Missione è il flusso di scambi con la società, basato sulla valorizzazione economica, sociale e culturale della conoscenza prodotta da università ed enti di ricerca. L’eterogeneità e la complessità delle attività di cui si compone la Terza Missione costituiscono un bagaglio di opportunità e risorse da cui università ed enti di ricerca possono attingere in considerazione del ruolo di motore della crescita economica e dello sviluppo sociale e culturale riconosciutogli nella moderna knowledge society. Nel contesto della valutazione del sistema della Ricerca, i relativi indicatori risultano lontani dallo stato di standardizzazione, comparabilità e aggregabilità richiesto per consentire metriche e confronti sintetici, o qualsiasi pesatura sistematica con Ricerca e Didattica. In tale quadro, il presente lavoro di tesi ha inteso contribuire alla costruzione di strumenti utili, sia per definire potenzialità ed interventi specifici ed ottimizzati, finalizzati al raggiungimento dei risultati attesi o di quelli prefissati, sia per fornire agli attori coinvolti, non solo una valutazione realistica, ma anche stimoli utili al miglioramento. Inoltre, di fronte alla costante riduzione dei finanziamenti pubblici alla Ricerca, la rappresentazione alla società e alla pubblica opinione delle numerose ricadute positive delle attività di Ricerca può contribuire ad orientare positivamente il dibattito sull’uso sempre più efficiente delle risorse pubbliche, nonché sulla necessità di diversificare gli strumenti di finanziamento e di valorizzare i risultati conseguiti. Nel Capitolo 1 è descritta l’evoluzione del ruolo riconosciuto alla Terza Missione, insieme ad una rassegna delle principali problematiche emerse nel corso degli anni per quanto riguarda la valutazione delle attività che la compongono e degli ostacoli che sorgono ad una loro analisi organica. Nel Capitolo 2, è presentato il processo di istituzionalizzazione e il quadro normativo della valutazione della Terza Missione affidata, nel contesto italiano all’ANVUR (Agenzia Nazionale di Valutazione del Sistema Universitario). L’introduzione alle modalità di svolgimento dell’ultima VQR (Valutazione della Qualità della Ricerca- 2011-14) delineano presupposti e potenzialità dei dati raccolti e in gran parte utilizzati per le applicazioni illustrate nei capitoli successivi. Nel Capitolo 3, la relazione delle università con le strutture di intermediazione territoriale per la Terza Missione (SIT) è oggetto di uno specifico approfondimento: dal punto di vista dell’azione di valorizzazione della Ricerca sul territorio, la presenza di incubatori, parchi scientifici e tecnologici, consorzi, associazioni e fondazioni per il trasferimento tecnologico, costituisce un beneficio rilevante, principalmente se esse sono in grado di trarre vantaggio da collaborazioni di servizio, concrete e intelligenti. Di contro, tale presenza, per quanto estremamente necessaria, non esula da possibili conseguenze dannose spesso evidenti in alcune esperienze italiane, ma non solo. In particolare, a partire dai criteri e dalle domande valutative disponibili per tale contesto, alcune metodologie statistiche sono state inizialmente adoperate per ottimizzare l’utilizzo di riferimenti quantitativi a supporto del giudizio esperto in tale ambito; successivamente, alcuni profili omogenei così ottenuti, sono stati descritti e testati alla luce di variabili di interesse specifico. Le relazioni esistenti tra qualità della Ricerca e qualità della Terza Missione rappresentano il punto focale dell’analisi presentata. La verifica di un’influenza reciproca sembra ampiamente dimostrata mettendo in relazione i diversi indici prodotti dall’ANVUR, per ciascuna delle 16 aree disciplinari e dei 7 ambiti della Terza Missione individuati. In questo contesto, la ridotta affidabilità di alcuni indicatori disponibili ha suggerito particolare cautela, soprattutto per il macro-ambito della valorizzazione culturale-artistica della Ricerca, senza pregiudicare tuttavia risultati d’interesse e spunti per successivi approfondimenti.
Terza Missione tra rilevanza valutativa e qualità della ricerca
DE ICCO, FRANCESCO
2018-03-16
Abstract
The fundamental issue of the Third Mission is the flow of exchanges with society, based on the economic, social and cultural exploitation of knowledge produced by universities and research organizations. The heterogeneity and complexity of the activities of the Third Mission is a set of opportunities and resources from which Universities and Research Organizations can draw thanks to the role, recognized in modern knowledge society, of driver of the economic growth and social and cultural development. In the context of the Research system evaluation, the fundamental indicators are far from the standardization, comparability and aggregation required to allow metrics and synthetic comparisons, or any systematic weighing with Research and Didactics. In this framework, this dissertation was focused on the building of useful tools, both to define potentialities and specific and optimized actions, aimed at achieving the expected results or those one predetermined, and to provide the actors involved, not only a realistic evaluation, but also useful incentive for improvement. In addition, in the face of the constant reduction in public funding for Research, the representation of society and public opinion on the many positive effects of Research activities can help to positively guide the debate on the increasingly efficient use of public resources and the need to diversify funding tools and to exploit the achieved results. In the Chapter 1, the evolution of the role assigned to the Third Mission is described, together with a review of the main issues, arisen over the years, with regard to the evaluation of the activities that make up and the obstacles that arise to their organic analysis. In the Chapter 2, the process of institutionalization and the regulatory framework for the Third Mission evaluation entrusted, in the Italian context, to the ANVUR (National Agency for Evaluation of the University System), is presented. The introduction on how was carried out the latest VQR (Quality Research Assessment 2011-14) shows both assumptions and potentialities of the collected data that will be largely used for the applications described in the following chapters. Finally, in the Chapter 3, the partnerships between universities and Territorial Intermediary Structures for the Third Mission (SIT) is subject to a specific in-depth study: from the point of view of the acts of exploitation of the research on the territory, the presence of incubators, scientific and technologic parks, consortia, associations and foundations for the technology transfer, is a significant benefit, mainly if they are able to take advantage of concrete and efficient service collaborations. On the other hand, this presence, though extremely necessary, can lead to some damaging consequences often evident in some Italian experiences, but not only. In particular, based on the evaluation criteria and questions available for this context, some statistical methodologies were initially used to optimize the use of quantitative references in order to support the judgment of the expert in this field; subsequently, some homogeneous profiles obtained in this way have been described and tested in the light of specific interest variables. The relationship between quality of Research and quality of Third Mission is the focal point of the presented analysis. Verification of mutual influence seems to be largely demonstrated by correlating the various indices produced by ANVUR, for each of the 16 disciplinary areas, and 7 areas of the Third Mission identified. In this context, the limited reliability of some available indicators has suggested particular caution, especially for the macro-area of the cultural-artistic exploitation of research, without prejudice to the results of interest and ideas for further insights.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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