Innovation Trends and Science Studies

The Business Unit is coordinated by Dr. Henning Kroll.

Researchers in the Business Unit Innovation Trends and Science Studies identify and assess thematic trends in the innovation system in order to provide empirically robust findings for political decision-making processes. To capture such trends, our activities focus on the quantitative operationalization of questions that are relevant to science and innovation policy. By developing suitable, quantitative indicators, we provide a robust basis for decision-making in emerging domains.

We identify emerging issues of increasing importance to science and industry using established and newly developed methods. Furthermore, we evaluate the contributions that scientific and economic actors make or could make to achieving government missions. In addition, we develop new indicators to assess national economies' technological sovereignty as well as their position in the international cooperation environment.

The Business Unit's second main focus is on empirical science studies, analyses of university governance, and analyses of knowledge transfer and cooperation among different actors at regional, national and international level. Against this background, we contribute to discussions and policymaking in the field of science-industry cooperation, international cooperation, and the development of evidence-based impact models in evaluation research.

With a view to methodology, we focus on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of larger texts (text mining, big data and web scraping) in combination with other quantitative data sources. Within the overall strategy of the Competence Center, our Business Unit aims to contextualize trends and developments in science, innovation and the economy, and thus to provide an interface to policy studies.