Article: Researching together in academic engagement in engineering: a study of dual affiliated graduate students in Sweden Journal: International Journal of Technology Management (IJTM) 2024 Vol.96 No.4 pp.261 - 278 Abstract: This article explores dual affiliated graduate students that conduct research involving both universities and firms, which we conceptualise as a form of academic engagement, e.g., knowledge networks. We explore what they do during their studies, and their perceptions about their contributions to the firm's capacities for technology and innovation. So far, university-industry interactions in engineering are less researched than other fields, and this qualitative study focuses upon one department of Electrical Engineering in Sweden. First, we define and describe how the partner firms and universities organise this research collaboration as a form of academic engagement. Secondly, we propose a conceptual framework specifying how graduate students act as boundary-spanners between universities and firms. This framework is used for the empirical analysis, when exploring their perceptions of impact. Our results reveal that they primarily engage in problem-solving activities in technology, which augment particularly the early stages of absorptive capacities in firms. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Researching together in academic engagement in engineering: a study of dual affiliated graduate students in Sweden

Authors: Karin Berg; Maureen McKelvey

Addresses: Unit of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Department of Economy and Society, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg Centre on Knowledge-Intensive Innovation Ecosystems (U-GOT KIES Centre), University of Gothenburg, Viktoriagatan 13, 411 25 Gothenburg, Sweden ' Unit of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Department of Economy and Society, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg Centre on Knowledge-Intensive Innovation Ecosystems (U-GOT KIES Centre), University of Gothenburg, Viktoriagatan 13, 411 25 Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract: This article explores dual affiliated graduate students that conduct research involving both universities and firms, which we conceptualise as a form of academic engagement, e.g., knowledge networks. We explore what they do during their studies, and their perceptions about their contributions to the firm's capacities for technology and innovation. So far, university-industry interactions in engineering are less researched than other fields, and this qualitative study focuses upon one department of Electrical Engineering in Sweden. First, we define and describe how the partner firms and universities organise this research collaboration as a form of academic engagement. Secondly, we propose a conceptual framework specifying how graduate students act as boundary-spanners between universities and firms. This framework is used for the empirical analysis, when exploring their perceptions of impact. Our results reveal that they primarily engage in problem-solving activities in technology, which augment particularly the early stages of absorptive capacities in firms.

Keywords: intangible assets; dual affiliated PhD students; academic engagement; engineering; university-industry interactions; collaborative research; boundary spanner; absorptive capacity; technology; innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2024.140716

International Journal of Technology Management, 2024 Vol.96 No.4, pp.261 - 278

Received: 03 Mar 2022
Received in revised form: 08 Nov 2022
Accepted: 22 Dec 2022
Published online: 02 Sep 2024 *

Title: Researching together in academic engagement in engineering: a study of dual affiliated graduate students in Sweden

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