P E D R O   A R A U J O


Research


CURRENT PROJECTS

Recognise ORD (recORD)

Abstract

Recognise ORD (recORD) brings together 12 Swiss higher education institutions (HEIs), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and FORS as a national research data infrastructure to take a joint step forward in studying how Open Research Data (ORD) practices should be recognised and valued in the assessment of research proposals, the assessment of research personnel during recruitment and career development as well as in the assessment of research performing institutions. The diverse consortium includes big and small universities, big and small universities of applied sciences as well as partners from the ETH domain. In addition, the SNSF and FORS will add the views of funders, researchers and research infrastructures to the discussion.

The project will perform an analysis of best practices in ORD recognition based on (a) a literature review and (b) the discussions on the use of ORD in research assessment in CoARA working groups as well as the Swiss national CoARA chapter. These analyses are then contrasted with an analysis of the policies and needs of all involved partners.

For the dissemination of the results the consortium will hold a one-day event for the Swiss community as well as for invited international guests in December 2024.


Overview

Local Power Structures and Transnational Connections. New Perspectives on Elites in Switzerland, 1890-2020

Abstract

Recent research on elites has highlighted on the one hand the increasing internationalization of elites, particularly economic elites, often considered increasingly disconnected from their local context and, on the other hand, the importance of their local roots for successful economic and political development. Due to its political and economic decentralization, combined with the early internationalization of its companies, Switzerland and its local elites are a particularly interesting case to study the tensions between local anchorage and transnational connections as well as the impact of long-term political and economic changes of scale, such as the centralization of the state or economic globalization.

Building on the database of the Swiss Elite Observatory OBELIS, this project focuses on the elites of the three main Swiss cities (Zurich, Geneva and Basel). It revolves around two main research axes:
a) the transformations of local power structures
b) the insertion of elites at the local, national and transnational level

These research axes will be developed in four sub-projects, focusing on different types of local elites:
S1: committee members and managers of the chambers of commerce
S2: the economic elites of the main economic sectors and companies
S3: members of art societies and other local cultural institutions
S4: universities and academic elites

This framework will contribute to a better knowledge of Swiss elites and allows to shed a light on the transformations they faced between 1890 and 2020. The results of this project will also be relevant for more general research on elites in other national contexts. The full project outline can be found here.



Overview