Over the past decades, science funding shows a shift from recurrent block funding towards project funding mechanisms. However, our knowledge of how project funding arrangements influence the organizational and epistemic properties of research is limited. To study this relation, a bridge between science policy studies and science studies is necessary. Recent studies have analyzed the relation between the affordances and constraints of project grants and the epistemic properties of research. However, the potentially very different affordances and constraints of funding arrangements (...) such as awards, prizes and fellowships, have not yet been taken into account. Drawing on eight case studies of funding arrangements in high performing Dutch research groups, this study compares the institutional affordances and constraints of prizes with those of project grants and their effects on organizational and epistemic properties of research. We argue that the prize case studies diverge from project-funded research in three ways: 1) a more flexible use, and adaptation of use, of funds during the research process compared to project grants; 2) investments in the larger organization which have effects beyond the research project itself; and 3), closely related, greater deviation from epistemic and organizational standards. The increasing dominance of project funding arrangements in Western science systems is therefore argued to be problematic in light of epistemic and organizational innovation. Funding arrangements that offer funding without scholars having to submit a project-proposal remain crucial to support researchers and research groups to deviate from epistemic and organizational standards. (shrink)

Ob Pastores zur Selbstlosigkeit fähig sind und ob sie die Verfügbarkeit in ihrem Leben wirklich konkret gestalten können, hängt eng mit ihrem persönlichen Gefühl des Eigenwertes zusammen. Solange individuelle Pastores Unruhe und Unbehagen empfinden über ihren eigenen Wert, ihre eigene Bedeutung und Kompetenz, und solange sie sich selbst nicht als diejenigen akzeptieren können, die sie sind mitsamt ihren Unzulänglichkeiten, wird sich das auf ihre Verfügbarkeit für Menschen negativ auswirken. Mehrere Risiken bedrohen sie. Das menschliche Bedürfnis nach Eigenwert ist dermaßen lebensnotwendig, (...) daß Menschen mit nur geringem Eigenwert in Kontakten gewöhnlich mehr mit sich selbst beschäftigt sind als mit anderen; unbewußt benutzen sie andere zur Steigerung des Eigenwertes. Außerdem vermögen sie sich nur schwer in die Bedürfnisse anderer hineinzuversetzen, weil sie von den eigenen Bedürfnissen so stark beansprucht sind. Da sie sich selbst oft entfremdet sind, können sie dem anderen bloß ein ,falsches Selbst' zeigen und ist von wirklicher Offenheit und Nähe kaum die Rede. Schließlich besteht das Risiko, daß man eigene, negative Eigenschaften auf andere projiziert und daß die Intoleranz anderen gegenüber zunimmt. Kurzum: Wie kann ich dir wirklich zur Verfügung stehen, solange ich dich dazu benutze, mein Selbstwertgefühl zu heben? Solange ich von meinen eigenen Bedürfnissen dermaßen in Anspruch genommen bin, daß ich deine Bedürfnisse nicht, oder nur durch meine gefärbte Brille, also nicht objektiv, wahrnehmen kann? Solange ich mich anders gebe als ich in Wirklichkeit bin? Solange ich mich dir gegenüber ablehnend verhalte? So sehen wir, daß ein kümmerliches Selbstwertgefühl auf viele Weisen wirkliche Verfügbarkeit für andere unmöglich macht. Unsere Schlußfolgerung muß daher die sein, daß ein wahrlich verfügbarer Pastor vor allen Dingen Sorge für sich selbst und die eigenen Bedürfnisse haben muß. Erst nachdem der eigene Becher gefüllt worden ist, kann er damit anfangen, daraus wegzuschenken. (shrink)

The term Pañcārtha in the title of Kauṇḍinya’s commentary on the Pāśupatasūtra, the Pañcārthabhāṣya, is usually taken to refer to the five categories (padārtha) distinguished by Kauṇḍinya: Kārya, Kāraṇa, Yoga, Vidhi, and Duḥkhānta. The term in fact also occurs in a string of verses quoted by Kauṇḍinya in his commentary on Pāśupatasūtra 5.30, indicating that it was already in use in Pāśupata circles before him. In these verses the term Pañcārtha is used in a different sense. These and other passages (...) in the Pañcārthabhāṣya are examined to identify an earlier phase of Pāśupata thought, and to consider the role of the author of the Bhāṣya in developing the Pāśupata doctrine. (shrink)

In the fifth–sixth century CE the rulers of the Kadamba dynasty claimed the town of Halsi in modern Karnataka as the northern capital of their expanding polity. Their investments in this locale are recorded in a corpus of copper-plate inscriptions spanning four generation of kings. The plates record the growth of a thriving Jain community at Palāśikā and are revelatory of their relationships with the Kadamba rulers and their agents. This study of the donative and political processes converging in Palāśikā (...) shows that the use of Sanskrit inscriptions as media for royal representation and public self-fashioning was highly developed in the Kadamba polity, where idioms and trends developed independent of the Gupta royal model. Moreover, the evidence from Halsi is indicative of the centrality of Jain religious communities, ideologies, and institutions in the administration of the Kadamba polity and the expression of a lineage identity. (shrink)

Historically, scientific and engineering expertise has been key in shaping research and innovation policies, with benefits presumed to accrue to society more broadly over time. But there is persistent and growing concern about whether and how ethical and societal values are integrated into R&I policies and governance, as we confront public disbelief in science and political suspicion toward evidence-based policy-making. Erosion of such a social contract with science limits the ability of democratic societies to deal with challenges presented by new, (...) disruptive technologies, such as synthetic biology, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, automation and robotics, and artificial intelligence. Many policy efforts have emerged in response to such concerns, one prominent example being Europe's Eighth Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, whose focus on “Responsible Research and Innovation” provides a case study for the translation of such normative perspectives into concrete policy action and implementation. Our analysis of this H2020 RRI approach suggests a lack of consistent integration of elements such as ethics, open access, open innovation, and public engagement. On the basis of our evaluation, we suggest possible pathways for strengthening efforts to deliver R&I policies that deepen mutually beneficial science and society relationships. (shrink)

This paper aims to explore disciplinary variation in valuation practices by comparing the way research groups accumulate credibility across four epistemic cultures. Our analysis is based on case studies of four high-performing research groups representing very different epistemic cultures in humanities, social sciences, geosciences and mathematics. In each case we interviewed about ten researchers, analyzed relevant documents and observed a couple of meetings. In all four cases we found a cyclical process of accumulating credibility. At the same time, we found (...) significant differences in the manifestation of the six main resources that are part of the cycle, the mechanisms of conversion between these resources, the overall structure and the average speed of the credibility cycle. The different ways in which the groups use data and produce arguments affect the whole cycle of accumulating credibility. In some cultures, journal publications are the main source of recognition, but in others one can earn significant amounts of recognition for conference contributions or service to the academic community. Moreover, the collaboration practices in the respective fields strongly influence the connection between arguments and publications. In cultures where teams of researchers collaboratively produce arguments, it is more strongly embedded in the process of writing publications. We conclude that the credibility cycle can only be used as an analytical tool to explain the behavior of researchers or research groups when taking differences across epistemic cultures into account. (shrink)

We investigate whether smile mimicry and emotional contagion are evident in non-text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC). Via an ostensibly real-time audio-visual CMC platform, participants interacted with a confederate who either smiled radiantly or displayed a neutral expression throughout the interaction. Automatic analyses of expressions displayed by participants indicated that smile mimicry was at play: A higher level of activation of the facial muscle that characterises genuine smiles was observed among participants who interacted with the smiling confederate than among participants who interacted (...) with the unexpressive confederate. However, there was no difference in the self-reported level of joviality between participants in the two conditions. Our findings demonstrate that people mimic smiles in audio-visual CMC, but that even though the diffusion of emotions has been documented in text-based CMC in previous studies, we find no convincing support for the phenomenon of emotional contagion in non-text-based CMC. (shrink)

Universal Śaivism: The Appeasement of All Gods and Powers in the Śāntyadhyāya of the Śivadharmaśāśtra. By Peter C. Bisschop. Gonda Indological Studies, vol. 18. Leiden: Brill, 2018. Pp. viii + 221. $75.

Twaalf inheemse en religieuze leiders uit verschillende werelddelen spreken zich in dit boek uit over de heiligheid van de natuur. Hun eeuwenoude wijsheden inspireren ons om anders te gaan denken over onze omgang met alles wat leeft. Aan het woord komen de Groenlandse sjamaan Angakkorsuaq, de Amerikaanse indianenleider Chief Lane Jr., masaileider Mwarabu, de boeddhistische geestelijke Shih, de dichtende islamgeleerde Ur Rehman Chishti, orthodox rabbijn Slifkin, Maya-priester Sac Coyoy, hindoe-prins Jhala, Aztekenleider Sanchez, leider van de Canadese Bear Clan Wawatie, (...) class='Hi'>bisschop Smeets van Roermond en theoloog Valerio van Rochester Cathedral. 0Oeroude natuurwijsheden uit alle streken! (shrink)

In een vruchteloos debat van een filosoof en een bisschop komen vele vragen aan de orde, die de zoekende mens vanaf de oudheid hebben beziggehouden, waaronder het wezen God, de rechtvaardiging van het kwaad in de wereld en hoe dit te rijmen is met de goddelijke liefde.