Research areas

The areas have different disciplinary structures. In Area I, Organization, which is the largest in terms of the number of researchers, participants come primarily from political science, business administration, intellectual history, philosophy, law, and education. Area II, Funding, brings together mainly researchers in economic history, business administration, and sociology of education and is relatively small but strong in Uppsala. Area III, Recruitment, is closely linked to sociology of education. Area IV, Substantive dimensions, has a centre of gravity in intellectual history, business administration, philosophy, economic history, and sociology of education. Area V, Internationalization, is also a relatively small research field in Sweden, but Uppsala has a strong presence, particularly through researchers in business administration, philosophy, and sociology of education.

The different areas are complementary and can often be linked in larger projects and programmes. For example, it is interesting to ask how academic freedom depends on particular funding models and how different ways of financing education affect recruitment patterns.

One function of the research areas is to make visible the working method developed within HERO, where research, commissioned work, collaboration, knowledge dissemination, etc. are interwoven over time. One example is that, building on earlier research on recruitment, HERO was commissioned to produce an evidence base for the project Regardless of background. This in turn has led the Swedish Council for Higher Education to express interest in how Uppsala University works with widening participation, which may lead to assignments at the national level. Another example is how the strength in the field of governance and organization led SUHF to commission HERO to study increased control and increased bureaucratization. Findings from both research and commissioned work are also incorporated into various events that are organized.