Paul Benneworth
University of Twente, the Netherlands
Senior Researcher, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies
Biography:
Paul Benneworth is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) at the University of Twente, in the The Netherlands. His first degree is in human geography from Oxford University (Class I): he took his Ph.D. part-time whilst working as a research associate at Newcastle University. He completed his Ph.D. in Economic Geography, entitled “Innovation and Economic Change in an old industrial region: the case of the North East of England” in 2002. Since then, he has held a ESRC Post-doctoral Fellowship at Newcastle University, and in 2005 was appointed to a Research Councils UK Academic Fellowship in the Territorial Governance of Innovation in the Knowledge Economy, also at Newcastle University.
Dr. Benneworth is also a Project Leader for a research project within the UK Economic and Social Research Councils Initiative “The regional economic impact of HEIs”, at the Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise. The project is entitled “Universities and community engagement: learning with excluded communities,” and aims to study how universities are engaging with a range of excluded communities in the regions of the North East, North West and Scotland. It will develop a typology of university-community engagement that will help identify a number of successful case-studies across these regions. In-depth qualitative research will examine the impact of university-community collaboration on social capital and learning within the relevant excluded communities as well as inform future policy frameworks.
Expertise: How universities work with their stakeholders for greater community impacts; innovation and economic development in peripheral economic regions.
Years of relevant experience: 12
Relevant Publications:
Benneworth, P. S., Charles, D. R. & Madnipour, A. (2010) “Universities as agents of urban change in the global knowledge economy” European Planning Studies (forthcoming).
Benneworth, P. S., Hospers, G. J. & Timmerman, P. (2009) “Who builds “science cities” and “knowledge parks”? High technology firms mobilising heterogeneous commercialisation networks” in R. Oakey, S. Kauser, A. Groen and P v.d. Sijde (eds.) New technology based firms in the new millennium Vol 7, London: Elsevier, forthcoming.
Benneworth, P. & Jongbloed, B.W.A (2009) “Who matters to universities? A stakeholder perspective on humanities, arts and social sciences valorisation” Higher Education DOI 10.1007/s10734-009-9265-2
Benneworth, P. & Sanderson, A. (2009) “Building institutional capacity for HEI regional engagement in a sparse innovation environment: a case study of Knowledge House” Higher Education Management and Policy.
Conway, C., Benneworth, P., Humphrey, L. & Charles, D. (2009) “Review of university engagement” paper prepared for Newcastle University PVC (Engagement), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle University. Available on-line here.
Benneworth, P. S., Coenen, L., Moodyson, J. & Asheim, B. (2009) “Exploring the multiple roles of Lund University in strengthening Scania’s RIS: towards institutional learning? European Planning Studies (forthcoming Sep 09)
Arbo, P. & Benneworth, P. S. (2007) Understanding the Regional Contribution of Higher Education Institutions: A Literature Review OECD Education working paper 2007/09, Paris: OECD
OECD (2007) Higher education and regions: globally competitive, regionally engaged, Paris, OECD/ IMHE.
Benneworth P, Hospers G-J, (2007) "The new economic geography of old industrial regions: universities as global–local pipelines" Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 25(6) 779–802
Benneworth, P. S. & Hospers, G.-J. (2007) “Urban competitiveness in the knowledge economy: Universities as new planning animateurs” Progress in planning, 67 (2) pp. 99-198.
Benneworth, P. S. Hospers, G. J. & Jongbloed, B. (2006) “New economic impulses in old industrial regions: the role of the University of Twente in regional renewal” in A. Prinz, A. E. Steenge & J. Schmidt (eds) Innovation: technological, economic and institutional aspects, Münster: Lit Verlag.
Charles, D. R. & Benneworth, P. (2002) Evaluating the Regional Contribution of an HEI: A Benchmarking Approach, Bristol, HEFCE
Charles, D. R. & Benneworth, P. (2001) The regional contribution of higher education, London: HEFCE/ Universities UK.
Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) 
Mission: The Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) is an interdisciplinary research institute located within the School of Management and Governance. CHEPS is one of the world’s leading centres of excellence and relevance in its field and has a strong international reputation. Its research, education and consultancy activities focus on higher education and research policy at the institutional, national and international levels.
Staff size: 24 researchers, fellows and support staff.
Overview of programs:
The overarching theme of our research programme for the coming years’ activities addresses the dynamics of the ‘Transformation of Higher Education and Research in the Knowledge Society’. This theme stresses the ongoing reformulation of the function of higher education and research to play an important role in strengthening modern societies’ innovative capacities. All basic functions – research, teaching, scholarship and the ‘third mission’ – are subjected to revisions in both their objectives and in the conditions under which they are carried out. Universities and colleges find themselves in a changing environment with sometimes competing claims from governments, markets, interest groups and stakeholders. In this highly dynamic context, politicians, institutional decision-makers, students, academics and other stakeholders raise fundamental questions about the further development of higher education.
Link:
http://www.utwente.nl/cheps
Contact Information:
E-mail: p.benneworth@utwente.nl
Telephone: +31 53 489 3271