The proof of the pudding: University responses to the European Research Council

Universities are structured and behave as organizations. This article analyses universities’ responses to the changes in the institutional environment of research funding that the European Research Council (ERC) represents. First, we develop a two-dimensional typology constructed upon universities’ commitment to ways of acting and the existence of organizational capabilities. We identify four ‘ideal types’: committed, hesitant, operational, and neglected. Secondly, we use a variety of indicators to position a representative sample of 18 Spanish universities in an empirical taxonomy constructed along the dimensions identified with the ideal types. Our findings confirm that university responses to the excellence programme of the ERC are not homogeneous. Among the attributes associated with committed responses we find: research orientation, links with international funding sources, and the existence of more open and flexible human resource policies. Conversely, low specialization, lack of critical mass by area, a strong teaching orientation, and high internal fragmentation are associated more with neglected responses.Peer reviewe