The impact of science shops on university research and education

This report discusses the impact from university-based science shops on curricula and research. Experience from science shops show that besides assisting citizen groups, science shops can also contribute to the development of university curricula and research. This impact has been investigated through the SCIPAS questionnaire sent out to science shops and through follow-up interviews with employees from nine different university-based science shops and one university researcher. Not all the cases call themselves science shops, but in the report the term 'science shop' will be used most of the time, when the cases are referred to in general. When the single case study is discussed the precise name is used. The interviews have in most cases been supplemented with written material about the science shops. The chosen science shops had indicated in the questionnaire that the science shop in one way or the other has had impact on university curricula and/or research. The analysis and the case studies have theoretically been based on literature on universities and education and research as institutions and a few articles about the impact of science shops on education and research. The analysis has focused on the kind of impact which the science shops have reported and related the impact to the local history of the science shop. The analysis does not point to a certain science shop model as the best, but point at enabling factors and conditions, which have been identified in the case studies.