Soo Jeung Lee

Knowledge-based innovation and collaboration: a triple-helix approach in Saudi Arabia

This study analyzed the research productivity of Saudi academics using the triple-helix model. In the analysis, we combined domestic and international collaboration by three sectors—university, industry, and government—according to the model of the triple-helix. This approach produces better results than by simply including international collaboration as fourth sector. According to the analysis, research collaboration in Saudi Arabia which is measured by the triple-helix, was “-” uncertainty (negative T-value) while scientific productivity has been dramatically increasing since the late 2000s. The triple-helix collaboration does not quite differ between domestic collaboration and “domestic and international” collaborations. In our further analysis, we found that technological development was not based on scientific research in Saudi Arabia; rather, the technological development relies on prior technology (patent references). From that point, Saudi Arabia’s current long-term strategic plan to develop a scientific base for a knowledge-based industry is well aligned to the current contexts of Saudi Arabia.

Temporal variation in hepatotoxicity and metabolism of acetaminophen in mice

Temporal variation in metabolism and hepatotoxicity of acetaminophen (APAP) was examined using male ICR mice. Animals were injected with a single dose of APAP (400 mg/kg, i.p.) at 08:00, 14:00 or 20:00 h. APAP at this dose was markedly hepatotoxic to mice when administered at 20:00 h as determined by increases in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities, and by decreases in hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-Pase) activity. However, mice appeared to be entirely insensitive to an identical dose of APAP given either at 08:00 or 14:00 h. Hepatic glutathione (GSH) level was significantly higher at 08:00, but no difference in GSH levels between 14:00 and 20:00 h was observed in normal mice. APAP and its metabolites in blood were monitored using HPLC for 3 h following the treatment. There were no significant differences in the plasma concentrations of APAP, APAP-glucuronide, APAP-sulfate, or APAP-mercapturate among the mice treated with this drug at 08:00, 14:00 or 20:00 h. However, the APAP-cysteine and APAP-GSH levels measured at 1 h following the APAP treatment were significantly lower in mice treated with this analgesic either at 14:00 or 20:00 h. In vitro hepatic microsomal p-nitrophenol hydroxylase activities were not different between 08:00, 14:00 and 20:00 h. But ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase and aminopyrine N-demethylase activities measured at 14:00 h were significantly lower than those of 08:00 or 20:00 h. Thus, the greater hepatotoxicity of APAP administered at 20:00 h appears to be related to the marked decrease in hepatic GSH at this time period, whereas the simultaneous reduction in APAP activation may be responsible for the lack of hepatotoxicity in mice treated with this analgesic at 14:00 h. These results suggest that the temporal variation in hepatotoxicity and metabolism of APAP is determined by interactions of multiple factors including the hepatic GSH level and drug metabolizing activities.

Research collaboration across higher education systems: maturity, language use, and regional differences

This study analyzed whether research collaboration patterns differ across higher education systems based on maturity of the systems, their language, and their geographical region. This study found that collaboration patterns differ across higher education systems: academics in developed systems are more collaborative than their colleagues in developing systems; academics in English-speaking countries are no more collaborative than their colleagues in non-English speaking countries; and academics in European countries are more collaborative internationally than their colleagues in non-European countries. In addition, it was found that publication is not associated with collaboration, either domestically or internationally. This finding implies that collaboration is a different dimension from publication. Finally, the article discusses implications of the findings for evaluation systems.

Applying research collaboration as a new way of measuring research performance in Korean universities

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of applying research collaboration as a new way of measuring research performance in Korean universities. In this study, we examine whether the activeness of research collaboration between university–government–industry can also enact as a way to measure the research performance aside from the typical indicators such as number of published articles or citations resulted from universities. Also this study focuses to analyze whether such performance differs according to universities’ characteristics and disciplines. For the analysis of the study, we gathered publication and citation data (2000–2009) of 46 Korean universities that are actively involved in research and analyzed their science citation index-expanded and the social sciences citation index (SSCI) data. Notable findings include (1) Several low ranked universities have shown rapid improvement with their research performance despite the rigid hierarchical characteristic of Korean higher education system, (2) Although universities in Korea are involved in various kinds of collaboration methods, it was evident that such dynamic is not necessarily reflected in existing hierarchy structure, (3) Academic relations with education oriented universities and research oriented universities have different dynamics and patterns in research collaboration, (4) In terms of the collaborative publication rate, private universities collaborate more actively amongst university sector whereas public universities collaborate more with government and industry. (5) Due to the nature of the social science subject itself, it was found that the research in SSCI is inevitably more based on the researcher’s independence, hence more international collaboration was found amongst researchers in natural science and engineering subjects.

Influence of university prestige on graduate wage and job satisfaction: the case of South Korea

ABSTRACT Obtaining a tertiary degree no longer guarantees entry to the best occupational positions in today’s labour market. Success is no longer about ‘more’ education, but about ‘better’ education for university graduates. This study aims to understand whether university prestige in Korea accounts for occupational outcomes in both monetary and non-monetary aspects, such as salaries and job satisfaction. The study particularly focuses on the way different levels of university prestige are affected by gender. The fourth wave data from the Korean Education and Employment Panel were used, providing information from the results of a panel survey of university graduates in terms of their social and academic background and job employment status. Results show that university prestige continues to matters in occupational outcomes in particular, for wage, but it is not significant for job satisfaction. The effect is more significant among male graduates than among female graduates.

Academic Inbreeding of Korean Professors: Academic Training, Networks, and their Performance

This study focused on doctoral training and inbreeding status among Korean academics in relation to their perceptions, activities, performance, and job satisfaction. Faculty training patterns were classified into three categories—foreign PhDs, PhDs from a home university in Korea, and PhDs from other domestic universities. Inbreeding status was based on whether faculty graduated from the same university where they had been undergraduate students. This study found that inbred faculty members have a strong sense of affiliation towards their institutions, spend more time on research and service activities than non-inbred professors, but spend less on teaching. However, regression analysis performed found that inbred professors are not necessarily more productive than non-inbred professors, nor more satisfied with their job.

Work experiences and knowledge transfer among Korean academics: focusing on generational differences

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to explore work experiences and knowledge transfer among Korean academics in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In particular, the study addresses the ways in which academics from different generations develop their work experiences and how these experiences influence their knowledge transfer. The research questions are as follows. (1) To what extent do academics’ work experiences and knowledge transfer differ between generations? (2) What factors influence academics’ knowledge transfer, and do these factors differ by generation? The study uses multiple data sources: (1) the Korean Researcher Information service provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea; (2) the Korean Citation Index, Web of Science and Scopus for publication data, (3) the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service; (4) a higher education database provided by the Ministry of Education, Korea and (5) an international comparative survey entitled ‘The Changing Academic Profession’. The results show that the training for academics in STEM fields in Korea has evolved over the last three decades. Their work experiences have changed, ranging from work in industry to work for public research institutes and postdoctoral fellowships. These experiences differ by generation, which also affects academics’ knowledge transfer.

Growth Behavior of Research Collaboration with Heterogeneous Colleagues and Research Commercial Activities in Korean Academics

The purpose of this study is to review the characteristics of research performance evident in academic journals and patents, and to explore the effects of faculty members’ characteristics on research performance. This study focuses on co-authored patterns in academic journals based on the triple-helix model. Co-authored patterns were used as a proxy variable of research collaboration and divided into publications coauthored with university-industry research collaboration and university-government research collaboration. The data for this study was drawn from the Korea Researcher Information (KRI) data bank of the National Research Foundation. This study found that the number of journal article publications has increased rapidly in the Korean academy since the mid-1990s, and the proportion of publications coauthored by researchers in university-industry-government networks has increased from 2000 to 2009. It was found that various work experiences have positive effects on research collaboration with heterogeneous colleagues and research commercialization. It is surmised that the effects of work experience on research performance have increased as the number of faculty members having varied work experiences before taking up appointments as full-time lecturers in universities have mounted.

Impact of Internship on Job Performance among University Graduates in South Korea

This study aims to explore internship experiences and their influence on job performance among university graduates in Korea. The research questions are as follows: 1) To what extent do university students engage in different types of internships in Korea? 2) How do internship experiences differ by academic fields and institutional types? 3) Does internship experience predict graduates’ job performance, namely their job search duration, wages, and job satisfaction? This study used the Korean Education and Employment Panel Survey ( KEEP ) data conducted by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training ( KRIVET ). In this study, the data was selected from 1,184 respondents who graduated from high school in 2005 and became paid workers in any sector after graduating from a junior college or university. Data from 961 respondents were used in this study. The results show that internship experience improved job performance; it shortened the duration to find a job and enhanced wages and job satisfaction. The effects on job performance, however, differed by type of internship, academic major, institutional characteristics, and working condition. We explored the actual internship participation of university graduates in Korea and examined its impact empirically, offering implications for individuals, universities, and policymakers.