Internal Knowledge Transfer in German Higher Education Institutions: Insights from a Mixed-Methods Approach (BMBF Project AGICA)

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are global generators of knowledge that are structured around four main pillars: research, teaching, administration and the third mission e.g. knowledge transfer. All offer different areas of expertise and have different roles, but they are interrelated as numerous HE-internal processes involve all pillars. In order for an HEI to function most effectively in relation to its organisational development, we suggest that HEIs should utilize unused potential of their own internal expertise through reciprocal, recursive transfer of knowledge between all pillars.

In the German BMBF-funded research project AGICA (Agile Campus. University-internal knowledge transfer between science and administration) we ask how knowledge transfer between different pillars is being used with a view to supporting organisational development.

Following 26 exploratory qualitative interviews at three HEIs in one of Germany’s 16 federal states, an online survey was conducted in spring 2024 with 1,020 participants, followed by additional interviews with leaders in different areas. Results suggest that researchers mainly exchange knowledge with decentralised university administration with less knowledge transfer to central university administration. The role of so-called HE managers is also analysed. Here, results suggest the potential of university management for greater knowledge transfer.

The AGICA project has also investigated whether innovation labs as separate structures can promote the recursive transfer of knowledge within an HEI. Two interviews with lab leaders and results of a nationwide survey of 12 former project coordinators of innovation labs in 2023 are presented, suggesting that the mandate of the university management and a positive leadership are important for effective internal knowledge transfer. To summarise: we present results of how and whether the gap of knowledge transfer between research and other pillars is bridged in the context of German HEIs.