Spaces of Research: The University

Abstract

This contribution explores the significance of place and space for doing science. Specifically, it asks how universities become places where research is enabled and driven forward. First, the complex character and fuzzy boundaries of universities are discussed. Second, three dimensions of the university as a space are differentiated: the socio-structural, the semantic-symbolic and the physical-material. Finally, the concept of “research atmospheres” is introduced to foreground the third dimension, which has often been neglected in academic and public debates about the university.