Marco Seeber

Marco's research examines the policies, governance and management of Higher Education systems and institutions, Science and Research activity, by adopting multilevel, comparative and quantitative research designs. Key topics of interest include: the impact of policies and policy instruments on Higher Education and Science (e.g. NPM, metrics), research evaluation (peer review, projects selection, new bibliometric indexes), internationalization of universities and interdisciplinary research, relations-symbols-communication of universities (mission statements, websites, strategic positioning).

His work has been published in journals such as Research Policy, Science and Public Policy, Public Management Review, Higher Education, Studies in Higher Education, Scientometrics, Research Evaluation, Journal of Informetrics. His work on self-citations has been featured in Nature Index, the London School of Economics impact blog a b, and he has been interviewed for Nature, Science and Physics Today. His co-authored paper on the competition for talent won the Swiss Prize for research in education 2019. 

He is associate editor of the European Journal of Higher Education.

Selected projects

TEFCE (2018– 2019) – Multinational comparative project for the European Commission aimed to understand how to improve the community engagement of universities. 

Survey on International students - City of Ghent and Higher Education Institutions in Ghent (2018-2019) – Role: expert

European University Association (2017- 2018) – Survey on Doctoral Education among EUA members – Role: expert

MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS (2016 -2017) – FP7 ex post and H2020 interim evaluation – Role: external expert counselling for data analysis

HEREL (2016 – 2017) – Project for the European Commission. Comparative study of eight countries exploring policies promoting the relevance of Higher Education

SHERDE (2015-2016) - Project for the European Commission. Comparative study of eight countries aimed to study Structural Higher Education Reforms

EUNIVATION (2015-2016) Project for the European Commission, aimed to study universities’ contributions to innovation capacity – Role: external expert, indicators design, literature review.

COST action (2014- 2018) – “Reforming Peer review” action TD 1306 – Role: Dissemination and Outreach co-ordinator, member of the workgroup on theory and concepts.

ERAWATCH (2013) – Platform on Research and Innovation policies and systems: Analytical Country report on Switzerland – Role: Expert for the European commission

ESPON-AMCER Project (2012) - Project for the European Commission. Advanced Monitoring and Coordination of EU R&D Policies at Regional Level

LOMBARDY REGION (2011)– A system of indicators for the Management of a Regional Higher Education system

TRUE (2010) – Comparative multinational project studying the changes in the governance of European universities - Role: studying the funding and evaluation systems of the eight European countries, Guidelines for analysing survey data.

Seeber M.*, Meoli M., Cattaneo M. (in press) How do European Higher Education Institutions internationalize? Studies in Higher Education. In press. LINK

Huisman J., Seeber M. (2019) Higher Education policies and the effects on Science. Handbook of Science and Public Policy eds. Weert Canzler, Stefan Kuhlmann, Dagmar Simon. Edward Elgar Publishing LINK

Seeber M.*, Cattaneo M., Meoli M., Malighetti P. (2019) Self-citations as a strategic response to the use of metrics for career decisions. Research Policy. 48 (2) pp. 478-491. LINK

Seeber, M.,*, Barberio, V., Huisman, J., Mampaey, J. (2019) Factors affecting the content of universities’ mission statements. An analysis of the United Kingdom higher education system. Studies in Higher Education. 44 (2) pp. 230-244 . LINK 

Zaharie, M. A., Seeber, M.* (2018) Are non-monetary rewards effective in attracting peer reviewers? A natural experiment. Scientometrics. 117(3) pp. 1587–1609. LINK

Fumasoli T., Seeber M. (2018) Scholarly or socially relevant? An examination of European academic associations. European Educational Research Journal (EERJ). 17 (3) pp. 385-403.

Donina D., Seeber M., Paleari S. (2017) Inconsistencies in the Governance of Interdisciplinarity: The Case of the Italian Higher Education System.  Science and Public Policy. 44 (6) pp. 865-875

Seeber M. *, Bacchelli A. (2017) Does single blind peer review hinder newcomers? Scientometrics. 113(1) pp. 567-585

Seeber M. *, Cattaneo M., Huisman J., Paleari S. (2016) Why do higher education institutions internationalize? An investigation of the multilevel determinants of internationalization rationales.  Higher Education. 72 (5)  pp. 685–702

Canhilal S. K., Lepori B., Seeber M. (2016) Decision-Making Power and Institutional Logic in Higher Education Institutions: A Comparative Analysis of European Universities. Research in the Sociology of Organizations. 45 pp. 169-194.

Seeber M. *, Lepori B., Montauti M., Enders J., De Boer, H., et al. (2015) European universities as complete organizations? Understanding identity, hierarchy and rationality in public organizations. Public Management Review.  17 (10) pp. 1444-1474

Lepori B., Seeber M., Bonaccorsi A. (2015) Competition for talent. Country and university-level effects in the internationalization of European universities. Research Policy.  44(3) pp. 789-802