Europe’s New Scientific Elite

Barbara Hoenig is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Education & Society of the University of Luxembourg. She obtained her qualifications in sociology at the University of Graz (Diploma 2001, PhD 2009) and the University of Innsbruck (Habilitation 2016). She has published on the sociology of science and knowledge, the history of social sciences, social inequalities and European integration.

'Hoenig's case study is a major contribution to the sociology of science and knowledge. Based on rich empirical material and within an advanced theoretical framework, Hoenig demonstrates the consequences of European science policy, especially with respect to the formation of new scientific elites and the impact on the cognitive content of research.' - Gerald Angermann-Mozetic, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria'Science studies has generally neglected how funding arrangements construct hierarchies within science and establish particular meanings of research excellence that position and (dis)place other possible meanings. With great nuance, Barbara Hoenig reveals the detailed politics of knowledge construction underlying the European Research Council in what is the first major study of ‘Europe’ as a project of scientific integration. This is a superb and timely book.' – John Holmwood, University of Nottingham, UK‘Science, including social science, has usually been at least partially international in the scope of its operations, but international linkages and collaborations have been largely personal or have involved fragile organisational ties. The institutional initiative studied here, the ERC, endeavours to scale-up European science to operate at a formal supranational level. Barbara Bach-Hoenig’s study deploys a magnificent array of theoretical and empirical resources to study its early operation.’ – Charles Crothers, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

• List of figuresList of tablesAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsChapter 1. IntroductionChapter 2. The problem: Establishing ‘excellence’ in socially stratified scienceChapter 3. State of research: Controversial ideas on science and public research in a global marketplaceChapter 4. Explaining social change by Europeanization of science: An analytical approach Chapter 5. Methodology: Judging scientific ‘excellence’Chapter 6. The social structure of the European Research Area: A country comparison Chapter 7. Knowledge of ‘European excellence’: The grant-winning researchChapter 8. The cultural structure of the European Research Area at supranational level: The case of the European Research CouncilChapter 9. The sampling: What is a scientific elite?Chapter 10. The grantees: Social choice and mechanisms in elite career trajectoriesChapter 11. The panellists: Social choice and mechanisms in grant peer reviewChapter 12. Social consequences and conclusions: Cumulative advantage and the case of the European Research CouncilAppendixIndex