Methodology of nonlinearity in the research of the phenomenon of expansion of the innovation space of higher education[Методология Нелинейности При Исследовании Феномена Расширения Инновационного Пространства Высшей Школы]

The article relates to the formation of a methodology of nonlinearity for nonlinear cognition of the spatial expansion of higher education in the innovation sphere, which manifests itself as the implementation of its innovative activities and the spread of innovations not only inside, but also outside its own national states. This trend of embedding higher education in the global innovation process has a stable and long-lasting character, due to its all-round innovatization and globalization. The article offers a rationale of the relevance and presentation of the methodology of nonlinearity as the most effective tool for understanding the expansion of the innovation space of higher education and its integration into the worldwide innovation process. The proposed methodology of nonlinear research is opposed to the so-called linear logic, a linear method often used in economics that considers objects and phenomena with predictable behavior and is not able to give a complete picture of the development of open nonequilibrium systems. The methodology of nonlinearity includes the principles of the theory of systems self-organization and the theory of evolutionary economics. It allows combining both stationary and dynamic components of the nonlinear process under study in one model, revealing the nature of changes in both spatial and temporal properties accompanying the modification of higher education integrated into the global innovation space. The study’s results are presented as the parameters of the nonlinearity of the university innovation space expansion. Theirs disclosed using a nonlinear methodology. There are: the openness of higher education to the import-export of information, energy and material flows; the state of instability, disequilibrium under the influence of external and internal factors; updating the structure through self-organization, leading to the replacement of obsolete parts of the system with new ones; the ability to make qualitative leaps, once at the bifurcation points.