Research portfolios of universities. searching for opportunities and collaboration partners

Universities lack a comprehensive view of their entire research portfolio when looking for opportunities in new research fields and searching for collaboration partners. The paper presents an analytical framework, building on the principle of relatedness, that aims to assess the potential of universities to extend their research portfolios, to identify potentials of collaborations with other research organizations, and to determine the extent to which universities exploit complementarities in their collaborations. We illustrate the framework presenting the case of an university alliance between three Dutch universities that aims to contribute to the circular society. Publication data are used to identify relevant scientific capabilities of the universities to promote the circular society, in what research fields complementarities can be identified between partners, and to what extent partners exploit those complementarities in terms of co-publications.