Banca de DEFESA: Maria Luiza Nogueira Rangel

THE PARADOX OF THE ROLE OF THE UNIVERSITY IN LIGHT OF THE NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM: Third Mission

innovation, national innovation system, mission-oriented public policies, third mission, university, FNDCT

The Thesis investigates the transformations in the functions of universities, with the aim of understanding their role in the context of the National Innovation System (SNI). To this end, it explores the interfaces that exist between public policies and the academic environment, revealing the tensions and possibilities in the dynamics of federal universities as a means of addressing the paradox in the role of the university in innovation. The study recognizes that the new economic paradigm of the “knowledge society”, driven by globalization, the deepening of social and economic inequality, climate change and digital transformation, has contributed to reshaping the missions and role of universities in society. This perspective challenges the traditional role of universities, creating tensions and opportunities. The research focuses on the interface between educational, science, technology and innovation policies, industrial policy and the country's economic and social development. This interface presupposes the strengthening of the traditional missions of universities (teaching, research and extension) while incorporating a new dimension: innovation, expressed through the Third Mission. From this perspective, the contribution of universities to the economic and social development of countries constitutes the essence of the Third Mission. The varied reconstructions and interpretations reveal disputes over the role and priorities of universities, establishing a paradox. The research adopts a qualitative theoretical-methodological approach, using case studies as a research strategy to analyze the 69 Brazilian federal universities and their integration into the National Innovation System. The thesis identifies a change in direction of the country's public policies, aimed at mission-oriented policies, which seek more integrated, strategic and long-term action, as a result, highlights the initiatives: Nova Indústria Brasil (NIB), the 10 programs of the FNDCT, the Ecological Transformation Plan and the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan (PBIA). The research results indicate advances, such as the creation of Technological Innovation Centers (NITs) and the institutionalization of Innovation Policies in universities. The research contributes to reflection on the strategic role of universities by proposing a conceptual framework for understanding their role in the National Innovation System.