Conference Agenda

Knowledge, in its deepest sense, is not an immediate act nor a simple accumulation of information but a historical, progressive, and dialectical process through which the human spirit recognizes itself in its relationship with the world. Through this leadership movement in organizations, decision-makers not only learn about their reality but also seek to influence and transform it, understanding the practices of organizational knowledge management (creation, exchange, and transfer) in the public university (Mohammad-AlQhtani, 2025; Tarko-Kassa and Jing, 2025; Vyas, 2024), starting from the orchestration of a conservatory for the development of an artificial intelligence laboratory. This is achieved through a descriptive-interpretive and critical phenomenological analysis (Hegel, 1971: 1807) of secondary documents and narratives of institutional practices, using grounded theory as the analytical method and axial coding to identify the institutional, human, leadership, resource, and infrastructure factors that influence their effectiveness. This is done from the perspective of knowledge-based theory (Miller, 1995), institutional theory (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; Scott, 2008), and theories of organizations and social change (dependency theory, modernization theory, conflict theory, dynamic capabilities theory, life cycle theory, and teleological theory). The following question is addressed: How does the structural flexibility of organizations in emerging economies facilitate or hinder technological leaps relative to legacy innovation models? How do institutional resistance and new dynamic capabilities interact during the transition to an AI-based management model? To what extent does the transfer of tacit knowledge, mediated by international collaboration networks, determine the capacity of organizations in developing countries to absorb explicit knowledge? This allows us to identify categories, relationships, and patterns linked to institutional governance rules, the reach of university services, the use of models, algorithms, and frameworks, as well as the university's core values and social purpose, in relation to the impact of research funded by public sources. We describe three isomorphic processes coercive, mimetic, and normative based on pressure for legitimacy and mandate exerted by national organizations upon which the creation of new knowledge and the formation of expectations for social employability depend. This also addresses global uncertainty, improves the efficiency of the teaching profession, fosters the development of 21st-century skills, and optimizes educational management. The use of procedural manuals, workflows, and collaboration agreements is considered a form of knowledge transfer that universities replicate by adopting similar methods. In line with the European-international dimension, the study aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 4, 9, 16, and 17 by analyzing how knowledge governance and the management of AI laboratories in public universities contribute to responsible innovation, international academic cooperation, and institutional strengthening in emerging economies through Open Science and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) approaches. The European public university is conceived as a key player in the social innovation ecosystem, capable of articulating institutional leadership, ethical values, and digital transformation in service of the common good. Beyond the professionalization of their members (researchers, administrators), they share a common educational foundation and behavioral models. This means that European and Latin American actors are assuming increasingly similar roles in their efforts to transform the university context and consolidate dynamic capacities through international academic networks.

This study investigates the education model and implementation mechanisms of the integration of specialization and innovation, abbreviated as ISI, in high level research universities, addressing institution level demands for cultivating high level, versatile talents under innovation driven development agendas. In the knowledge economy, universities are expected to develop graduates with strong disciplinary foundations alongside innovation capability and entrepreneurial literacy. In practice, however, structural barriers continue to constrain collaboration among universities, industry and government within higher education innovation ecosystems. Disciplinary education and innovation and entrepreneurship education are also frequently arranged in parallel rather than integrated through coherent institutional design, curriculum architecture and resource allocation. These constraints make it difficult for universities to establish a sustainable and consistent talent development system that can translate reform aspirations into demonstrable improvements in educational quality and innovation outcomes. Although existing studies have offered valuable discussions from the perspectives of entrepreneurship education, university industry engagement and curriculum reform, there remains limited conceptual clarity and mechanism oriented evidence regarding ISI as a systemic education model, particularly its conceptual boundaries, internal logic and organizationalized pathways of implementation in high level research universities. The guiding research question is as follows: under the development goals and governance conditions of high level research universities, what mechanisms and structural constraints shape the effective implementation of ISI, and how do these factors operate through the alignment of curricula, faculty capacity and practice platforms to influence talent cultivation quality and the development of innovation and entrepreneurship competencies. The study aims to clarify the conceptual essence of ISI by emphasizing that ISI is not a simple combination of courses or an accumulation of extracurricular activities, but a systemic coupling and mutual reinforcement among disciplinary learning, innovation training and entrepreneurial practice. It further seeks to identify the major bottlenecks that impede ISI implementation across curriculum design, faculty development and practice platform construction, and to propose actionable and transferable pathways for institutional improvement that support research universities in upgrading talent cultivation and strengthening innovation ecosystems. The study is grounded in triple helix theory and collaboration theory, which together inform an analytical framework connecting the external collaborative ecosystem to the internal educational system. The external dimension highlights resource flows, boundary spanning and institutional arrangements among universities, industry and government, explaining why the co construction of practice platforms and the sustained provision of project based learning opportunities are often shaped by responsibility allocation, governance structure and incentive compatibility. The internal dimension foregrounds cross school and cross departmental coordination, resource integration and assessment and incentive regimes, explaining how weak curriculum alignment, underdeveloped learning outcomes oriented assessment loops and the shortage of dual competency faculty jointly constitute institutional bottlenecks. On this basis, ISI implementation is conceptualized as a coordinated improvement across theoretical curricula, faculty supply and development, and practice activities and platform construction, providing a systematic lens for analyzing challenges and development pathways. The empirical setting draws on five high level research universities in China, offering evidence and implications that speak to broader debates on talent cultivation reform in research intensive higher education.

Short video platforms (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) are applications that continuously stimulate individuals' attention and concentration systems through rapid, intense, and rewarding stimuli (Kurtça & Laçin, 2025). Watching short videos allows individuals to escape from stress and alleviate negative emotions, while providing quick access to information tailored to their preferences with low cognitive engagement (Dong et al., 2023). With the rapid global spread of short video applications, people's lives, social interactions, and entertainment are increasingly influenced by these platforms (Qu et al., 2023; Zhao & Kou, 2024). University students, representing the youth demographic, are among the most frequent users of short video applications (Cheng et al., 2023). Excessive and uncontrolled use of short video applications can lead to various negative effects, including the development of behavioral addictions (Ye et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2019). Longitudinal studies reveal that in both Eastern and Western societies, the fast-paced content streams of short video platforms reinforce compulsive use and attention-related difficulties (van Driel et al., 2022; Zhao & Wagner, 2023). In a study conducted in Türkiye, it is stated that short video addiction is associated with distractibility and impulsivity (Kurtça & Laçin, 2025). These findings point to the importance and necessity of examining the relationships between short video addiction, mind wandering, and self-control within a model framework.

The results of the study conducted by Yan et al. (2024) show that an increasing trend toward mobile phone short video addiction can negatively affect self-control and reduce executive control in the area of attention functions. In this context, self-control is defined as the ability to manage one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors to ensure harmony between oneself and one's environment (Nebioğlu et al., 2012). Self-control plays a central role in most decision-making processes and human behavior (David & Roberts, 2025). Volitional processes facilitate self-controlled behavior and involve learned metacognitive strategies such as planning and attention redirection. In contrast, impulsive processes weaken self-controlled behavior and involve reward sensitivity, emotion seeking, and desires (Duckworth & Steinberg, 2015). Watching short TikTok videos, typically 30-60 seconds long, weakens self-control, which is associated with increased phone addiction (David & Roberts, 2025). A study conducted with Chinese adolescents found that increased addiction to short videos was positively correlated with decreased attention control (Ye et al., 2025). These results indicate that although excessive use of short video applications has negative effects on individuals, users spend significant amounts of time on these platforms, and strict self-regulation of usage time is needed (Ye et al., 2025).

Another variable thought to be linked to short video addiction and self-control is mind wandering. Mind wandering is described as individuals engaging in various inner thoughts, dreams, and emotions that are irrelevant to the task at hand rather than paying attention to the task at hand (Smallwood & Schooler, 2006). Mind wandering has many effects on individuals. A study by Li et al. (2025) revealed that mind wandering is linked to hyperactivity-impulsivity and internet addiction. Mobile phone addiction and fatigue appear to be linked to individuals experiencing mind wandering (Lian et al., 2022). Studies have shown that individuals who experience flow while watching short videos tend to engage in more mind-wandering (Yayla & Çelikci, 2025). It has been found that individuals with short video addiction may have more difficulty maintaining attention, experience more attention deficits while watching short videos, and their concentration may be impaired due to the intervention (Chen et al., 2023).

Because of these reasons, the purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of mind wandering in the relationship between self-control and short video addiction in university students.