China’s continuous economic rise in the last three decades has beenone of the most dramatic events in world history. In addition to liftinghundreds of millions people out of poverty, creating a huge middle class with increasing disposable income and modernizing China’s economic structure, this rise has also affected the rest …
The changing Nature and Character of research Universities : New Paradigms
WHY NEW PARADIGMS ARE NEEDED FOR RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES The research university in its current form represents a remarkable and successful model where education and research and its application are brought together in synergistic ways that produce valuable new ideas, insights, products and services, as well as thought-leadership that informs policy …
Fault Lines in the Compact : Higher Education and the Public Interest in the United States
The research university stands as one of the most admired and emulated of American institutions. Year after year, American universities dominate the international rankings of institutions of higher education. The demand for places in American programs continues to grow, and the quality of matriculating students continues to improve. The prospects …
How to Answer the Utilitarian Assault on Higher Education?
GROWING PRESSURES TO ADOPT UTILITARIAN MISSION Across the country, state governors and governing boards are demanding that undergraduate education focus on the preparation of students for immediate jobs, thus promoting vocationalism above all other purposes of education, in fact, often to the exclusion of all other purposes. • In some …
Contemporary challenges for the Swiss – and the continental European – university system
A SLIGHT DISCOMFORT These are very interesting times for university education at the world level, and Switzerland is indeed no exception to this generalization. The importance of higher education in our societies and our economies is being constantly stressed, universities enjoy a higher level of institutional autonomy worldwide than was …
The Strategic Repositioning of Research Universities to fulfil their Global Promise
The relevance of universities has become a theme of public debate, reflecting the anxiety and excitement surrounding changing forces in the larger context of globalization, as well as widespread concern with regard to basic economic and societal well-being. Despite a whirlwind of change and transformation, universities have been stable, resilient …
The Impact of Technology on Discovery and Learning
Today, our world has entered a period of rapid and profound economic, social and political transformation driven by knowledge and innovation. Educated people, the knowledge they produce and the innovation and entrepreneurial skills they possess have become the keys to economic prosperity, public health, national security and social well-being. It …
Challenges in Establishing a Top Research University
The historical development of research universities and their roles in society has been articulated in many articles and documents. Since their inception, distinguished research universities have generated leaders in virtually every field and created scientific and technological advances that have affected the welfare and well-being of humanity. Top research universities …
Research Universities and the Future of America : A Study by the National Academies
Today, our world has entered a period of rapid and profound economic, social and political transformation driven by knowledge and innovation. Educated people, the knowledge they produce and the innovation and entrepreneurial skills they possess have become the keys to economic prosperity, public health, national security and social well-being. It …
The Asian Tiger University Effect
A common wisdom is that we are now entering the Asian Century, having travelled the American century in the 1900s and the British century in the 1800s. This reflects the array of impressive economic indicators emerging in the East. As the Australia in the Asian Century white paper (Australian Government, …
The Challenge of Transition in Public Higher Education
The American Land-Grant University was established in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act into law. Setting aside federal land in the individual states for public universities, the idea behind the Act was to make higher education accessible for the first time to the broader American population in …
Can the IT Revolution lead to a rebirth of World-call European Universities
We have reached a critical moment in time when the digital revolution — brought on by ubiquitous personal, mobile and affordable information devices — is challenging the historical missions of education and research; a challenge for our universities that constitutes a disruptive force and an opportunity for world-class European universities….This …
Can the French System support competitive Research Universities
during this symposium, we have addressed the question of the imbalance between educational need and educational capacity. Of course, this question has been asked in France. What are the answers? Are they adequate? Are they specific to the French situation or can they be used in a wider range of …
Research Universities and Sustainable Development with special Reference to India and IIT Madras
Rapid advances in technology have had dramatic consequences. The environment that moulded life on earth over many millennia is being altered and even replaced dynamically, endangering the very life whose quality science and technology seek to improve. The overwhelming concern of all societies today is that of sustainability
Summary of the Colloquium
The VIII Glion Colloquium was held in June 2011 to consider the roles that could be played by the world’s research universities in addressing the various challenges of global sustainability in the broadest sense, e.g., climate, environmental, economic, health, poverty and geopolitical. This included considerations not only of how research …
Addressing global and social Challenges and the Role of University
The world today is experiencing drastic transformations of its functioning and its underlying systems, driven by entrepreneurial individuals, institutions and States, characterized by increasing interdependency, and multi-dimensional and global nature.
Strategy in the Face of Uncertainty and Unpredictability
One of the most vexing problems we face today in moving toward a more sustainable society is the problem of uncertainty and imperfect predictability of complex physical and biological phenomena. Such states of knowledge cause havoc when scientific and technological knowledge,
International STEM Education for Global Sustainability
On a daily basis, people around the world face challenges that result from us all, together on our small planet, approaching the carrying capacity of our environment. The sustainability of humanity is determined by our ability to keep in balance the three pillars of society — our environment, and our …
The Contribution of Research Universities in solving the ‘Grand Challenges’
Obviously, the world is changing rapidly, and not only for the better: Grand challenges for society are arising and demand solutions. Some challenges can be foreseen, some may occur without warning. When societal problems can be predicted, responsible governments have to address their solutions. Early research has to contribute to …
How can Research Universities Contribute to Fostering Sustainable Societies in Developing Countries
Although law is hardly a science, rather an intellectual discipline, it is at the heart of many of the issues discussed in this Colloquium: it shapes the functioning of democracy; it regulates markets; contributes to protecting the environment, to fighting corruption and crime; it avoids or solves conflicts, translates the …