US President Donald Trump is part of a chilling parade of politicians […] who have risen to prominence in the past decade by fuelling anti-immigrant sentiment. But […] we should be grateful for what global talent has done for our economy. Since 1900, immigrants have made up one-third of US …
Recruiting International Talent
Research universities have always thrived on the free circulation of peo-ple and ideas. So too have national economies. Many countries — most famously, the United States — have benefited from their ability to attract talented newcomers, who have gone on to perform path-breaking research, establish major commercial enterprises and generate …
Impact of Disruptive Technologies on Employment and the Role of Universities
The research universities represented by the Glion Colloquium have been responsible for many of the greatest discoveries and intellectual breakthroughs in history. I am proud to lead one of these universities. For the last 800 years in Cambridge, new discoveries have been forged to transform the way we live and …
The role of universities and social needs in times of great change
It goes without saying that universities are social entities, and the very meaning of their existence is directly related to whether they can serveand benefit society. Although this may vary widely among universities, and an institution may place more importance on one philosophy over another, almost all universities are founded …
Human capital, the oft forgotten key Challenge
A university without faculty is like a bicycle without wheels. It won’t get you very far. I know this is a matter of course, forcing an open door. Yet, precisely because it is obvious that universities without teachers and researchers are just empty shells, it strikes me that, when we …
Responsibility of Business Schools to train Leaders
Business Schools have been seriously challenged in recent years and have sometimes accused of contributing directly to the financial and economic crisis that has deeply shaken the world and has not been yet overcome. Different types of arguments have been used against BS, including the setting up and use of …
Preparing the University and its Graduates for the Unpredictable and Unknowable
Universities are a key player in the “knowledge society”. But this increased influx of knowledge and the exponential rate of technical progress also generate anxiety and fear that could undermine the fundamental role of universities to elaborate and disseminate knowledge. Universities should not be locked into the sterile debate of …
Community Engagement as Social Innovation
In 1992, Francis Fukyama reflected in The End of History and the Last Man on the transformative events signified by the collapse of the Berlin Wall. He argued that What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War,
Industry as a Catalyst of Innovation
Success today hinges on our abilities to harness human potential, combine creativity with new knowledge and ensure economic impact is quickly derived from money spent on research. U.S. strength continues to lie in the ability to master innovation, but the future increasingly depends on our ability to also collaborate,
Team Players to Shape our Future: Do our Students Learn the Right Skills?
Education is the key for success and welfare of a country. Figure 1 shows the correlation between the wealth intensity and the number of citations in scientific journals. Switzerland is among the top nations. It has a special, so-called dual education system (Figure 2). From age 16 onwards, the majority …
Comprehensive Universities in Continental Europe: Falling Behind
Universities in continental Europe have a long tradition of nearly one thousand years, incorporating the idea of the “Greek academia”. The foundation of universities spread rapidly throughout medieval Europe, with Bologna (1088) and Paris (1150) as the first, acting as models for the others to come. The university started as …
Global Success: Real World Research ‘Meets’ Global Practitioners
In this chapter we will first discuss the intensified global competition that seems to be evident between academic institutions. We will then point out two dimensions that might enhance stronger academic value creation in this emerging context. The first is more emphasis on realistic research — “real world” relevance in …
Building Singapore’s University Education System in a Globalized World
The research universities represented by the Glion Colloquium have been responsible for many of the greatest discoveries and intellectual breakthroughs in history. I am proud to lead one of these universities. For the last 800 years in Cambridge, new discoveries have been forged to transform the way we live and …
Partnering on a Global Scale
The past decade has brought tumultuous change to industry, effectively rewriting the assumptions and rules of how global business is conducted and of where to locate one’s operations and why. The advancement of information and communications technology, the ready access to a global delivery infrastructure, the pervasiveness of worldwide supply …