In June 2009, university and industry leaders from around the world gathered in Glion-above-Montreux, Switzerland, at the VII Glion Colloquium to consider the role of research universities in an innovationdriven, global society. Launched in 1998 by Professors Luc Weber (University of Geneva) and Werner Hirsch (University of California),
The Challenge of Establishing World-Class Research Universities in Developing Countries
Preoccupations about university rankings reflect the general recognition that economic growth and global competitiveness are increasingly driven by knowledge and that universities play a key role in that context. Indeed, rapid advances in science and technology across a wide range of areas — from information and communication technologies
The German Excellence Initiative: Changes, Challenges and Chances
For more than 200 years, the German university system has followed the ideas of Wilhelm von Humboldt — the unity of research and teaching, the freedom of teaching being the most important of Humboldt’s principles. These ideas have been followed until today, even though the external conditions that universities have …
National Innovation Policies Governments as Innovation Agents of Higher Education and Research
There is widespread agreement among economists that international forces have changed the nature of economic development (Soete, 2006). National markets have become increasingly interrelated, and goods, services, capital, labour, as well as knowledge, flow around the world seeking the most favourable economic conditions. Natural resources
Hi-Tech Industry and Universities: A Perspective on Dating for Joint Innovation
As recorded since the very beginning of our written history, knowledge has been progressing by accumulating the experience of past and present generations (Van Doren, 1991). The creation of new knowledge has been performed by various actors: priests, hunters, philosophers, farmers, artists, craftsmen, soldiers, faculties,
Response of Chinese Higher Education and SJTU to Globalization
Globalization means more competition and that a nation’s investment, production and innovation are not limited by its borders. Internationalization, according to Levin (2001), is one set of behaviour influenced by globalization processes. These processes are not only political and economic, but also social and cultural,
Doing Good by Doing Little: University Responsibility in a Violent Setting
Lebanon’s very name evokes images of civil strife and destruction, of a society almost hopelessly divided and open to exploitation by state and non state actors well beyond its borders. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 (out of a population of ca. 3.5 million) Lebanese lost their lives …
Japanese University Reform
In order to understand the radical changes that Japanese universities have been undergoing in recent years, the observer has to keep in mind three essential facts: the demographic factor as an engine behind the changes, the ongoing political drive to a reorganization of the university management structure and the need …
The Challenge to European Universities in the Emerging Global Marketplace
Although the topic for this paper implies a focus on Europe, the issues I want to address are by no means limited to that continent. Without wishing to minimize the significance of national differences and continental contexts, it is possible to discern a set of generic issues facing higher education …
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 …
Developed Universities and the Developing World: Opportunities and Obligations
Among the scores of books written during the past decade about globalization — so many, in fact, that some by different authors bear the same title 1 — none has captured as many readers as Thomas L. Freidman’s The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (2005). …
Science and Technology in Brazil
Scientists in Brazil published 16,950 scientific articles in indexed journals in 2005. The country is the 17th-largest producer of science in the world. Nine out of ten of these articles were generated in public university laboratories. Scientists and engineers in business sector R&D activities created several cases of world-class competitive …
Globalization of Research Universities in Korea
An important consequence of economic globalization is expected to be that only a few leading universities will dominate the world of higher education, just as a few companies are dominating different industrial sectors worldwide. Globalization has thus become a major goal for most research universities in Korea. It is driven …
Reinvigorating Universities in an Entrepreneurial Age
The global economy stands at a moment of extraordinary potential. The last three decades have produced steep gains in worldwide economic growth, led by a surge of innovative, entrepreneurial activity rooted in advanced science and technology. Nations around the world have an opportunity to capitalize on efficiencies and optimize
The Globalization of Higher Education
Today our world has entered a period of rapid and profound economic, social and political transformation based upon an emerging new system for creating wealth that depends upon the creation and application of new knowledge and hence upon educated people and their ideas. It has become increasingly apparent that the …
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 …
Globalization, Public Policies and Higher Education
Globalization and the attendant emergence of the global knowledge economy are exerting tremendous pressures on universities around the world and reshaping some of their basic assumptions and activities. Although the size and shape of higher education systems differ considerably among nations, university-based research innovation and advanced technical and professional programmes …
The Responsibilities of Universities to Promote a Sustainable Society
We are living in a period of deep and rapid changes which are offering great hopes for peace and prosperity, but which are also the source of important challenges and even threats. The direction of change will depend on the capacity of governments, governmental and international non-governmental organizations, business and …
The Emerging Meta University
The 21st century is an age when we cannot compete nationalistically based on geography, natural resources or military might. Nations can only prosper and compete based on brainpower and innovation. Because brainpower and innovation know no political or geographic boundaries, the fact is we must all cooperate as well as …
The Engagement of Australian Universities with Globalization
Despite the common image of isolated ivory towers, universities in point of fact have long embraced the world beyond their national horizon. Initially, scholars travelled from country to country in search of a student audience. Now, students in their hundreds of thousands are internationally mobile in search of a university …