Transcript EUA Progress report since 18 December

Universities in the 21st Century:
Funding of Universities
Prof. Georg Winckler
President, European University Association
Rector, University Vienna, Austria
Skopje, 9th March, 2009
Universities at the beginning of the 21st century
(Ralf Dahrendorf 2000) I
•
Little sense to search for an idea of the university, universities are
„a ragbag of institutions with no clearly defined boundaries and
no substantive core“. There are many institutions turning
information into knowledge and combining the creation and
dissemination of knowledge with (higher) education.
…2…
Universities at the beginning of the 21st century
(Ralf Dahrendorf 2000) II
(2) Universities should excel in
- forming vibrant and innovative systems:
exploring new avenues of knowledge, new theories and
applications, new methods of teaching, overcoming
stagnation
- fostering openness for the world outside and getting
outreach
- debating important issues of public concern
…3…
Universities in the 21st century
(Modernisation Agenda 2006, EU Commission)
1. broaden access on a more equitable basis
2. reach out to more research excellence
3. break down the barriers surrounding European
universities
4. provide the appropriate skills and competences for the
labour market
5. create genuine autonomy and accountability for
universities
6. reduce the funding gap so that 2% of GDP will be spent
on HE by 2015 (besides 3% of GDP spent on R&D) and
make funding more effective
…4…
The relevance of „open science“ for knowledge
societies
In knowledge societies, the bulk of new knowledge should be
generated and disseminated via rapid publication by giving up
the (property) rights over it.
That:
- helps students to be equipped with the best and latest
knowledge
- facilitates the generation of further knowledge
- allows to feed the latest results into the innovation system.
„Open Science“ is justified by huge positive external
effects and implies public funding of universities.
…5…
Problems for establishing „open science“
 Incentive problem: How to reward the researchers so
that they give up their rights over new knowledge via
rapid publication? How to design monetary and
hierarchical rewards to researchers?
 Publication problem: How to combine research access,
uptake, usage and impact with financial issues (open
access)?
…6…
Coexistence of „Open Science“ with academiabusiness relation
 How, do academia-business relations influence scientific
productivity?
 What is their influence on funding and status in
academia?
 Optimal degrees?
…7…
University
 Universities are effective institutions to manage „open
science“ and to link this with relations to society and business
 Universities solve principal-agent problems in creative work
(non-observability of the efforts of academics and the value of
their output); universities design monetary and hierarchical
rewards
 Universities need academic, organisational, staffing and
budgetary autonomy in order to act as autonomous agents in
the knowledge society
 Universities choose their own profiles, missions and values
 Modern governance structures („fit for purpose“)
…8…
University system
 diversity and dynamics of institutions: ranging from
research intensive universities with global outreach to
regional universities as engines of innovations and to
teaching intensive universities
 fostering competition and cooperation
 enhancing the mobility of students and staff
(common study architecture, common architecture of
quality assurance, pension rights)
 arrangements for large research infrastructure
(e.g., CERN)
…9…
European, national and regional policies
 European policies („Bologna Process“, ERC, Erasmus)
 National policies (shaping autonomy and accountability,
public funding, performance agreements)
 Regional policies (Innovation policies, cohesion policies)
…10…
Comparing the US with the European system (I)
Science, Technology and Competitiveness Report (2008/2009),
European Commission
 US
274
million €
 EU-27
213
million €
 Japan
118
million €
 Germany
59
million €
 China
30
million €
 Switzerland
8,5
million €
 Austria
6,9
million €
 Turkey
2,4
million €
 Greece
1,2
million €
(OECD, Science, Technology and Industry Outlook)
…11…
Comparing the US with the European System (II)
Spending on higher education
• Public and private funding (OECD 2005)
…12…
Expenditure on academic research as a proportion of GDP,
1992/1993 vs. 2002/2003
Source: Austrian
Research and
Technology Report
2007
Financing structure of expenditure on academic research,
1993/94 vs. 2002/2003
Source: Austrian
Research and
Technology Report
2007
Comparing the US with the European System (III)
- Universities US/EU
 US:
70-100 research universities
260 PhD granting institutions
~4000 HEIs
 EU-27: 1000 PhD granting institutions
~4000 HEIs
 Shanghai Ranking
US
EU-27
 top 20
17
2
 top 200
90
76
 top 500
170
183
 Europe has a broad research base, but lacks high impact universities
…15…