Universities in the 21st Century: Funding of

Universities

Prof. Georg Winckler

President, European University AssociationRector, University Vienna, Austria

Skopje, 9th March, 2009

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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.

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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

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Universities in the 21st century(Modernisation Agenda 2006, EU Commission)

1. broaden access on a more equitable basis2. reach out to more research excellence3. break down the barriers surrounding European

universities4. provide the appropriate skills and competences

for the labour market5. create genuine autonomy and accountability for

universities6. 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

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The relevance of „open science“ for knowledge societies

In knowledge societies, the bulk of new knowledge should begenerated and disseminated via rapid publication by giving upthe (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.

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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)?

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Coexistence of „Open Science“ with academia-business relation

How, do academia-business relations influence scientific productivity?

What is their influence on funding and status in academia?

Optimal degrees?

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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“)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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Comparing the US with the European System (II)

Spending on higher education• Public and private funding (OECD 2005)

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

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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