Around the globe, governments and institutions aspire to be world class. Research is seen as critical to this - and governments are seeking to capitalise on the potential of research institutions to create knowledge networks and to attract inward investment from knowledge-intensive industries. As government ambitions grow,
so too does the pressure to build world-class research institutions. But how realistic are world-class ambitions for most countries? What are the challenges and constraints they face? Who should pay for the significant cost of entry as well as the continuing investment costs required to resource world-class institutions?
Governments currently invest the most, with industry contributing only modestly for applied research, and it is unlikely that this balance will change. Because of the nature of funding, research is largely determined by national agencies and governed by national interests. But the purpose of research institutions is for public good, and these issues provide major barriers to global research networks operating to their full potential.
In this session, leading author Dr Philip Altbach will draw on his book World Class, Worldwide to address these questions. This will be followed by a panel discussion.