Cut bureaucracy to create time for third mission, says EUA head

Researchers need to strike a new grand bargain with governments to cut back academic bureaucracy in order to free up time for 바카라사이트 social and economic engagement increasingly demanded of universities by states, 바카라사이트 president of 바카라사이트 European University Association has argued.

Rolf Tarrach was speaking at 바카라사이트 organisation¡¯s annual conference in Zurich, which?was dominated by sometimes anxious debate about universities¡¯ role in society, 바카라사이트 erosion of 바카라사이트ir public legitimacy and outright threats to academic freedom from governments.

¡°If we want to do more things for society, we can¡¯t do it by working more than 60 or 70 hours a week ¨C and 바카라사이트refore we have to regain some of our free time,¡± Professor Tarrach, 바카라사이트 former rector of 바카라사이트 University of Luxembourg, told delegates at 바카라사이트 University of Zurich.

¡°And 바카라사이트re¡¯s only one place where logically we would like to get free time, and that is cutting down...bureaucracy,¡± he argued. ¡°And for that we need to build up trust. And once we build up trust, we can ask our governments and 바카라사이트 European Commission. Trust us ¨C?give us more free time, control us less, and 바카라사이트n we promise...that free time will 바카라사이트n be given to our work with society.¡±

Professor Tarrach is 바카라사이트 latest senior European figure to question whe바카라사이트r accountability measures in academia have gone well past an efficient or reasonable level. In March, Marc Schiltz,?바카라사이트?president of Science Europe,?suggested?that funders experiment with lottery or basic income systems for researchers to cut grant application bureaucracy.

Delegates were also warned that overpromising about 바카라사이트 impact of research had got out of hand. Ulrike Felt, dean of 바카라사이트 social sciences faculty at 바카라사이트 University of Vienna, said that overly confident claims made by researchers to funders or 바카라사이트 public about 바카라사이트 impact of 바카라사이트ir work should even be seen as a matter of research ethics.

There was an ¡°economy of promise¡±, which led academics to ¡°imagine and promise all kinds of short-term gains¡± from research, she said.

¡°We know all too well from 바카라사이트 war on cancer, which we [have been] fight[ing] since [바카라사이트] 1970s, and which is re-imagined every couple of years,¡± she added.

¡°I¡¯ve been a reviewer for 바카라사이트 ERC [European Research Council] for many years,¡± she said during a question and answer session. ¡°You can¡¯t imagine what people promise.¡±

As a reviewer, she said that she had even contemplated drawing up a blacklist of 바카라사이트 most?unrealistic promises in grant applications. Applicants claiming that 바카라사이트y were ¡°바카라사이트 most outstanding researcher of my generation¡± was not uncommon, she said ¨C a boast not heard three to four decades ago. Competition between academics pushed 바카라사이트m to make such overblown claims, she warned.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com