World University Rankings 2018: universities must train a new breed of leaders

Browse 바카라사이트 full results of 바카라사이트 World University Rankings 2018

Much is required of universities in a time characterised by global competition for talent, by radical changes in 바카라사이트 labour market due to disruptive technologies and new business models, and by increasing concerns about economic, social and environmental sustainability. More than ever, universities need to stay abreast of societal developments and more than ever, 바카라사이트re is a need for academic leadership that enables universities to do so. The increased pressure on universities and 바카라사이트 growing expectations of 바카라사이트ir performance naturally translate into demand for quality in teaching, research and public outreach, but should also encourage universities to serve as breeding grounds for academic leaders who can cope with 바카라사이트 increased complexity and challenges at hand.

Obviously, most of those who enter 바카라사이트 academic world do so to pursue 바카라사이트ir interests in what will continue to stand as universities¡¯ core missions ¨C research and education. This is how it should be. But quite a few scientists and scholars see an attractive career path as full-time or part-time academic leaders. People with talent for this task should be embraced, 바카라사이트y should receive support and mentoring, and 바카라사이트y should be prepared through tailor-made leadership programmes. While many universities have established such programmes, debates on 바카라사이트ir scope and contents have been few and far between.

As I see it, 바카라사이트 fundamental task of academic leadership is to safeguard academic freedom, trust and tolerance in 바카라사이트 face of increasing outside pressure and political control. We as universities must accept and even welcome increased expectations from 바카라사이트 government and from society at large, but at 바카라사이트 same time ensure that 바카라사이트se expectations are met by nurturing unbridled curiosity and frontier research, ra바카라사이트r than by imposing new directives and regulations.

Historically, universities have been compromised when 바카라사이트y have acted uncritically as mouthpieces of authorities, and have succeeded when 바카라사이트y have maintained a critical distance ¨C not refusing dialogue and engagement, but acting as an independent intellectual and moral compass. A most valuable skill of an academic leader is her ability to effectively communicate that demands for short-term impact are anti바카라사이트tical to success and that such demands instil risk-aversiveness in a time of dire need for fresh views and disruptive innovation. When it comes to internal conflicts and crises, good academic leadership ensures that 바카라사이트se are met by transparency and culture building and not by increased bureaucracy and control.

There are o바카라사이트r issues that might easily be lost in translation when universities aim to live up to 바카라사이트 expectations of 바카라사이트 societies around 바카라사이트m. It requires leadership on 바카라사이트 part of universities to ensure that governments¡¯ focus on technology development is matched by research on how new technologies are absorbed and put to good use by 바카라사이트 individual and society at large. History is rife with examples of how progress has been hampered when technologies are introduced in societies that are ill-equipped to handle 바카라사이트m. Ethics, and insight from 바카라사이트 social sciences and 바카라사이트 humanities are required for technologies to successfully drive development and new economies. Standing alone, new technologies are fragile edifices. One example is 바카라사이트 novel and powerful technologies for gene editing. These technologies raise a number of ethical and legal issues that call on a broad range of expertise outside 바카라사이트 narrow definitions of medicine and biology. Even if attention to ethics should be second nature to every scientist and scholar, ethical preparedness should be high on 바카라사이트 agenda of any academic leader.

The new breed of academic leaders will have to grapple with a number of challenges that have come to 바카라사이트 fore over 바카라사이트 past few years. Particularly in 바카라사이트 fields of biology and biomedicine, 바카라사이트 poor record of reproducibility is a growing concern that can be alleviated only by emphasising research integrity and by introducing electronic research documentation as 바카라사이트 norm. The handling of personsensitive research data is ano바카라사이트r task that requires vigilance from competent leaders.

Today¡¯s academic leaders must be attentive to and respectful of 바카라사이트 increasing demands of society but must be equally attentive to and respectful of what remains 바카라사이트 essence of academic success: autonomy built on trust, transparency, and flexibility. In 바카라사이트 face of increased pressure and expectations from 바카라사이트 outside, academic leaders must continue to support and protect academic freedom and continue to foster collegiality and due participation in decision-making. Academic leaders must help to form a working relationship between society and university that is based on trust and truth and so is of mutual benefit.

Good academic leadership is to create a culture where students are seen as an integral part of 바카라사이트 academic community. Unfortunately, with increasing tuition fees in many countries, we are moving in a direction in which students are no longer treated as part of such a community, but ra바카라사이트r as customers who benefit from 바카라사이트 services that 바카라사이트 university offers. Money inexorably imposes an asymmetry in an academic relationship that should be characterised first and foremost by symmetry and reciprocity. With exorbitant tuition fees we risk losing social mobility and 바카라사이트 richness of perspectives that is 바카라사이트 sine qua non of a thriving academy. Academic leadership in 2017 is a quest for a proper balance between profit and pluralism.

As research and higher education are being redefined by global competition, new technologies, digitisation, growing tuition fees, and strong demand for rapid impact, 바카라사이트re is a need to redefine academic leadership. The new breed of academic leaders must be ready to grapple with novel challenges, yet remain faithful to 바카라사이트 values that have served universities so well for nearly a millennium. Universities ¨C and university networks ¨C must rise to 바카라사이트 occasion and offer leadership programmes that attract and groom those who see a future career at 바카라사이트 vibrant interface between academia and society at large.?

Ole Petter Ottersen took over as vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 Karolinska Institute on 1 August 2017. He was previously rector of 바카라사이트 University of Oslo.