Research university explained

A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission.[1] [2] [3] [4] They are "the key sites of knowledge production", along with "intergenerational knowledge transfer and the certification of new knowledge" through the awarding of doctoral degrees, and continue to be "the very center of scientific productivity".[5] They can be public or private, and often have well-known brand names.[6]

Undergraduate courses at many research universities are often academic rather than vocational and may not prepare students for particular careers, but many employers value degrees from research universities because they teach fundamental life skills such as critical thinking.[7] Globally, research universities are overwhelmingly public institutions, while some countries like the United States and Japan also have well-known private research institutions.[1]

Institutions of higher education that are not research universities or do not aspire to that designation, such as liberal arts colleges, instead place more emphasis on student instruction or other aspects of tertiary education, and their faculty members are under less pressure to publish or perish.[8]

History

19th century

The concept of the research university first arose in early 19th-century Prussia in Germany, where Wilhelm von Humboldt championed his vision of (the unity of teaching and research), as a means of producing an education that focused on the main areas of knowledge (the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities) rather than on the previous goals of the university education, which was to develop an understanding of truth, beauty, and goodness.[9] [10]

Roger L. Geiger, "the leading historian of the American research university,"[11] has argued that "the model for the American research university was established by five of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution (Harvard, Yale, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Columbia); five state universities (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and California); and five private institutions conceived from their inception as research universities (MIT, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and Chicago)."[12] [13] The American research university first emerged in the late 19th century, when these fifteen institutions began to graft graduate programs derived from the German model onto undergraduate programs derived from the British model.

20th century

Research universities were essential to the establishment of American hegemony by the end of the 20th century.[14] Most importantly, Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, and Princeton (along with Birmingham and Cambridge in the UK) directly participated in the creation of the first nuclear weapons (the Manhattan Project).[15] [16] [17] Besides that, Columbia and Harvard were instrumental in the early development of the American film industry (Hollywood),[18] MIT and Stanford were leaders in building the American military–industrial complex[19] and developing artificial intelligence,[20] and Berkeley and Stanford played a central role in the development of Silicon Valley.[21] The "most prestigious group of research universities" in the United States is the Association of American Universities.[22]

Since the 1960s, American research universities, especially the leading American public research university system, the University of California,[23] [24] have served as models for research universities around the world.[25] [26] Having one or more universities based on the American model (including the use of English as a lingua franca) is a badge of "social progress and modernity" for the contemporary nation-state.[27] The Americans' continued dominance into the early 21st century has forced their European counterparts to confront the urgent need for reform to avoid "declining into an advanced form of feeder colleges for the best American universities."[28]

Characteristics

John Taylor, Professor of Higher Education Management at the University of Liverpool, defines the key characteristics of successful research universities as:[4]

Philip Altbach defines a different, although similar, set of key characteristics for what research universities need to become successful:[29]

A 2012 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report defined research universities, in the American context, as having values of intellectual freedom, initiative and creativity, excellence, and openness, with such additional characteristics as:[30]

Global university rankings use metrics that primarily measure research to rank universities.[31] [32] Some also have criteria for inclusion based on the concept of a research university such as teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and conducting work in multiple faculties (QS World University Rankings),[33] or teaching undergraduates, having a research output of more than 1000 research papers over 5 years, and no more than 80% of activity in a single subject area (Times Higher Education World University Rankings).[34]

Worldwide distribution

The QS World University Ranking for 2021 included 1002 research universities. The region with the highest number was Europe, with 39.8%, followed by Asia/Pacific with 26.7%, the US and Canada with 15.6%, Latin America with 10.8% and the Middle East and Africa with 7%. All regions except the Middle East and Africa were represented in the top 100. The largest number of new entrants to the rankings were from East Asia and Eastern Europe, followed by Southern Europe.[35] By individual country, the US has the most institutions with 151, followed by the UK with 84, China with 51, and Germany with 45. The top 200 shows a similar pattern with the US having 45 universities, the UK 26 and Germany 12.[36] By comparison, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (2015) identifies 115 US universities as "Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity" and a further 107 as "Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity", while Altbach estimated that there were around 220 research universities in the US in 2013.[1] [37]

The Academic Ranking of World Universities shows a similar distribution, with 185 of their 500 ranked institutions in 2020 coming from Europe, 161 from the Americas, 149 from Asia/Oceania and five from Africa. All regions except Africa are represented in the top 100, although the Americas are represented solely by universities from the United States and Canada.[38] In 2023, the US has the most universities in the top 500 from a single country, 120, followed by China with 98, the UK with 38 and Germany with 31.[39] The top 200 shows the similar pattern: the US with 61 followed by China with 36 and the UK with 20.[40]

The 2024 Times Higher Education only gives a breakdown by country and only for its top 200; this again has the U.S. at the top with 56, followed by the UK with 25, Germany with 21, and China with 13. The top 200 features one university from Africa, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, but none from Latin America.[41] The U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Ranking 2021 gives numbers by country for the 1500 universities ranked from 86 countries: the U.S. is again top, with 255, followed by China with 176 and the UK with 87.[42] The 2020 CWTS Leiden Ranking includes 1,176 universities in the rankings from 65 countries: China tops the list for the first time, with 204, followed by the U.S. with 198, the UK with 58 and Germany with 54.[43]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: The role of research universities in developing countries. 11 August 2013. University World News. 9 August 2018. 5 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170905044435/http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130811091502202. live.
  2. Book: Altbach . Philip G. . Altbach . Philip G. . Salmi . Jamil . The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities . 2011 . The World Bank . Washington, D.C. . 978-0-8213-8806-8 . 11–32 . The Past, Present, and Future of the Research University . 15 October 2022 . 15 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221015065929/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2357 . live .
  3. Web site: The Research University of the 21st Century: What Will it Look Like?. 8 August 2018. 2 December 2002. Steven Sample. Steven Sample. University of Southern California. 23 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210223005034/https://about.usc.edu/steven-b-sample/speeches/the-research-university-of-the-21st-century-what-will-it-look-like/. dead.
  4. Managing the Unmanageable: The Management of Research in Research-Intensive Universities. Higher Education Management and Policy. OECD. John Taylor. 21 June 2006. 18. 2. 3–4. 9 August 2018. 23 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210323041234/https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/managing-the-unmanageable_hemp-v18-art8-en. live. subscription.
  5. Book: Powell . Justin J. W. . Powell . Justin J. W. . Fernandez . Frank . Fernandez . Frank . Crist . John T. . Dusdal . Jennifer . Zhang . Liang . Baker . David P. . Baker . David P. . The Century of Science: The Global Triumph of the Research University . 2017 . Emerald Publishing . Bingley . 9781787144699 . 1–36 . https://books.google.com/books?id=sE80DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 . 6 November 2022 . Introduction: The Worldwide Triumph of the Research University and Globalizing Science . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013057/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Century_of_Science/sE80DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA8&printsec=frontcover . live . (At p. 8.)
  6. Book: O'Shaughnessy. Lynn. The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price. 2012. Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. 9780132944694. 132–136. 30 March 2023.
  7. Book: Andreatta. Britt. Navigating the Research University: A Guide for First-Year Students. 2011. Wadsworth. Boston. 9780495913788. 136. 3rd. 5 December 2020. 14 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013059/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Navigating_the_Research_University_A_Gui/VeI8AAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA136&printsec=frontcover. live.
  8. Book: Irons . Jessica G. . Buskist . William . Davis . Stephen F. . Giordano . Peter J. . Licht . Carolyn A. . Your Career in Psychology: Putting Your Graduate Degree to Work . 2009 . Wiley-Blackwell . Malden, MA . 9781405179423 . 117–132 . https://books.google.com/books?id=97JcaLZeYGcC&pg=PA119 . 6 August 2020 . Chapter 9: Preparing for a Career at a Teaching Institution . 13 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201113162234/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Your_Career_in_Psychology/97JcaLZeYGcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA119&printsec=frontcover . live . This source refers to research universities as R1, a common shorthand for the highest level of American research universities recognized by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
  9. News: Between 'Bildung' and 'Wissenschaft': The 19th-Century German Ideal of Scientific Education German Education and Science. Bommel. Bas van. 14 December 2015. Europäische Geschichte Online. 29 April 2018. en. 10 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180810105158/http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/models-and-stereotypes/germanophilia-and-germanophobia/bas-van-bommel-between-bildung-and-wissenschaft-the-19th-century-german-ideal-of-scientific-education. live.
  10. News: Menand. Louis. Reitter. Paul. Wellmon. Chad. General Introduction. 25 January 2017. The Rise of the Research University: A Sourcebook. 9780226414850. University of Chicago Press. 2017. Chicago. 2–3. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170215064506/https://books.google.com/books?id=cWesDQAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA2. 15 February 2017.
  11. Book: Macintyre . Stuart . Stuart Macintyre . The Poor Relation: A History of Social Sciences in Australia . 2010 . Melbourne University Press . Melbourne . 9780522857757 . 333 . 8 August 2022 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013105/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Poor_Relation/7bYeXHp_-m4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA333&printsec=frontcover . live .
  12. Book: Crow. Michael M.. Dabars. William B.. Michael M. Crow. Designing the New American University. 2015. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore. 9781421417233. 17–18. 28 May 2017. The quoted sentence is Crow and Dabars' paraphrasing of Geiger's analysis.
  13. Book: Geiger . Roger L. . To Advance Knowledge: The Growth of American Research Universities, 1900–1940 . 1986 . Transaction Publishers . New Brunswick, New Jersey . 9781412840088 . 3 . 2004 . 28 May 2021 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013100/https://www.google.com/books/edition/To_Advance_Knowledge/y2SbOAWadz4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover . live .
  14. Book: Marginson . Simon . Simon Marginson . Ordorika . Imanol . Imanol Ordorika Sacristán . Calhoun . Craig J. . Rhoten . Diana . Craig Calhoun . Knowledge Matters: The Public Mission of the Research University . 2011 . Columbia University Press . New York . 9780231151146 . 67–129 . https://books.google.com/books?id=KVysAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 . 'El central volumen de la fuerza': Global Hegemony in Higher Education and Research . 9 February 2021 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013104/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Knowledge_Matters/KVysAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA67&printsec=frontcover . live .
  15. Book: Herken . Gregg . Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller . 2003 . Henry Holt and Company . New York . 0-8050-6589-X . 48 . 27 February 2023 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013109/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Brotherhood_of_the_Bomb/7s0NGIfflOgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA48&printsec=frontcover . live .
  16. Book: Reed . Bruce Cameron . Manhattan Project: The Story of the Century . 2020 . Springer Nature Switzerland . Cham . 978-3-030-45733-4 . 122 . 17 December 2022 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013110/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Manhattan_Project/9v_oDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA122&printsec=frontcover . live .
  17. Web site: Britain. Voices of the Manhattan Project. Atomic Heritage Foundation. 20 December 2023.
  18. Book: Decherney . Peter . Hollywood and the Culture Elite: How the Movies Became American . 2017 . Columbia University Press . New York . 9780231133760 . 6–11 . 11 August 2019 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013113/https://books.google.com/books?id=FbC9zbrGKMcC&pg=PA6 . live .
  19. Book: Leslie . Stuart W. . The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford . 1993 . Columbia University Press . New York . 9780231079587 . 11–12 . 11 August 2019 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013115/https://books.google.com/books?id=6IchaV00dBkC&pg=PA11 . live .
  20. Book: Boden . Margaret A. . Margaret A. Boden . Mind as Machine: A History of Cognitive Science, Volume 2 . 2006 . Clarendon Press . Oxford . 9780199292387 . 734–736 . 27 February 2023 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013043/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mind_as_Machine/nQMPIGd4baQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA734&printsec=frontcover . live .
  21. Book: Scott . W. Richard . Lara . Bernardo . Biag . Manuelito . Ris . Ethan . Liang . Judy . Scott . W. Richard . Kirst . Michael W. . Higher Education and Silicon Valley: Connected But Conflicted . 2017 . Johns Hopkins University Press . Baltimore . 9781421423081 . 65 . https://books.google.com/books?id=QtoxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 . 11 August 2019 . The Regional Economy of the San Francisco Bay Area . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013043/https://books.google.com/books?id=QtoxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 . live .
  22. Book: Smith . Dean O. . Managing the Research University . 2011 . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 9780199793259 . 78 . 3 December 2023.
  23. Book: Kerr. Clark. The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949–1967, Volume 1. 2001. University of California Press. Berkeley. 9780520223677. 413. 3 October 2022. 14 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013043/https://books.google.com/books?id=jMEZ_47vXkAC&pg=PA413. live.
  24. Book: Marginson . Simon . The Dream Is Over: The Crisis of Clark Kerr's California Idea of Higher Education . 2016 . University of California Press . Berkeley . 978-0-520-29284-0 . 51–55 . 10.1525/luminos.17 .
  25. Book: Graham . Hugh Davis . Hugh Davis Graham . Diamond . Nancy . The Rise of American Research Universities: Elites and Challengers in the Postwar Era . 1997 . Johns Hopkins University Press . Baltimore . 9780801880636 . 9 . 7 April 2020 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013043/https://books.google.com/books?id=Eii-MTm3TYwC&pg=PA9 . live .
  26. Book: Vest . Charles M. . Charles M. Vest . The American Research University from World War II to World Wide Web: Governments, the Private Sector, and the Emerging Meta-University . 2007 . University of California Press . Berkeley . 9780520934047 . 7 . 25 January 2022 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013043/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_American_Research_University_from_Wo/-kHAKdNFBpUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA7&printsec=frontcover . live .
  27. Book: Stevens . Mitchell L. . Giebel . Sonia . Hyvönen . Mats . Peters . Michael A. . Rider . Sharon . Besley . Tina . World Class Universities: A Contested Concept . 2020 . Springer Nature Singapore . Singapore . 9789811575983 . 123–137 . https://books.google.com/books?id=no8REAAAQBAJ&pg=PA129 . 27 February 2023 . The Paradox of the Global University . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013043/https://www.google.com/books/edition/World_Class_Universities/no8REAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA129&printsec=frontcover . live .
  28. Book: Wittrock . Björn . Blückert . Kjell . Neave . Guy . Nybom . Thorsten . The European Research University: A Historical Parenthesis? . 2006 . 9781403970145 . 109–125 . New York . Palgrave Macmillan . https://books.google.com/books?id=ne5FDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 . 15 August 2022 . The Legacy of Wilhelm von Humboldt and the Future of the European University . 2018 softcover reprint . 10.1007/978-1-137-10079-5_9 . 14 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314013043/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_European_Research_University/ne5FDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA108&printsec=frontcover . live .
  29. Philip G. Altbach. Advancing the national and global knowledge economy. 2013. Studies in Higher Education . 38. 3. 316–330. 10.1080/03075079.2013.773222. 2345/bc-ir:103804. 144178229.
  30. Book: Research Universities and the Future of America. 3. 40. 2012. National Academies Press. 10.17226/13396. 978-0-309-25639-1. 11 August 2018. 20 February 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220220153453/https://www.nap.edu/read/13396/chapter/5#39. live.
  31. Web site: The State of the Rankings . . Philip G. Altbach . 11 November 2010 . 11 June 2017 . 26 January 2013 . https://archive.today/20130126100058/http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/11/11/altbach . live .
  32. Web site: International university rankings: For good or ill?. Bahram Bekhradnia. Higher Education Policy Institute. 15 December 2016. 26 May 2017. 15 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170215055236/http://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Hepi_International-university-rankings-For-good-or-for-ill-REPORT-89-10_12_16_Screen.pdf. live.
  33. Web site: Inclusion in Rankings. QS Intelligence Unit. 9 August 2018. 7 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180807215456/http://www.iu.qs.com/university-rankings/policies-conditions/. dead.
  34. News: This is why we publish the World University Rankings. 16 January 2018. Phil Baty. 9 August 2018. Times Higher Education. 10 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180810105112/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/why-we-publish-world-university-rankings. live.
  35. Web site: QS World University Rankings 2021 Supplement. Top Universities. Quacquarelli Symonds. 18 September 2020. 22 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200922115255/https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/qs-guides/qs-world-university-rankings-2021-supplement. live.
  36. Web site: 28 May 2020. QS World University Rankings 2021. 18 September 2020. Top Universities. en. 9 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200609201234/https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2021. live.
  37. Web site: Standard Listings. Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. University of Indiana. 11 August 2018. 30 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180730131504/http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/standard.php#standard_basic2005_list. live.
  38. Web site: Statistics . 18 September 2020 . Academic Ranking of World Universities 2020 . ShanghaiRanking Consultancy . 16 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210416181137/http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU-Statistics-2020.html . dead .
  39. Web site: ShanghaiRanking's Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023 Press Release . 16 August 2023 . www.shanghairanking.com.
  40. Web site: ShanghaiRanking's Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023 . 16 August 2023 . www.shanghairanking.com.
  41. Web site: 27 September 2023 . World University Rankings 2024 digital edition . 5 October 2023 . Times Higher Education . en.
  42. Web site: 20 October 2020. U.S. News Unveils 2021 Best Global Universities Rankings. 20 October 2020. U.S. News & World Report. 20 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201020045713/https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2020-10-20/us-news-unveils-2021-best-global-universities-rankings. live.
  43. Web site: The CWTS Leiden Ranking 2020. 18 September 2020. leidenmadtrics.nl. 8 July 2020 . en. 21 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211021232148/https://leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/the-cwts-leiden-ranking-2020. live.

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