the 21 st century doctorate – sharing european developments 18 march 2011 scotland house brussels
TRANSCRIPT
The role of international research institutes in
postgraduate education
Prof. Christopher SmithDirector, British School at Rome
Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communiqué
We believe that mobility of students, early stage researchers and staff enhances the quality of programmes and excellence in research; it strengthens the academic and cultural internationalization of European higher education.
Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communiqué
Mobility is important for personal development and employability, it fosters respect for diversity and a capacity to deal with other cultures. It encourages linguistic pluralism, thus underpinning the multilingual tradition of the European Higher Education Area and it increases cooperation and competition between higher education institutions.
Argument
• European research institutes play a vital role in stated strategic aims in the EHEA
• There remain tensions over national versus international interests
• There remains considerable scope for greater capacity building
• This is particularly the case in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Max-Planck Institute of Demographic Research
Four international doctoral training programs: The International Max Planck Research School for Demography.European Doctoral School of Demography.The MaxNet Aging Research School.PhD program Demography at Rostock University.
Drawn by religious devotion, needing to see, to touch and to worship at Rome’s churches, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Albanians, Dalmatians, Istrians, Illyrians, and Germans – themselves divided into so many regions and provinces – and French, Spanish also, as well as Britons, who are nearly complete cut off from the whole world and who are now known as the English – nearly every year they come to Rome, they worship Rome, they take Rome as their mistress and instructress. And not only the people of Europe worship Rome...
Flavio Biondo, end of Roma instaurata
Vatican City: BAV, MS. Vat. lat. 1941, fol. 37 – Flavio Biondo, Roma instaurata (s: Pietro del Monte)
Proposed vision: to be valued physical hubs in important Asian locations which:
•possess and make accessible unique and deep academic expertise and resources•draw visiting European scholars into new and stimulating interactions with each other and with local academic partners within and across disciplinary boundaries•facilitate enriching exchanges and engagement with local languages/cultures/ environments•develop dialogues with local communities of interest outside the academic world•support international collaborations and enable new world-class research•provide practical/logistical support to early-career scholars and those new to the area•and hence contribute to the health of European Asian Studies.
Challenges …
• National boundaries exist even in foreign countries
• Reliance on state funding creates short term vulnerabilities and long term uncertainty
• Mission drift caused by political and economic imperatives damages research
• Many overseas institutes are dependent on others for research projects and students
Challenges …
• Reductions in PG and research funding, and an unstable funding model, hampers growth
• Critical mass is often too low• Resources are duplicated and divided
… and Opportunities
• Technological advance raises visibility of overseas institutions and their work
• In-country expertise remains at a premium• Many international centres have built greater
recognition than external bodies can gain• Interdisciplinarity is often at the heart of
research institutions …• Which can therefore take advantage of the
freshest thinking