What is at stake for universities and their researchers with respect to innovation and international competitiveness? And just how strategic are these universities’ internationalization “strategies”? On Wednesday, October 15, 2014, we invite you to join our expert panelists at the German Center for Research and Innovation in New York as they examine critical questions related to knowledge production in the U.S. research enterprise and how universities can strive to become more international. This discussion will also focus on the German government’s “Excellence Initiative,” an effort to expand graduate programs, interdisciplinary research clusters, and institutional strategies to raise the profile and attractiveness of German research institutions.
Dr. C.D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., President of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), will begin the discussion by presenting on how a university’s research environment is embedded in its national innovation environment. He will explain how university initiatives, sponsorships, priorities, and opportunities, as well as opportunities for students, derive in substantial measure from the national innovation environment at large. The U.S. innovation environment, for example, has changed substantially between the 20th and 21st centuries, principally driven by the reduced capability to control information and innovation that accompanied globalization. Dr. Mote Jr. will underline how accelerating innovation in the 21st century calls for engagement in strategic partnerships with increasing numbers of contributors and countries. He will also speak about the effects of the United States’ transition to a 21st century innovation environment, including its impact on university research environments and strategic global collaborations.
Dr. Mote Jr. will draw upon years of expertise from a variety of distinguished leadership positions and advisory roles: he chaired the National Research Council Committee on Global Science and Technology Strategies and Their Effects on U.S. National Security from 2009 to 2010, co-chaired the National Academies Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable from 2007 to 2013, and co-chaired the Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Workforce Needs for the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Industrial Base from 2011 to 2012.
He will be joined by Prof. Dr. Ernst Rank, Chair of Computation in Engineering at the Technische Universität München (TUM). Prof. Dr. Rank was the First Vice President of TUM from 2002 to 2008 and has served as the Founding Director of the International Graduate School of Science and Engineering since 2006, Chairman of the University Council of TU Dortmund since 2007, and was Director of the TUM Graduate School from 2008 to 2013. He will discuss the drastic changes in the German university system that began in the 1990’s following the notion that future success depended on a university’s ability to maintain its competitiveness in a globalizing economy. At the time, the necessary modernization process based on the constitutionally guaranteed “freedom of teaching and research” had not yet been implemented. Any mere top-down reforms without intense faculty participation in discussions and decision processes would have been bound to fail. Governance models under the motto: “Enable, encourage, convince, reward – and let them work,” according to Prof. Dr. Rank, however, have been successful in many cases. He will then continue by providing several examples from different levels of science and university policy. The German “Excellence Initiative,” for example, follows this governance principle and quite a few university management boards also align their strategic plans with the goals of modernization, multidisciplinarity, and increased global partnerships. The success of the German higher education system is visible in rapidly growing global networks, actualized by numerous international research collaborations, transnational research training groups, and via “brain circulation” rather than mere “brain drain” or “brain gain.” Finally, Prof. Dr. Rank will elaborate on some of the major threats facing German universities in the future. The weak budgets of many federal states, the ongoing controversy between the states and the federal government on their responsibility for universities, and the reversal of several states towards much more regulated university policy may put a lot of the achieved progress to the test.
Dr. Cathleen Fisher, President of the American Friends of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AFAvH), will moderate this dicussion. Prior to joining AFAvH in 2008, she served as Vice President for Institutional Relations at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dr. Fisher has taught at the George Washington University, Georgetown University, and Emory University and has written numerous articles on transatlantic relations. Her latest publication is “The Invisible Pillar of Transatlantic Cooperation: Activating Untapped Science & Technology Assets,” in Science and Diplomacy.
The panel discussion will take place on Wednesday, October 15, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the German Center for Research and Innovation (871 United Nations Plaza, First Avenue, btw. 48th & 49th Streets). To RSVP by October 13, click here.
Unable to attend? Follow @gcri_ny and the hashtag #GlobalResearch for live tweets. A video recording will be available on www.germaninnovation.org shortly after the event.
This event is co-sponsored by the German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI) and the American Friends of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AFAvH).
German Center for Research and Innovation
The German Center for Research and Innovation provides information and support for the realization of cooperative and collaborative projects between North America and Germany. With the goal of enhancing communication on the critical challenges of the 21st century, GCRI hosts a wide variety of events from lectures and exhibitions to workshops and science dinners. Opened in February 2010, GCRI was created as a cornerstone of the German government’s initiative to internationalize science and research and is one of five centers worldwide.
Media Contact
Jennifer Audet
+01 212 339 8680, ext. 302
Audet(at)GermanInnovation.org
