1.4 Universities have an essential role to play in building S&T capacities

In most countries, the major focus of scientific research is located within the organizational framework of universities. Research performed within universities has an added value because of its beneficial effects in raising the level of education provided to the professional elites who are trained there.

Yet in many of the developing nations, higher-education systems have been subject to enormous social and political pressures to massively increase their enrollments. Some of these changes have caused significant reductions in quality and vitiated the ability of universities to play the role that

is expected of them. But other institutions have succeeded in enormously expanding enrollments and weathering political pressures while maintain-ing research programs on par with the best in the world.

The university in developing counties has a special function as a locus for the modernizing forces of society, for the promotion of the 'values' of science, and for mediating between the political and industrial spheres of a nation's life. The university's research facilities in particular must orchestrate the brainpower of the faculty, take responsibility for training new generations of talent, and participate in the transformation of the nation's S&T base. Regrettably, the current structures of higher-education systems in many countries are inadequate to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Wide-ranging reforms are needed, as the university system should be the centerpiece of any human-resource development strategy for S&T capacity.

The reform of higher-education systems - in the industrialized S&T-advanced countries as well as in the developing nations - has been the topic of several studies and reports.⁷ Although a fuller treatment of such a complex topic is beyond the scope of this report, the Study Panel points out that special attention to university governance, balancing autonomy with national purpose and ensuring institutional pluralism in the education and training system, will all be necessary. More specifically, university reforms should encompass the following actions:

Modify academic and governance structures that create barriers for change and for the conduct of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. This reform should include promotion of an interaction of the physical, biological, and earth scientists with academics in the humanities and social sciences.
Strengthen merit-based academic policies and procedures that allow young brilliant academics to climb the academic ladder and gain intellectual independence.
Promote the regular evaluation of university departments, institutes, and faculties by external reviewers, including international experts.
Establish transparent and rigorous systems of institutional and program accreditation at the national and international levels. This is especially crucial for post-graduate level programs.
Emphasize systems of accountability for public investments in higher education.

In particular, the promotion of special world-class research programs in universities will be essential for meeting the challenge of building capacity for science and technology. Such research programs should have a great degree of autonomy and should develop and exert their influence in the short term, even while the needed reforms of the entire system proceed over a longer-term horizon.