Fired up for the futureYouth need not be adisadvantageinadynamic higher education scene, discovers Phil Baty“Having an impact on the world isnot about tradition and history–it’s about relevance in thecontemporary world,” argues AnthonyForster,vice-chancellor of the Universityof Essex.Essex, aBritish institution celebratingits 50th anniversary this year,hasclimbed seven places to 22nd in theTimes Higher Education 100 Under 502014. It was founded, says Forster,“asauniversity for amodern age”. Whileit competes on the global stage withrivals that have had centuries to accumulateprestige and wealth, Essexbelieves that its relative youth is adistinctadvantage.“Unhampered by the burden oftradition and history, our focus hasalways resolutely been on the future,”adds Forster.The university made an impact onthe world very quickly.In1986, six ofits departments were judged to be outstandingby the UK research assessmentexercise. Today, its socialsciences provision is regarded asamong the best in the country. Lastyear Essex was awarded aprestigiousRegius professorship –anacademichonour bestowed by the Crown that isso rare that only 14 have been createdin the past century (Essex has the onlyone in political science). The institutionalso enjoys some of the highestsatisfaction results recorded by theUK’s National Student Survey.“Wehave always been nonconformist,more daring and more willing toexperiment,” says Forster. “Weembrace rather than shy away fromengagement in controversial issuesand encourage members of our communityto be tenacious, to question thestatus quo and to test conventionalwisdom. Challenging conventions is inour DNA.”This risk-takingapproachtoteachingand research characterises manyinstitutions featured in the100 Under50. While the list was conceived as away to identify the potential stars oftencrowded out of the traditional globalrankings by older, richer, more networkedand more prestigious rivals,many of the world’sleading young universitiesshare Essex’sview that youth6 Times Higher Education 1May 2014need not be a disadvantage in adynamic higher education scene.Alvaro Penteado Crósta, vice-rectorof Brazil’s State University of Campinas,SouthAmerica’sonly representativein the rankings, offers alengthylist of areas where he believes youngerinstitutions such as his have the edgeover theirolder rivals:for starters,theformer canmore successfully maintain“a robust synergy between teachingand research”; they are also more ableto introduce innovations in their curricula,“sometimes mixing traditionaland innovative teaching methods…inways that older institutions may finddifficult to implement”.From Crósta’sSouth American perspective,young institutions also tendto be better at identifying real-worldapplications for their research andgenerally “offer more flexible mechanismsfor interacting with society,including the public, private and thirdsectors. They arealsomoreresponsiveto changing demands.”Paul Wellings, vice-chancellor ofAustralia’s University ofWollongong(33rd in the table), says: “While werightly celebrate the achievements andtraditions of our ancient universities,we should not lose sight of the fact thatmost universities have had autonomyand degree-awarding powers for arelatively short period.“As the THE 100 Under 50 illustrates,some of these have securedglobal recognition.”Sowhat has allowed this precociousbreed to flourish? For Wellings,former vice-chancellor of the UK’sAWorld of youth: breAkdoWn by countryNumber of Highest rankedCountry institutions institution RankuK 14 Lancaster university 10Australia 14 university of Newcastle 28uS 8 university of California, Irvine 7Spain 7 Pompeu Fabra university =13France 6 université Paris-Sud 8Germany 6 universität ulm 16Canada 5 university of Calgary 19taiwan 4 National Sun Yat-Sen university 40Hong Kong 3 Hong Kong university of Science and technology 4Sweden 3 Swedish university of Agricultural Sciences =24Republic of Ireland 3 National university of Ireland, Maynooth =67Portugal 3 university of Minho 75South Korea 2 Pohang university of Science and technology 1Italy 2 university of Milan-Bicocca 21Iran 2 Sharif university of technology 27turkey 2 Bilkent university =31Austria 2 Medical university of Vienna 36Denmark 2 university of SouthernDenmark =37New Zealand 2 university of Waikato =44Finland 2 university of easternFinland 53Switzerland 1 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne 2Singapore 1 Nanyang technological university 5Netherlands 1 Maastricht university 6Brazil 1 State university of Campinas =37Japan 1 university of tsukuba =44Greece 1 university of Crete 48Norway 1 university of tromsø 64Saudi Arabia 1 King Abdulaziz university =71India 1 Indian Institute of technology, Guwahati =87top young institution, Lancaster University(10th), an essential ingredientis an excellent–and loyal –workforce.“First, the staff need to be signedup to the institution’s strategy andpriorities, rather than being fixed ondisciplinary loyalties,”saysWellings.“Second, successful new universitieshave to demonstrate outstandingattraction and retention policies andpractices. The best staff live in a‘seller’smarket’. They need to be certainthat spending part of their careerat anewish university in the processof building its reputation is bothinvigorating and agood use of theirintellectual powers.”Flexible and dynamic infrastructureis also essential, he believes.“Some ancient universities havelarge and historic estates. These canbe adouble-edged sword,” he says.“On one hand they sustain reputationthrough the presence of significantbuildings, beautiful collections andimportant laboratories. On the other,theseare aburdenastheyare expensiveto maintain, are often unsuitablefor contemporary use and can createrestrictions on the mobility of theuniversity’scapital for new uses.“In contrast, new universities canhave greater flexibility and be moreresponsive to regional economiccircumstances and nationalimperatives.”Wollongong, up 10 places in thisyear’srankings, has been particularlysuccessful in leveraging major infrastructurefunding under nationalcompetition, Wellings points out.“Tobesuccessful, universities musthave aclear mechanism to identifypriorities and research strengths, andto position them in the context ofnational priorities and competitivefunding streams. This approach canhave amarked effect on the fabric ofthe institution,” he says.Since 2008, Wollongong has createdan international centre for infrastructureresearch, amajor regionalhealth and medical institute focusedon translational work, an institute toexplore innovative new materials, afacility dedicated to sustainable buildingsand asocial sciences precinctReuteRS
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