Discussion about the future of the university calls for more urgency
Science in Transition states in a statement at the opening of the academic year that the discussion about the future of the university demands more urgency.
During the week in which the academic year 2014-2015 is opened, the international debate on the science system continues. New ways to determine quality and impact are widely discussed. The criticism of publication pressure is increasing and reproducibility is widely discussed in experimental disciplines. All this has implications for the distribution of research money, the subject choice and career policy.
The discussion about the strategy of universities as conducted during the Dune & Herb Mountain Conference in June, organized by VSNU and the Rathenau Institute, is therefore very up to date. But the meeting seemed quite academic and non-binding. At the start of the new academic year, Science in Transition sets out what is at stake for the universities. The starting point should be that the university contributes to the solution of the social problems of this age.