The Slovak Higher Education System and Its Research Capacity
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European University Association (EUA) Institutional Evaluation Programme THE SLOVAK HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM AND ITS RESEARCH CAPACITY EUA SECTORAL REPORT Henrik Toft Jensen Alojz Kralj Don McQuillan Sybille Reichert EUA asbl • Rue d’Egmont 13, 1000 Brussels, Belgium • tel : +32-2 230 55 44 • fax : +32-2 230 57 51 • e-mail: [email protected] • www.EUA.be EUA Institutional Evaluation Programme/The Slovak HE System and its Research Capacity/ January 2008 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ The Slovak Higher Education System and its Research Capacity An EUA Sectoral Report 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Mandate.................................................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Background of the EUA Institutional Evaluation Programme .................................................... 3 1.3 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 4 2. University Research in an International Context ................................................................................... 5 2.1 Universities and Research in a Globalising World........................................................................... 5 2.2 The Lisbon Agenda and the Challenges of the European Research Area ....................................... 7 2.3 The Bologna reforms and the European Higher Education Area ................................................... 11 3. Slovakian Higher Education Institutions in Transition.......................................................................... 13 3.1 Facing Widened Access and Diversified Needs............................................................................ 13 3.2 Funding Higher Education Institutions .......................................................................................... 17 3.3 Institutional Differentiation............................................................................................................ 20 3.4 The Legal Framework and Institutional Autonomy ........................................................................ 24 3.5 Framework Conditions for Governance ........................................................................................ 26 3.6 From External Quality Control to Internal Quality Assurance........................................................ 29 4. The Research Capacity of Slovakian Higher Education ...................................................................... 34 4.1 Research Capacity at Institutional Level ....................................................................................... 34 4.1.1 Institutional Missions and Research Strategies...................................................................... 34 4.1.2 Variation of Research Intensity and Output ........................................................................... 35 4.1.3 Institutional Incentives and Obstacles to Research Activities ................................................. 40 4.1.4 Access to International Research Community and Competition ............................................. 42 4.1.5 Research Career Development and Renewal of Research Staff............................................ 43 4.1.6 Research Training and Doctoral Education ........................................................................... 45 4.1.7 University Innovation Activities and Research in Partnership with External Stakeholders....... 48 4.2 Research Capacity at National Level............................................................................................ 51 4.2.1 Institutional Structures........................................................................................................... 51 4.2.2 Research Support and Funding: Scope and Instruments....................................................... 54 4.2.3 Research-based Innovation and Public-private Partnerships ................................................. 59 4.2.4 Universities as Motors of Regional Development................................................................... 63 5. Executive Summary of Recommendations ......................................................................................... 65 6. Bibliography....................................................................................................................................... 71 7. Annexes............................................................................................................................................. 73 Annex 1: List of International Experts who participated in the Institutional Evaluations of Higher Education Institutions in the Slovak Republic in 2006 and 2007.......................................................... 73 Annex 2: Innovation governance SWOT overview of the European Commission’s Country Report on the Slovak Republic ........................................................................................................................... 75 Annex 3: The Lisbon Review of the World Economic Forum:.............................................................. 76 2 EUA Institutional Evaluation Programme/The Slovak HE System and its Research Capacity/ January 2008 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Introduction 1.1 Mandate The European University Association (EUA) has been commissioned by the Ministry of Education in the Slovak Republic (ME SR), jointly with the Slovak Rectors’ Conference (SRC), to evaluate the universities and higher education institutions during 2005-2007. The agreement between the two parties means that the EUA Evaluation will examine the following areas, taking into account the local, national and international contexts (EUA, 2005a, p. 5): Organisation and structures for carrying out the main missions of higher education institutions. Effectiveness of internal quality processes and their relevance in decision-making and strategic planning. Perceived gaps in the internal mechanisms and frameworks and recommendations for resolving them. This evaluation is taking place in a wider context of the Government’s: strategic objective of placing Slovakia in a favourable position for meeting the Lisbon objectives; interest in ensuring the successful implementation of the Bologna reforms; acknowledgement of the need to increase the transparency and attractiveness of the public sector. The intention of this evaluation is to support Slovak higher education institutions in their continuing development in order to meet best standards and practices that are adapted to their specific context. The overall analysis reaches across the whole publicly funded higher education sector which includes the evaluation of all Slovak public and state higher education institutions with a particular focus on the research capacity at the national level. 1.2 Background of the EUA Institutional Evaluation Programme The European University Association (EUA) includes about 780 member universities in 46 countries. Since 1994 these universities have been offered the possibility of being reviewed in order to assess their strengths and weaknesses in quality management. The aims of the Institutional Evaluation Programme are to support the university leadership and management in their efforts to improve institutional management and to promote the university’s capacity for change. The university’s Self-Evaluation Report (SER) opens the possibilities to discuss its future and to help it understand its strengths and weaknesses. EUA does not wish to provide the university with a blueprint for its development. The review process is a consultative and supportive one with a long-term perspective. EUA hopes to contribute thereby to the promotion of a quality culture among European universities, and to disseminate examples of effective strategic management among its member universities. Since 2001 EUA has conducted sector-wide evaluations in order to identify and give recommendations on systemic challenges and common issues shared by all institutions in a given sector. In addition to this review, examples of sector-wide evaluations include the Irish universities in 2004 and the Portuguese higher education system in 2006-2008. 3 EUA Institutional Evaluation Programme/The Slovak HE System and its Research Capacity/ January 2008 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 1.3 Methodology The following analysis is based, first and foremost, on the series of 23 institutional evaluation reports which were submitted by the international institutional evaluation teams of each Slovak higher education institution. A total of 56 experts from 24 European countries participated in these evaluation teams. These reports summarise the findings of the international evaluation peers, based on the self-evaluation reports of the institutions and the 2 visits to the institution. They provide an in-depth insight into the challenges, opportunities and capacity for change of the institution. These institutional evaluations take the aims and self-understanding and strategic objectives of an institution as points of departure to explore to what extent the institution is in a position to realise these aims and what it would have to do to realise these aims and objectives.