Presentation Barry Halliwell

Presentation Barry Halliwell

KONINKLIJKE NEDERLANDSE AKADEMIE VAN WETENSCHAPPEN SCIENCE FOR SOCIETY: HOW? 26 October 2012 What is a Research-Intensive University for and how do we prove that it delivers? The Singapore example “All things to all people” (education, training, research, patents, spin offs, innovation, social mobility, growing industry etc) Professor Barry Halliwell Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor Deputy President (Research & Technology) National University of Singapore FEATURES OF A LEADING RESEARCH INTENSIVE UNIVERSITY • Largely bottom up, PI led • Academics do what they want (if they can find resources) • How can this apparent chaos lead to value? THESIS If you get the right people (academic staff, researchers, students) in the right environment, value will be created. • Excellent research • Innovative education with substantial “added value” • Patents / spin offs / new companies But the last should not be KPIs (key performance indicators) For most Universities, there is much more economic contribution in other ways. ABOUT NUS SINGAPORE’S NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Research is conducted in All Major Disciplines Faculties and Schools (Undergraduate and Graduate education) 1. Arts and Social Sciences 7. Law 2. Business 8. Medicine 3. Computing 9. Music 4. Dentistry 10. Public Health 5. Design and Environment 11. Science 6. Engineering 12. University Scholars Programme (for Undergraduate only) Graduate Schools 1. Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School 2. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy 3. NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering University Level RICs 25½ University-level Research Institutes or Centres • Asia Research Institute • Middle East Institute • Centre for International Law • NUS Environmental Research Institute • Centre for Maritime Studies • NUS Nanoscience & Nanotechnology • Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing & Initiative Processing • Risk Management Institute • East Asian Institute • Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology • Energy Studies Institute (SINAPSE) • NUS Global Asia Institute • Singapore Synchrotron Light Source • Institute for Mathematical Sciences • Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore • Institute of Real Estate Studies • Temasek Laboratories • Institute of South Asian Studies • The Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific • Interactive & Digital Media Institute • Tropical Marine Science Institute • Life Sciences Institute Advantages Status, access to resources (seed funding), SPACE, ability to bid for large external grants Research Centres of Excellence (RCEs) Centre for Quantum Technologies • Singapore’s first RCE established in 2007 • Conducts interdisciplinary theoretical and experimental research into the fundamental limits of information processing • $158 million over 10 years from National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) Cancer Science Institute of Singapore • Set up in March 2008 to become one of the world’s leading centres for cancer research • $172 million over 7 years from NRF and MOE Mechanobiology Institute, Singapore • Established in September 2009 • Work on new ways of studying diseases through the mechanisms of cell & tissue mechanics • Funding of $150 million over 10 years from NRF and MOE Singapore Centre on Environmental and Life Sciences Engineering •NTU-led RCE with substantial NUS input •Conducts cutting edge research on microbial biofilm communities for water and environmental sustainability NUS ALSO STRONGLY SUPPORTS RESEARCH IN HUMANITIES / SOCIAL SCIENCES / LAW / BUSINESS • Important in its own right, e.g. to develop understanding and explanations of human conditions and behaviour. • Contributes to cross-disciplinary initiatives (environment, sustainability, digital media, ethics, risk management, ageing etc) • Holistic education of students • BUT WHAT IS THEIR VALUE? BUT SINGAPORE IS VERY PRAGMATIC Demonstrate your value South Korea Japan Middle East China India Bangladesh Hong Kong Taiwan Thailand Vietnam USA Europe Sri Lanka Philippines Malaysia Australia Singapore Brunei Advantages • No energy (except some solar) • Location • Little food New Zealand • Political / social stability • Little space • Stable government • No oil or mineral resources Indonesia • People / High level of • Water-constrained education • Climate change • Connectivity • Very small, minute domestic market • Good social coherence • Low reproduction rate • Globally connected means risk of disease / financial crisis etc can impact very fast *Occupants SINGAPORE’S NATIONAL AND ONLY MIT COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITY ETH Zurich TUM Munich Synergy in Proximity Imperial College Hebrew University Technion Israel Berkeley Peking University CREATE Biopolis NUS NTU Others Fusionopolis National University SICS Hospital MRT! one-north Map courtesy of Singapore JTC Corporation Science Parks 8 SICS – Singapore Institute for Clinical Science (A*STAR) WHAT IS NUS FOR? • Universities in Singapore are complementary to A*STAR research institutes and other “mission oriented” research organisations • One key function of research intensive universities is to provide a strong and broad research base not only to address concerns of today but to create opportunities for tomorrow. • Lord Krebs in his evidence to the House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee (2008-9) pointed to a study in which ten key advances in cardiovascular medicine were traced back to about 600 papers from 400 different disciplines which provided the basis for the advances. Over 40% of them had nothing to do with cardiovascular medicine at all and many of them were not carried out in medical departments but in departments of chemistry, engineering, physics, botany, agriculture, zoology etc. A vision for UK Research, Council for Science and Technology (2010) • Several A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology & Research) RICs had their origins in NUS. DEFENDING RESEARCH-INTENSIVE UNIVERSITIES IARU WORKSHOP The Value of Research Universities – is it possible to define key performance indicators? 25 April 2012 • IARU members are a group of leading research universities that share a global vision, similar values and a commitment to educating future world leaders. There are 10 members including NUS, namely Berkeley, Yale, Cambridge, Oxford, Copenhagen, ETH Zurich, Tokyo, Peking and ANU. • The focus of the workshop was to hear best practices of how IARU members create and measure value. Members also discussed the pros and cons of quantitative measures of research value, and flaws in common approaches (rankings, citations, licensing income, etc). • How can universities help decision makers convince voters that investing in research-intensive universities is good value for money. How did NUS approach this?? • Cannot easily use local economic arguments that worked for Berkeley etc. • What if NUS had not existed? Manpower lost Industry not created Industry not attracted “unusual” spin offs, e.g. Conservatory of Music has economic benefit! NUS CAN NURTURE FOR SINGAPORE NICHE AREAS OF HIGH QUALITY THAT ARE NOT YET THE “FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH” [e.g. non-medical biology, plant science, humanities and social science (e.g. Asia Research Institute), pure mathematics] One example • Molecular basis of crop yields (MOU signed with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on 16 Feb 2009) • Crop resistance to environmental change • Nutrition, diet and health maintenance in Asians • Biodiversity • New competitive grants from NRF and SMF (3 grants totalling $21.2 million were obtained in the food security area) An example of how “basic” research suddenly becomes relevant! WE ARE COLLECTING MORE! Highlights of the workshop “Creation and dissemination of knowledge for its own sake” • The value of Research Intensive Universities can be divided into four main interconnected themes (= value flows): Research (production of high-quality articles, publications and access to research; free information for industry, government, public) Education (the knowledge and “soft skills” of candidates, one vehicle for social mobility) Knowledge exchange (collaboration with the outside world, hiring of graduates by industry and public bodies, consultancy, patent/licensing/spin-off companies, creation of high-level jobs) Direct economic contribution to the region (Fiscal contributions, building projects in local areas etc). • The crux of the specific value of research intensive universities: The four main value flows of universities are interrelated and interact in a way that creates value far beyond the simple sum. • The fact that the four flows are gathered in one university, in the same geographical space, is a key to understanding the special value of research intensive universities. Research, education and exchange of knowledge with the outside world fertilize each other. • “Combining research and education to improve society” Slide compliments of Prof Thomas Bjornholm (KU) and Dr Wang Hui (NUS) Messages from the workshop • The need for measuring is real whether we like it or not. If we do not define how university value can be gauged/measured, someone else (i.e. politicians) will do it for us. And we are unlikely to like their simplistic views! • Our target: Decision makers, and those who choose them. “If you are not keeping • Our goal: Help decision makers convince their score, you are only voters (or voters the decision makers), that practicing” investing in research intensive universities is good value for money. Jan Leschly Former CEO of SmithKline • We need a list of key performance indicators in Beecham order to measure

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