Universities: potentials created by the Nelson system

1
Universities potentials created by the Nelson
system focus on research capacity

• Simon MarginsonMonash University
• Sustaining Prosperity Conference, 1 April 2005

2
Top 500 research universities 2004 data compiled
by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Institute of
Higher Education
Actually top 502 research universities due to
tied places. Others include Denmark, Finland,
Austria, Hong Kong (each 5), Norway, Brazil,
South Africa (each 4), Taiwan, India, Ireland,
New Zealand, Hungary (each 3), Singapore, Russia,
Poland, Greece (each 2), Argentina, Mexico, Czech
Republic, Chile, Portugal (each 1).
3
Top 100 research universities 2004 data compiled
by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Institute of
Higher Education
Others Netherlands 2, Israel, Finland, Austria,
Norway, Russia, Italy each 1.
4
Australian universities in worlds top 502
research universities, 2004
5
Top 20 research universities 2004
6
Research performance of main English-speaking
nations, 2004
7
National research performance compared to
economic capacity 1
8
National research capacity compared to economic
capacity 2
9
National research performance compared to
economic capacity 3
10
Distribution of new ARC Discovery Grants 2005
11
The Nelson hierarchy (some highly speculative
probably wrong)
12
How to modify stratification and a too-narrow
research capacity

• Site funded major centres of excellence in most
  of Newcastle, Macquarie, Wollongong, La Trobe,
  Griffith, Tasmania, Flinders, James Cook,
  Murdoch, Deakin, UNE (the pre-1987s outside the
  Go8)
• Allocate 25 of the RAE distribution, on a
  selective basis, to underpin the evolution of
  blue sky research capacity (including APAs and
  post-docs) in the post-1987 institutions and
  parts of those institutions