"We have set an ambitious goal – of getting at least five of our universities onto the list of the 100 best universities in the world by 2020."
Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
A meeting of the Council for Promoting the Competitiveness of Russia's Leading Universities among the World’s Leading Research and Education Centres
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov
A meeting of the Council for Promoting the Competitiveness of Russia's Leading Universities among the World’s Leading Research and Education Centres
Dmitry Medvedev: Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, good afternoon. I have been invited to attend today’s meeting of the council to improve the competitiveness of our leading universities. What I find very important is that the council, along with the representatives of Russia's higher education system, of our universities and administrative structures, also includes members of our academic society and business community, as well as our foreign colleagues who have contributed a great deal to the spectacular success of their universities.
I would like to remind you that we have set an ambitious goal – some people think it's completely unattainable but we have a different opinion, otherwise we would not be meeting here – of getting at least five of our universities onto the list of the 100 best universities in the world by 2020. I'll tell you why I think it's possible: not because all ratings are subjective but because our educational traditions, the potential of our universities and the international experience – all count in favour of such a result. Previously, maybe 50 years ago, there were no rankings, but still everybody knew that Russian education was at a decent level.
It’s quite normal to have competition in the global education market. In general, there is ongoing competition for the future – for resources, ideas, and better prospects. And if you lose this competition at the university level, naturally, it makes it impossible to compete on the economic arena. That is why it is so important to ensure that Russian universities (and I would like to stress that it should not just be universities in Moscow or capital cities, but universities throughout Russia) are at the top of the international rankings.
Once again, we are certainly not saying that rankings are completely accurate, but at the same time, ignoring the assessments of the professional community would also be wrong. A higher ranking is always a mark of quality of sorts (regardless of what we think about rankings in general). It demonstrates whether a university meets international standards, how well students are trained, and whether there is a demand for them at major companies. By enrolling in such a university, a student takes the first step toward his or her career.
The most ambitious young people try to enroll in the world’s top 100 universities, and we as a state should certainly use this potential for the development of our economy. Otherwise, we will face the dilemma of how to bring our specialists back, although this is also happening in life and there is nothing extraordinary about it.
Dmitry Medvedev: "The Government has been allocating quite significant resources to enhance the international competitiveness of our universities. This year alone, we have allocated 9 billion roubles, or about $300 million."
The Government has been allocating quite significant resources to enhance the international competitiveness of our universities. This year alone, we have allocated 9 billion roubles, or about $300 million. Every university can put together a programme aimed at improving its international ranking and can receive a state subsidy based on the results of competition.
These funds are provided for specific purposes and are not intended for university development in general. The goal is to achieve a specific result, and the universities that will receive these funds (the competition winners) should understand their responsibility.
As far as I know, 54 universities have applied to take part in the competition, of which 36 have been accepted. Today, they will be presenting their programmes at the Council meeting. Will they be presenting here?
Dmitry Livanov: Eight universities have already presented their programmes, and 26 will present by the end of the day. The remaining eight programmes will be presented tomorrow.
Dmitry Medvedev: You have a lot of work to do, then. I hope the presentations are interesting. In any event, they should help our universities to learn about promoting themselves, which is a very important skill in life.
This is a long-term project, which should allow universities to change quite a few things in the way they work.
Dmitry Medvedev: "Universities should actively search for young instructors and scholars from all over the world. They should build partnerships both with Russian and foreign universities and should raise the level of their academic mobility, as it is called."
First of all, they should actively search for young instructors and scholars from all over the world. They should build partnerships both with Russian and foreign universities and should raise the level of their academic mobility, as it is called.
Naturally, someone who has taught at various universities has a completely different outlook. He is better integrated in global science, which I believe is extremely important to our science, and is familiar with advanced foreign technology and methodology.
Secondly, universities should cultivate science and a special intellectual environment. They should create appropriate conditions for research, facilitate the adoption of promising developments, support the creation of small innovative companies and promote venture research.
Thirdly, the most important indicator of a university’s competitiveness is the qualification level of its graduates and the demand for them on the labour market. For universities, this relationship with employers is extremely important. I must admit that back when I worked in business in the 1990s, my first impression of a potential employee I had to hire was formed based on what was written on his diploma.
Dmitry Medvedev: "Universities should cultivate science and a special intellectual environment. They should create appropriate conditions for research, facilitate the adoption of promising developments, support the creation of small innovative companies and promote venture research."
If the person was a graduate of a well-known university it meant something to me, whereas if the school wasn’t well-known it was a completely different situation, even if the potential employee was a very good specialist. Therefore, the university’s brand is a very important factor throughout the world and in Russia as well.
Finally, the fourth point is that we need to increase the number of foreign students in our universities, which is a task of key importance. Why is this necessary? I believe it’s quite obvious. If foreign students come to study in Russia, it means that we have decent universities, which are reputable and popular abroad.
My final point is that as we update educational programmes, we must also upgrade the university management system, which is primarily based on generally accepted principles, and hire professional, effective managers. This work is as complex and important as the reform of the Academy of Sciences that is currently underway.
Friends, we are faced with an important task. I look forward to continued cooperation with our foreign colleagues, and to learning from their invaluable experience. I’m confident that the results of this work will be used to identify the best and most promising universities and unleash their potential.
Dmitry Medvedev: We need to increase the number of foreign students in our universities, which is a task of key importance. If foreign students come to study in Russia, it means that we have decent universities, which are reputable and popular abroad.
I’ll stop now, so that it doesn’t look like I’m interfering in matters that you’re responsible for. I’ll turn the floor over to Minister of Education Dmitry Livanov. Please, go ahead.
Dmitry Livanov: Mr Medvedev, on behalf of all the Council members I would like to thank you for attending today's meeting. This is an important and symbolic event for us. I would like to introduce the Council members to you. On your left is Andrei Volkov, Rector of the Moscow School of Management. Further clockwise, Edward Crowley, President of the Skolkovo Institute of Research and Technology; Oleg Alekseyev, Vice President of the Skolkovo Foundation; Professor Min Weifang, Executive President of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy; Professor Malcolm Grant, President of University College London and Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, President of the University of Hong Kong. Professor Altbach, Director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, will join us via a conference call from the United States.
Dmitry Medvedev: Welcome everyone.
Dmitry Livanov: You said in your opening remarks that boosting the research capacity of our universities is the most important challenge facing our entire higher education system. Russia should take its rightful place in the global market of high-end intellectual products. This is a place that the Soviet Union always occupied, but which we have pretty much lost over the past 15-20 years.
However, we need to regain our international competitiveness in research, technology and higher education. To do so, we will need to bring our educational programmes in line with the best international standards. We’ve been doing this at about 15 of our leading universities which will be selected to participate in the programme. In fact, we believe that the best practices must be applied across our higher education institutions.
Dmitry Livanov: "It’s imperative that we adopt international practices of managing institutions of higher learning. To do so, we will need to overhaul our regulations and, most importantly, change the mindset at our universities. We will definitely have to upgrade the research and development system at our universities."
It’s imperative that we adopt international practices of managing institutions of higher learning. To do so, we will need to overhaul our regulations and, most importantly, change the mindset at our universities. We will definitely have to upgrade the research and development system at our universities. I believe that the reform of the Academy of Sciences that you mentioned will also be conducive to boosting cooperation between our leading academic and research institutions and universities. Of course, it’s extremely important to internationalise all the activities pursued by our universities, including the creation of a modern infrastructure to attract top researchers, professors, administrators and, most importantly, students. We need to ensure that our universities attract students from around the world.
It’s good to know that the Russian system of higher education is moving up the international rankings, but this is not our goal. We will use these rankings to measure the success of each university. As part of the project, state support will be provided to a limited number of higher education institutions, ones that have real potential to make it onto international rankings. We are evaluating each programme to determine whether it has a realistic chance of achieving these ambitious goals.
Each university will have a road map, that is, a detailed action plan. In fact, it’ll be a separate project, because all universities are different, and it’s important to tailor the development programme to each one of them. Our Council will select programmes and universities that are capable of change and progress. We believe it’s important to attract top Russian and international experts, researchers, innovators, inventors and people from industry, and to use best international practices to evaluate programmes and their performance.By 2020 every participating university (we’ll select about 15 of them, give or take a few) will make it into the top-200, one of the world's foremost ratings, while about five universities will be listed among the hundred best universities in the world. We consider it very important to extend development programmes beyond these five universities to a wider circle of higher educational establishments, and I would like to highlight once again that, as we believe, the project will have a very serious influence on our system of higher education, as it will set high standards and share the best practices. By 2020 every university will have no less than 3,000 articles in the main academic databases, which will considerably increase Russia’s academic influence.
Dmitry Medvedev: Where will those 3,000 articles be specifically?
Dmitry Livanov: We are referring to the Web of Science and Scopus databases, which are the main international databases of academic journals. And every university will have no less than 15% foreign students, which is several times more than the average figures today. In other words, we will be taking a very serious step forward in this field.
Dmitry Livanov: "Each university will have a road map, that is, a detailed action plan. In fact, it’ll be a separate project, because all universities are different, and it’s important to tailor the development programme to each one of them."
I would like to thank you as a representative of the Government for its financial assistance, for taking the decision to finance the project. It’s very important for the project to have a secure financial future and to enjoy financial stability, while we understand that a number of universities may fail to meet the high standards, the high levels of development that they will set for themselves. We don’t rule out some shake-ups. We can’t say that in two, three, four, even five years we will not be holding the next stage of this competition to include new participants in the project.
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Dmitry Livanov: In closing, I’ll update you on our schedule for today and the next few months. This is our second meeting. During the first one in May, we outlined the basic rules of the contest, such as the rules for selecting universities and our requirements with regard to their programmes. During this meeting that will last all day today and half of the day tomorrow, we will hear all the presentations and then vote and make the final decision on Saturday around 3:00 pm. After that, all the selected universities – there’ll be no more than 17 – will receive funds. They will be notified about the amount of money that they will receive, and immediately begin to develop their respective road maps. We expect that the best global consulting companies, including Russian and Western ones, will help them do this, but the universities will have to decide for themselves. It’s important that each university has people from the outside who will help them better position the university and develop a plan for future work.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov
Our board will meet again in September to review these road maps for their quality and feasibility. We will review and approve the maps, provide recommendations for changes, if needed, and then approve them. The universities will begin to implement these measures already in September or early October.
Dmitry Medvedev: When will they receive the funds?
Dmitry Livanov: They will receive the funds for the very first step, the development of road maps, within two weeks of our decision. Financing of the main measures will come in September or October, depending on how soon they cope with the first step.
Dmitry Medvedev: I see. Thank you.
Colleagues, it was very interesting to attend this board meeting, first, because it’s interesting in and of itself, and second, it was nice to hear what you had to say. There are issues on which we see eye to eye. Obviously, in order for a university to be a modern institution, it should be seamlessly integrated into global cooperation. It must be competitive. It must create the proper environment, enjoy academic freedom and engage in relevant research.
It should have a strategy and a goal. As Mr Min rightly put it, a goal is certainly a good thing, but a goal can be unattainable. Still, we should strive to achieve it. I just thought of a quote by some revolutionaries of the 20th century who used to say that the final goal is nothing and the movement toward it is everything. This is a slight exaggeration, but it’s a perfectly good slogan for a university, because moving from goal to goal, we are becoming stronger, more competitive, and more attractive.
The personal input of each of you, from rector to student, is important, which is obvious, because a university is a team. It’s impossible to break down such a team into its parts: it’s either a team or nothing. Therefore, we will be moving along this path. The amounts of money that you will receive are not huge, but they will still help you make a statement.
Dmitry Medvedev: "Obviously, in order for a university to be a modern institution, it should be seamlessly integrated into global cooperation. It must be competitive. It must create the proper environment, enjoy academic freedom and engage in relevant research. It should have a strategy and a goal."
As for the money in general, I believe it's important that we in Russia follow the lead of international university centres. In addition to government funding, which will always be there, it’s imperative to continue to create endowments and replenish them with funds. This issue goes beyond being a purely financial one and is also an issue of corporate solidarity. If you are an alumnus, if you care about your university, and if you made it in your life, why not share your success with the university? This will give the university a boost and also give it resources for development.
Here’s my final point. I agree that the system of education and universities are also part of the problem in any country, not just Russia or China. Some problems are systemic, structural and have deep roots, and we also have to address them. I hope that we will be successful in developing our science, which is also about to undergo reforms (the State Duma has just approved by an absolute majority of votes a long awaited law on reforming our Academy of Sciences), and developing our university environment and the rules that govern the activities of universities.
Once again, thank you very much for working with us and helping us to promote education in Russia.
