Abstract
The report is the result of a one-year collaboration with Technical University Eindhoven (TU/e) whose President Robert-Jan Smits (RJS) was directly involved throughout. Following a meeting last year with Kumsal and Michiel Kolman, he asked if we could help him with the challenge that established university rankings do not measure what TU/e is trying to do. TU/e’s objectives are summarised by the concept of the 4th Generation University which means that universities should drive economic growth and societal impact locally, working systematically with a broad range of stakeholders such as industry, local government and the public. Measuring success requires innovative indicators, which we co-designed and calculated in the attached report.
The panel discussion in Bremen included myself, RJS, the MD of Germany’s Technical Universities (TU9), the VP of an association of 50+ European technical universities (CESAER) and the European Innovation Council. While the label ‘4th Generation University’ – which emerged from academia – was not widely known, the concepts that it described resonated strongly with co-panellists and attendees alike.
An important intangible benefit accrues from us being positioned as a Thought Leader alongside RJS who - as the architect of Plan S - is not historically known as an Elsevier supporter. Yet he now publicly compliments and thanks us. He has pledged to help us recruit more like-minded institutions, and will co-present with us at more events this year. All this helps with our objective to be a Trusted Partner of the Academic & Government community.
Next steps are to engage with other universities for whom the 4th Generation University concept resonates – both individually, and via networks like TU9 and CESAER. There are commercial opportunities for ALF to play a certification role as well as to use the concept to develop contributory datasets. We will be continuing to promote the project with RJS, and will invite others to participate at a series of upcoming events, such as the Science Business conference in Brussels in June.
The panel discussion in Bremen included myself, RJS, the MD of Germany’s Technical Universities (TU9), the VP of an association of 50+ European technical universities (CESAER) and the European Innovation Council. While the label ‘4th Generation University’ – which emerged from academia – was not widely known, the concepts that it described resonated strongly with co-panellists and attendees alike.
An important intangible benefit accrues from us being positioned as a Thought Leader alongside RJS who - as the architect of Plan S - is not historically known as an Elsevier supporter. Yet he now publicly compliments and thanks us. He has pledged to help us recruit more like-minded institutions, and will co-present with us at more events this year. All this helps with our objective to be a Trusted Partner of the Academic & Government community.
Next steps are to engage with other universities for whom the 4th Generation University concept resonates – both individually, and via networks like TU9 and CESAER. There are commercial opportunities for ALF to play a certification role as well as to use the concept to develop contributory datasets. We will be continuing to promote the project with RJS, and will invite others to participate at a series of upcoming events, such as the Science Business conference in Brussels in June.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Journal | SSRN |
| State | Published - Apr 23 2024 |