Global Benchmarking and Partner Selection using World University Rankings and Classifications Session VII: Use of Rankings in Building WCU Tuesday 1 November 2011 Tony Sheil Deputy Director, Research Policy Dr Freya Mearns Policy Officer Research Excellence Named in honour of Sir Samuel Griffith (1845-1920), first Chief Justice of Australia Established: 1971 (however Griffith's Queensland College of Art was established in 1881, and the Queensland Conservatorium in 1957) Location: Queensland, Australia Student headcount: approximately 43,000 International Students: >10,000 (from 120 countries) Staff population: 3,563 FTE Campuses: five located in Brisbane and Gold Coast Co-located with $1.8 billion Gold Coast University Hospital (opening 2012) Research Institutes and Centres: 32 1
Purpose of this study The University s aim was to identify up to one dozen successful research universities, all from overseas, to gauge whether Griffith is on a trajectory to become a comprehensive research university of world standing across an internationally accepted range of research performance indicators. At what point in their histories did universities similar to Griffith make the transition from being merely good to great research universities? What breakthrough strategies were in place at critical junctures in these universities histories? What are the lessons from others founded during this expansion period and what structures, organisational arrangements, missions, and supporting strategies are taking them forward? What expectations should be placed on institutions at Griffith s stage of development with respect to their research performance? What investment is required to produce step change and lift Griffith-like universities to the next stage of development? Can Griffith become the next Warwick? Approximately 25,000 students, 40 per cent postgraduate; Almost 1,700 academic staff (headcount); Population catchment of 10 million within 75 km radius; Single campus, abundant land, new Master Plan; Remains highly interdisciplinary planning three new interdisciplinary research centres; Established Institute of Advanced Study in 2007; Plans to double number of PhD students by 2015, with a focus on doctoral training centres; Global research priorities in: Food Security; Energy; Manufacturing and Healthcare; Forty per cent of research outputs from Social Sciences; Similar in scale to The University of Western Australia. 2
Founded 1964, three campuses (Burnaby, Surrey, Vancouver). World rankings: Top 300 Academic Ranking of World Universities. Student population: 31,522 (11 per cent international). Research income: C$80 million, Endowment: C$177 million. Web of Science indexed outputs: Approximately 1,700 per year. Australian partners: ANU, Flinders, Griffith, Macquarie, Monash, UWA, Murdoch. By 2015 Griffith could closely resemble Simon Fraser University and achieve similar rankings. Recent SFU Highlights 2002 Amalgamation of the Technical University of British Columbia into Simon Fraser University to create the Surry Campus; 2003 Construction of UniverCity (4,500 residential units) to present; 2006 Opening of Fraser International College; 2010 Establishment of a Contemporary Arts Centre in downtown Vancouver These are all the hallmarks of a confident, rapidly expanding University this is reflected in research outputs from 2000 to 2009. 3
Filters for identifying benchmark universities World Universities (approximately 17,000) Overall rankings performance Age Discipline mix Other defining characteristics Local competition Interdisciplinarity Multi-campus Size Final Benchmarking Short-List Short-list of benchmark universities University QS classification of size Local, older, well-respected competitor Espouses to be interdisciplinary Multicampus university Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain L Yes Not obviously Yes Maastricht University, The Netherlands L Yes Yes Yes Simon Fraser University, Canada L Yes Yes Yes State University of Campinas, Brazil L Yes Yes Yes Umeå University, Sweden L No Yes Yes University of East Anglia, UK L Yes Yes No University of Southern Denmark, Denmark M* Yes Yes Yes University of Sussex, UK M Yes Yes No University of Tsukuba, Japan L Yes Yes Yes University of Twente, The Netherlands M Yes Yes No University of Warwick, UK L Yes Yes No *While classified as M by QS, the University of Southern Denmark reports a student count of 20,000 on its website, which suggests it should fall into the L category according to QS s definition of size. 4
Transferability of method Dependent on the mission of the University: Primarily local engagement/ acting as a catalyst for social change; or Primarily internationally-renowned teaching and research. Potential adjustment of: World University Rankings used (ARWU vs HEEACT vs QS vs THE vs Scimago vs Webometrics) Age range used Defining characteristics used Preliminary examination of benchmark universities 1. Institutional histories are punctuated by breakthrough highlights every 5-10 years research outcomes however lag several years. 2. Research strengths are persistent with the same strengths often prevailing now as they did 30-40 years ago during establishment. 3. Becoming fully comprehensive takes time - benchmark institutions are focussing on building upon select areas of research excellence. 4. Ambition and bold strategic vision appear to be hallmarks of institutions in the benchmark group - the race to become a top 200 or even top 400 global research university is intense. 5. All have a strong commitment to interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and an equally strong drive to break with tradition, providing an innovative alternative to more established universities. 5
Conclusion where to from here Griffith is confident that it has established the foundation for further analysis to inform its development as a comprehensive research university of world standing. The outcomes have also informed our discussions with governments, industry and community, and partner institutions. A by-product of the exercise was the development of a novel method for partner selection an institution-to-institution memorandum of understanding was signed with Simon Fraser University in May 2010. On a broader front we seek to promote a more rational and constructive use of world university rankings and classifications, which are so often viewed in a one-dimensional way. This would not have been possible before the establishment of world university rankings which have led to increased transparency, accountability and accessibility of data. 6