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The university's dilemma

12 August 2013

The university is one of the most interesting institutions in our society, and yet it currently faces one of the biggest dilemmas of its entire existence. Founded under the premise that the best minds would have the time to freely think about all aspects of science and society, the university now faces a major dilemma that can be described in the following terms:

  1. If it simply decides to keep its ivory tower status, it becomes out of the business chain while producing knowledge that is irrelevant for anybody other than its peers
  2. If it tries to align with national and international funding agencies, it turns professors into professional grant writers whose life is the art of attempting to be aligned with whatever agency might be willing to give them money.
  3. If it goes the industry funding way, it becomes a pet. Despite the best intentions by conflict of interest committees researchers will design studies to prove industry products effective and later will hold back any criticism to their products since that would cut their chances of getting the next funding cycle.

Does it mean that good science can't be done? Absolutely not, there is still plenty of exciting projects, probably more than ever. But then, the problem persists without a solution that could take the university to the next level.

by Ricardo Pietrobon

About Me

My name is Ricardo Pietrobon and I am interested in big data and situated cognition applied to immersive distance education.