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Dr. Charles Vest Shares Insights on Research University of Future During King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Symposium Keynote

Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PRWEB) November 5, 2007 -- Dr. Charles Vest (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/about/bio-vest.aspx?nav=symp), President of the National Academy of Engineering and President Emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gave the keynote address at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/) symposium (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/about/symposium.aspx), an event celebrating the university's groundbreaking (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/about/groundbreaking.aspx). The groundbreaking ceremony and symposium took place on October 21 and 22, respectively.     

Dr. Vest's keynote address specifically discussed six lessons that he feels the research university of the 21st century (http://www.kaust.edu.sa/about/speech-vest.aspx) can learn from the research university experience in the 20th century.

An excerpt of his address follows:

"I would like to discuss six lessons that the research university of the 21st century can learn from the research university experience in the 20th century.

Lesson 1: Teaching and research must be intimately intertwined.

The first lesson is that teaching and research must be intimately intertwined and must be assigned equal importance. Teaching and research are inseparable, and it is their synergy that defines the essence of a research university.

Many years ago, Fredrick Terman, then the provost of Stanford University, was asked whether he wanted Stanford to be a teaching institution or a research institution. He answered that he wanted it to be a learning institution. The research university of the 21st century must also be devoted to learning in this broad sense - learning through discovery as well as learning through teaching and exploration of the past.

In the long run, making universities exciting, creative, adventurous, rigorous, demanding, and empowering milieus is more important than specifying curricular details.

Lesson 2: The quality of a research university is determined by the quality of its faculty.

The second lesson is that the quality of a research university can be no better than the quality of its faculty. The faculty defines the research university. The research university of the 21st century must strive to attract, nurture, and empower the very best professors. This essential task of building a world-class faculty will require commitment, fortitude, patience, and adherence to high academic values as well as aspirations. Some well-experienced, excellent senior professors can and should be hired, but in the end it is also important that young faculty grow up through the ranks of the university.

Lesson 3: Science can flourish only in an open environment.

Lesson 3 is that science can flourish only in an open environment. Science languishes in a closed environment. The free flow of people and ideas across institutional and political boundaries is essential to the functioning of a great university. The very process of conducting science requires that others challenge one's hypotheses, independently verify the results of experiments, and validate theoretical conclusions. Science cannot be done in isolation. And, of course, interactions among scholars, scientists, and engineers who have diverse perspectives and varied experiences lead to creativity and innovation. Such interchange is the very essence of a research university. Maintaining an intellectually open environment requires a high degree of institutional autonomy and protection from political or ideological forces.

Lesson 4: Young faculty must be free to study and teach what they believe is important.

Lesson 4 is that it is essential to give great freedom to new, young faculty members to study and teach what they believe is important. They should not function as research assistants to senior professors. The wisdom and perspective of senior scholars is important, but most dramatic new insights and innovations come from brilliant young men and women. The freshness from young faculty and from the continual flow of students to the institution is key to a great research university. But with great intellectual freedom comes equally great responsibility. Thus faculty, even early in their careers, must always be held to the highest academic standards, especially through the evaluation and constructive criticism inherent in the peer review process.

Lesson 5: Competition engenders excellence in higher education.

Lesson 5 is that competition - competition among universities to attract and retain the best faculty and students, and competition among professors and research groups in the free marketplace of ideas - engenders excellence. Such interinstitutional competition may at first seem expensive, inefficient, and complicated, especially because today's universities compete on a global scale. Nonetheless, competition drives improvements in research, teaching, educational policies, working environments, facilities, and most importantly, in ideas and people. Great professors attract great students, and great students attract great professors.

Lesson 6: Fundamental scholarship and research must exist on an equal plane with applied research and innovation.

Lesson 6 is that fundamental scholarship and research must exist on an equal plane with applied research and innovation. As we enter the 21st century, we are very aware that research universities create opportunity for nations and regions through the transfer of technology and innovation to the marketplace. Industrially relevant work is increasingly important, and an environment that is entrepreneurial also gives relevance to education.

However, there is a danger that in our rush to solve practical problems and transfer technology to industry, we could lose our bearings and forget the still more profound purposes of universities to discover truths about nature, celebrate ideas, and advance the human spirit. We must not allow universities to become overly utilitarian. Universities are places where ideas must be exchanged, evaluated, and integrated.

Even in a university like KAUST that is centered on science and technology, fundamental, curiosity-driven research conducted to discover truths about nature must play a central role equal to that of research which is applied quite directly to industry and to the solution of major problems facing humankind. At MIT, pure scholarship and research exist side by side, and, indeed, hand in hand with highly applied work. Both are conducted with mutual respect. Both are valued. Both are subjected to the same rigorous standards, and they inform each other. I believe this is one of the primary reasons that MIT grew to great stature in the world of universities."

For more information about KAUST, visit: http://www.kaust.edu.sa/

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