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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
3 8 October
here are disturbing messages coming this
autumn from the global rankings of universi-
ties. Ireland is sinking: only one Irish university
retains a place in the top 100 universities of the
world and that is Trinity College, Dublin, hang-
ing on by its fingernails at 98th in the ‘QS’ rankings. In
one respected index TCD was not even originally included
because it had inadvertently submitted the wrong data
to the organisation that compiled the ranking.
During the boom years the official priority was to
increase the spending on research and build up the labo-
ratory capacity of the third-level sector. Irish Universities
climbed the rankings and at one point the two main per-
formers (TCD and UCD) were both in the top 100.
Dauntingly, however, in the latest QS rankings survey
TCD fell 20 places to 98th and UCD fell 22 places to 176th.
The heads of both institutions issued a joint statement
following the bad news attributing the setback to the
paucity of funding by government.
There is some justification for the academics’ blame-
throwing given that Ireland is placed at 29 out of 32 OECD
countries when it comes to the total amount spent on
Education. This is not where a country, with Ireland's
ambition, for ‘the knowledge economy’ should be. Nev-
ertheless, the performance of the universities in Ireland
is not just down to funding and it is time that government
and the sector itself analysed strategy and specialisa-
tion in particular.
Apart from TCD and UCD the other universities in Ire
-
land lag precariously behind the requisite ambition, in
the short to medium term, to enter the top 100 rankings.
In this sense the government may have to look carefully
at the potential to augment both of these institutions so
that they can remain in the top 100. There may also be a
case for tighter co-operation in research and advanced
research between the two institutions to assist scaling
the rankings.
Academics are prone to dismiss these rankings and
pick holes in them. However, they do determine how
attractive a country is both to international students and
to high-flying academic or research talent. If a country's
universities fall down the rankings then serious talent
will not move to them to work and in many cases will
leave to better-performing institutions abroad.
Corporations too monitor the rankings to determine
where they will spend on research. One of my jobs as
Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation was
scouting and luring both scientists and multinational
corporations to Ireland to participate in Science Founda-
tion Ireland (SFI)-sponsored research programmes.
Scientific and research talent is highly mobile these
days. I got a further insight into this during my four years
in Moscow bringing large companies to invest in an Inno-
vation Hub that was being built by the Russian authorities
with a budget of $10bn. My job was to create corporate
and research partnerships into the project. The team I
ran brought $1.2bn of R&D investment into this particu-
lar tech hub on the outskirts of Moscow.
In Russia I met a huge number of CEOs and CTOs (Chief
Technology Officers) of multinational companies. Get-
ting a decision to locate R&D is complex and difficult. It
depends on the company’s experience in the country and
its trust that it can get relevant and excellent research.
Ideally multinationals want to collaborate with local edu-
cational or research institutions.
Both in Russia and Ireland these companies will focus
assiduously on the quality of the science or research
being conducted in a country, the talent available and
the guaranteed continuity of funding from government
over a seven-to-ten year horizon. If these basic elements
are not there then the investment will not come, will
cease or will be diverted somewhere else where the offer
is better.
The key advantage to Ireland of the push on science
and technology spending in the boom years was that it
rooted many multinationals in Ireland. In some cases the
Irish R&D component is a key link in their global network
of research centres.
However post-Depression Ireland faces a big chal-
lenge to its reputation and ability to attract further FDI
in the years ahead. The IDA does a great job but there
are limits to how many companies they can attract to
make R&D investments here if the perception grows that
Irish education and research is sub-par.
R&D investments by major corporations in a country
will often lead to a further increase in both manufactur
-
ing and services wherever they locate.
The risk is that if Ireland lets its universities drift down
TCD fell 20 places to 98th and UCD fell
22 places to 176th but they both complacently
blame inadequate funding
Both in Russia
and Ireland
multinationals
focus on the quality
of the research, the
talent and funding
from government
for 7-10 years
October 3 9
the rankings while other Irish national indicators
rise, that the country will face a double whammy
in the years ahead as the EU, OECD and other
countries try to erode our corporate tax rate and
the advantages it anchors in luring FDI to
Ireland.
The Apple case is emblematic of what can be
expected in aggression from the European Com-
mission about the tax practices of the
multinationals in Ireland and other locations.
While the heads of the universities obsess
about funding, the rankings are arrived at
because of quality indicators and the level of
citations, research excellence and teaching rep-
utation of the institutions involved. That is why
Richard Bruton is right to pour caution on the
demand from the universities for more money.
He wants to see reform before increased
funding.
There needs to be a concentration of research
spending on the universities with the capability
to deliver significant research outcomes. There
also needs to be a serious look taken at which
institutions can best accommodate particular
areas of research so we can avoid duplicating or
spreading the spend over a number of third-level
colleges. This will require restructuring how the
universities work.
The two glimmers of hope from our university
sector are that The Royal College of Surgeons’
and the National University of Galway’s improved
rankings showing that they, at least, must be
doing something right in the era of austerity and
a paring back of state funding. Both of these
institutions have a very international outlook in
recruiting faculty.
The internationalisation of Irish third-level
education has to be intensified. In the boom
years the focus was on lifting the research capa-
bility. International students are good for the
economy, in the money that they bring, but most
importantly in terms of the ongoing quality
outcomes from the universities. Because of our
small population international students should
play a far more significant role in Irish education.
Foreign students, because of the money they
spend, put extra pressure on the academic fac-
ulty to perform.
Ireland, in contrast its universities, still rides
high in a variety of indices, despite the down-
turn, that betoken our strength as an economy
and society. Ireland is placed 7th in the INSEAD
Innovation index, 24th in the World Economic
Forum's Competitiveness index and 6th in the
UN's Human Development Index.
Universities are a surprising and anomalous
laggard in quality. Third-level reform demands
action, not further task forces or reports.
Conor Lenihan was Minister for Science,
Technology & Innovation from 2008-2011.
He worked for four years in Moscow with the
high-tech Skolkovo Project
In contrast Ireland is
placed 7th in the INSEAD
Innovation index, 24th
in the World Economic
Forum's Competitiveness
index and 6th in the UN's
Human Development
Index
The QS World University Rankings place Irish Universities in these positions
TIMES
Phil By, he edior of he Times Higher
Educion World Universiy Rnkings, sid:
"This is bd news for Irelnd; he coun-
ry’s bes universiies re sruggling in he
mos comprehensive nd he mos exc-
ing of ll he globl rnkings. While he roo
of he problem is he incresed compei-
ion mong he world’s elie universiies,
priculrly hose in Asi, i seems cler
h he mjor funding cus endured by Ire-
lnd’s universiies re cusing problems".
However, he sid he gins by boh NUIG
nd The Royl College of Surgeons re o
be celebred.
“Irelnd is one of he lowes invesors in
higher educion mong ll OECD counries
nd you simply cnno susin world-clss
universiies on he chep”.
2016-17
*Temporrily removed pending d review
2015-16
