Major initiatives can increase university prominence

The European University Association has published a new report that examines ‘excellence’ in public funding schemes and their impact on universities in Europe.

Entitled ‘Funding for excellence’, the report finds that large scale initiatives can act as a driver for ‘institutional profiling’, but there is also evidence of the impact on institutional governance and organisational restructuring. Institutions participating in such schemes can benefit from enhanced visibility and recruitment of high quality staff, contributing to raising the quality of research. The report also shows the need to preserve an adequate balance between research, education and the different academic disciplines.

The study, which analyses ten funding schemes, notes that university leadership has a key role to play, particularly in terms of assessing the opportunity for the institution to take part in such funding schemes; evaluating related costs and benefits; anticipating the possible effects on the university’s internal balance; and taking strategic action in response to this.

Given that the timescale of excellence schemes is often limited, the report also highlights that funders should establish an ‘exit strategy’ to ensure the sustainability of the outcomes achieved in the system when the funding scheme is brought to an end, for example integrating funding into the regular mechanisms. At institutional level, the report recommends that university leadership should also consider and establish such an exit strategy, allowing the university to maintain the new level of activities.

The report was compiled through data collection, case studies, site visits and focus. The report is the first in a series of three thematic reports that will outline many of the key findings of the EUA-led DEFINE project, which analyses the impact of funding efficiency measures on universities. The project is co-funded by the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme. The report can be read in full here.