2nd Maribor Academicus Event
Academic Excellence:
BETWEEN HOLY GRAIL AND MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES
International symposium organised by University of Maribor and Shanghai Jiao Tong University
within the IREG Project on Academic Excellence
19-20 January 2015, Maribor, Slovenia
Higher education can
importantly benefit from the rankings and league tables when used in a
context with clear perspective of what ranking actually reflects (Prof.
Jan Sadlak, President of IREG)
Active
participants at the conference will be:
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Prof. Jan Sadlak, President of IREG,
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Prof. Gero Federkeil, CHE (Coordinator of Multi-Ranking),
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Prof. Nian Cai Liu, Jiao Tong University in Shanghai (Author of the
Shanghai ranking list),
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Prof. Seeram Ramakrishna, National University of Singapore,
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Prof. Santo Fortunato, Aalto University,
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Prof. Karin Stana Kleinschek, University of Maribor,
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Prof. Henryk Ratajczak, member of Czech Academy of Sciences,
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Prof. Edvard Kobal, Slovenian Science Foundation,
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Roberta Sinatra, PhD, Northeastern University,
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Tania Vichnevskaia, French National Institute for health (INSERM),
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Prof. Andrée Sursock, Senior Adviser at EUA,
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Prof. Øivind Andersen, University of Oslo.
Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, famous designer of legendary cars, once said that; "excellence never stands still. It's as forward moving as those who define it".
This motto is equally valid for academic excellence. The continuous
drive for seeking excellence, together with curiosity and creativity,
are principal movers of scientific advancement and educational
innovation.
There
is no agreed definition of "academic excellence" but all forms of
quality assessment demonstrate that it represents foundation of
reputation of the given university or research organization. Its
maximization represents a steady element of institutional mission as
well as objective of developmental policies, recruitment of faculty,
collaboration, etc.
While
recognizing the legitimate drive for achieving academic recognition, it
needs to be recognized that modern science is confronted with
legitimate concerns about the downside of excessive pressure and
ethically spurious pressure to show success. It is therefore important
to look at the assessment of academic achievements also from the point
of view of transparency, honesty, and ethical standards.
In
recent years, especially in the context of university rankings,
excellence and reputation, are gaining new significance. While
recognizing conceptual challenges various rankings are making efforts
making subjective concepts to become "objective data" by conducting all
kinds of surveys and bibliometric analysis. It is also the context in
which study of expressions of academic excellence and measuring academic
success draws a special interest.
One
of expressions of academic excellence are "academic awards". A renewed
attention to academic awards has in recent years been associated with
use of them in the elaboration of university rankings, in particular to
those used for Academic Ranking of World Universities [usually referred
to as "the Shanghai ranking"]. It is therefore timely and relevant to
look at the international diversity of expression of academic awards in
order to get a more informed knowledge and formulate proposal for a more
inclusive use of such awards.
Based on discussions at the previous Maribor Academicus Event - Mapping of Academic Excellence in the Context of Quality Assurance
(10-12 October 2010, Maribor), IREG Observatory has launched a project
analysing international scientific awards. The project is implemented by
the research team at the Graduate School of Education of the Jiao Tong
University in Shanghai. The findings of the project will be part of the 2nd Maribor Academicus Event.
Themes, debates and presentations
The following topics have been identified for presentations and discussions at the meeting:
- Mobility patterns of scientists and their influence on research performance;
- Ways and approaches to measuring of academic success;
- Ethical context and dimensions of academic success and excellence;
- Scientific awards of international importance: a presentation of "IREG List of International Academic Awards".
