SEE Ministerial Round Table and Expert meeting – Sarajevo, 22-23 November 2012

1. Science Policy Ministerial Meetings of South East Europe
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Expert Meeting on Science, Technology and Innovation for South East Europe
Sarajevo, 22 November 2012
Contribution of Private Universities
to Research and Higher Education
Dragan Domazet
Rector, Belgrade Metropolitan University
dragan.domazet@metropolitan.ac.rs
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2. Current Situation in Serbia: HE
# of 1st Year students
100,0% 19,3% 18,1% 17,5%
80,0% 29,5% 29,8%
30,9%
60,0%
40,0%
49,8% 52,4% 52,7%
20,0%
0,0%
2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Students with free education Students in public HEI paying tuition fees
Studehts in private HEI pazing tuition fees
• Half of students don’t get any public support for their education
• Tuition fees in public HEIs are much lower than the cost per student
paid by the Government, and in private HEIs – this is an example of
of unfair competition
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3. Current Situation in Serbia: R&D
• Good:
– Private R&D and HEI legally have the same rights,
responsibilities (accreditation) and access to public
funding of R&D activities
• Bad:
– Private R&D and HEI cannot use the academic
compute network, and
– Cannot use e-journals and digital libraries from the
National Library
– Only PhD students in public HEIs are getting (if any)
public money for their tuition fees – PhD students in
private HEIs have to pay their tuition fees
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4. Some General Comments about
Current State of R&D in SEE
• R&D has low impact on society and economy
– No ROI for public money spent on R&D
– In general, no new products and technologies based
on previous R&D by national research projects
• Low public financing of R&D
– But, are we sure that we will get the needed impact of
R&D on national development if we increase research
budgets, for instance, 5 times?
• Not very likely, as our R&D systems are created “for
researchers” not for national development
– If so, probably it is better to save public money and
invoke real reform of our national R&D systems
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5. Some General Comments about
Current State of R&D in SEE
• Research community achieved to be autonomous, isolated
and practically irrelevant part of the society
– “Give us more money and let us to do what we are interested
for”
– Mostly interested for basic research and publications
– Criteria for getting new project grants, and for academic
promotions (KPIs) motivate researchers to publish as much as
possible – No evaluation of their impact on development
– Use of very narrow performance indicators for researchers,
research organizations and national R&D systems (# of
publications)
– “Project production industry” is mostly virtual, no real link with
real industry
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6. What to do?
1. Change public financing of R&D and higher
education (HE)
– Public support only for very focused national research priorities
2. Promote and build a competitive R&D&HE
environment
– Only competition force us to perform better!
– Remove all monopolies, our heritage for socialistic era
3. Much more emphasis on market- and needs-
driven R&D&HE
– Very focused national priorities – for needs
– Support of innovations – new products based on R&D
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7. How to do it?
Change public financing of R&D
Public money
• R&D budget allocated to the ministry spent
responsible for R&D, should be spent
for:
– Up to 30% for basic research, curiosity 100%
driven research and R&D infrastructure
• for PhD projects and development young
researchers Applied and
• for long-term R&D inline with national needs/market
priorities driven R&D
• Research infrastructures
– Minimum 70% for joint and co-
financed programs and projects 30%
Basic & free
• with industry, local municipalities, research &
special agencies, and line ministries infrastructures
(responsible for health, ICT, agriculture, 0%
industry etc.)
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8. How to do it?
Change public financing of HE
% of students
• Financial support to students, not to
HE institutions (HEI) 100%
– For education -HEIs are paid through Credits (loans)
tuition fees only,
– For other activities – from markets
• Top performing 10% of students get
education grants – 100% paid tuition
fees Grants
• All other students get combined:
10%
– education grants (vouchers)– based
on performance
– credits (loans) - to be paid back after 0% 100% Level of
graduation (5-10 years payback public
period, low interest rates) support
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9. How to do it?
Change public financing of HE
• Contract-based education
– HEIs have contracts with future
employers of students
– Students get paid tuition, HEI Company
scholarship and job upon
graduation
• They can loose of all it for low
performance Student
– Study programs are flexible and
modified according to the
needs of employers (as
specified in the contracts) Public Funds
– Public money should cover 50%
of the tuition fee
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10. How to do it? Promote and build a
competitive R&D&HE environment
• All R&D and HE organisations should have equal rights,
but also should satisfy the same standards and
requirements, no monopolies
– Regardless they are public or private, profit of non-for profit
– Project grants, access to research infrastructures, grants for
research equipments
• Positive example: Private HEIs get project and equipment grants in
Serbia from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
Development
• Negative example: Currently, private HEIs in Serbia, may not use the
academic computer network and cannot use e-journals and digital
libraries of the national library (only public HEIs are allowed)
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11. How to do it? Much more emphasis
on market- and needs-driven R&D&HE
• R&D for needs:
– Very focused national priorities established
– Research grants and co-financing only R&D in line
with these priorities
– Financing of obtained results, not promises
• Market-driven R&D:
– Only co-financed programs and projects (public
money up to 50%) with business partners
– Not only local, but global markets and partners
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12. How to do it? Much more emphasis
on market- and needs-driven R&D&HE
• Market- and needs-driven HE
– Public financing or co-financing of students only
• according quotas of grants & loans specified per disciplines
and categories of study programs (goal: relevant education)
• For studies at HEIs with accreditation and efficient
supervision (goal: quality education)
– Quotas determined based on projected needs and
labour market demands
• Some are specified based on national needs, no market
• Professionally determined needs and quotas
– Support of contract-based education (HEIs and
companies)
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13. An Example: BMU Initiative for Partnership
in Global Software Devlopment
Market Demand
BMU FIT Niš BMU Software Development Centre
Software
Education SW R&D Development
Business
Development expenses
Scholarship
Foundation
Dividents
BMU SDC Shareholders
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14. Challenges
• Can we give priority to more general, national
interests than to our private, organisational
priorities?
• Can we understand that only performance and
positive impact on society should be important,
and not who is the founder (public vs. private) of
the R&D or HE institution or whether it is for
profit or not for profit?
• Can we abandon our mental inertia and
ideological legacy from socialistic era?
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15. My Recommendations
• Equal rights and responsibilities: In all R&D programs
and HE, only performance should be taken into
account, regardless of founders (public or private) or
type of organization (profit or non-profit).
– Access to infrastructures, project grants etc.
• No monopolies, as much competition as possible.
• Global and European dimension: Implement EU
policies and world best practice. Think and act globally,
but provide local impact.
• Support R&D for national development, not only for
libraries
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