DE MAGISTRO

Înfiintarea Oficiului Român pentru Stiinta si Tehnologie
pe lânga Uniunea Europeana (ROST)

     Domeniile de studii universitare de licenta si specializarile din cadrul acestora

     Ministrul Educatiei si Cercetarii, domnul Mihail Hardau, a inaugurat ieri, 21 martie, la Bruxelles, în prezenta domnului Janez Potocnik, comisarul european pentru cercetare, Oficiul Român pentru Stiinta si Tehnologie pe lânga Uniunea Europeana (ROST). La festivitatea de deschidere au participat si domnul Anton Anton, presedintele Autoritatii Nationale pentru Cercetare Stiintifica (ANCS), oficiali ai reprezentantelor diplomatice ale României la Bruxelles, Comisiei Europene, Oficiilor similare ale altor tari interesate în cooperarea cu Comunitatea Europeana, precum si personalitati stiintifice din România si din tarile partenere în proiecte europene.
     Anterior festivitatii de deschidere, domnii Mihail Hardau, ministrul educatiei si cercetarii si Anton Anton, presedintele ANCS, au avut o întâlnire cu comisarul european pentru cercetare, domnul  Janez Potocnik. În cadrul discutiilor, domnul Mihail Hardau a reconfirmat angajarea României în procesul de integrare europeana, determinarea Guvernului României pentru atingerea obiectivelor strategiei Lisabona (revizuita) si a mentionat, în acest sens, ca, pentru anul 2006, bugetul alocat cercetarii a fost dublat, comparativ cu anul 2005.
     Domnul Janez Potocnik a apreciat participarea deosebita a României, în special pe prioritatile societatea informationala si nanotehnologii din cadrul PC6. Totodata, a mentionat ca, desi nivelul ratei de succes al participantilor români este la nivel ratei de succes europene, în ce priveste contributia financiara a Comisiei pentru participantii din România, aceasta este sub nivelul european, subliniind ca trebuie încurajata participarea universitatilor si mediului de afaceri din România la viitorul Program Cadru.
     Ministrul Mihail Hardau a declarat ca unul dintre obiectivele înfiintarii ROST este acela de a creste participarea româneasca la Programul Cadru la nivelul dorit. Presedintele ANCS, domnul Anton Anton, a prezentat eforturile facute pentru informarea, pregatirea si implicarea ariei românesti a cercetarii la Programul Cadru, inclusiv lansarea programului Cercetare de Excelenta, pentru a fi evitata situatia existenta la PC6 în care documentele si procedurile de participare la competitii erau cunoscute si citite dupa lansarea apelului.
     Deschiderea Oficiului are loc în anul în care România sarbatoreste Centenarul Zborului Traian Vuia, când se împlinesc 100 de ani (18 martie 1906) de la realizarea primului zbor autopropulsat al omului de stiinta Traian Vuia.
     Oficiul Român pentru Stiinta si Tehnologie pe lânga Uniunea Europeana, ROST, a fost înfiintat prin HG nr. 787/2005 în vederea întaririi legaturilor de colaborare cu comunitatea stiintifica europeana. ANCS realizeaza coordonarea activitatii Oficiului.
     Misiunile acestuia sunt:

• promovarea participarii cercetatorilor români, inclusiv a tinerilor cercetatori, precum si a universitatilor, institutelor de cercetare-dezvoltare, întreprinderilor mici si mijlocii, industriei, serviciilor si organizatiilor neguvernamentale la programele de cercetare ale Uniunii Europene,
• prezentarea eficienta apoliticii de cercetare, dezvoltare si inovare si potentialul stiintific si tehnologic românesc institutiilor cu care se intra în contact la nivel european;
• sprijinirea si promovarea colaborarii dintre firmele industriale si de servicii, universitati si institute de cercetare pentru participarea în comun la consortii europene pentru proiecte de cercetare, dezvoltare tehnologica si inovare;
• stimularea formarii la nivel national, de grupuri de interes de nivel european, prin focalizarea competentelor existente la nivel national în domenii prioritare în cercetarea europeana pentru cresterea sanselor de participare la proiecte sau programe europene.

     În acest scop, urmatoarele categorii de servicii vor fi oferite institutiilor si comunitatii stiintifice: promovarea sistemului de cercetare-dezvoltare-inovare din România, cautarea si facilitarea legaturilor cu parteneri europeni, diseminarea si promovarea specifica, facilitarea legaturilor cu institutii europene, cu organisme similare, pentru institutii si organizatii nationale, recomandari privind buna practica europeana în domeniul cercetare-dezvoltare-inovare.
     Pe termen lung se asteapta urmatoarele rezultate:

• atingerea unui nivel de participare a comunitatii stiintifice românesti la programele cadru de cercetare comparabil cu media europeana;
• cresterea graduala a integrarii comunitatii stiintifice românesti la programele cadru de cercetare.

     Oficiul este conceput pentru gazduirea a 10 angajati, în regim de detasare de la locul de munca, din care 4 posturi sunt asigurate de ANCS. Celelalte 6 posturi ale Oficiului pot fi ocupate de personalul asigurat de institutii si organizatii publice si private din România, interesate în participarea la programele europene de cercetare; în acest sens ANCS va încheia protocoale de parteneriat cu fiecare institutie si organizatie publica si privata interesata în participarea la programele europene de cercetare, dezvoltare si inovare în care se vor stabili drepturile si obligatiile personalului acestora privind activitatea în cadrul Oficiului, precum si cota-parte de cheltuieli ce revine fiecarei parti.

     Adresa Oficiului Român pentru Stiinta si Tehnologie pe langa Uniunea Europeana:
     Rue Montoyer nr. 23, etaj 4, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgia.
     Tel.: 00.32.2.505.30.00 - 09, Fax: 00.32.2.513.32.00
     E-mail: letitia-clara.stanila@rosteu.net si antoaneta.popescu@rosteu.net .
     Director, Mircea MURESAN

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Studiu OECD:
Tehnologiile informatiei si comunicarii (TIC) în universitati

     Studiul OECD analizeaza rolul TIC în 19 universitati din 13 tari, în conditiile în care viziunea initiala a unei ample folosiri a TIC în universitati nu s-a concretizat. Studiul identifica 4 niveluri de folosire a TIC: suplimentarea cursurilor cu informatii disponibile pe Internet, cursuri dependente de Internet (discutii, evaluari sau proiecte desfasurate pe Internet), cursuri mixte (componenta on-line si componenta clasica) si cursuri în întregime on-line. Initial, se anticipa ca studentii se vor înscrie la programe de studiu on-line ale universitatilor prestigioase învatând de acasa si economisind astfel costurile deplasarii si ale vietii în campus. Studiul pune însa în evidenta faptul ca înscrierile la programe de studiu on-line sau dependente de Internet reprezinta sub 5% din totalul înscrierilor, iar mobilitatea internationala în acest context este nesemnificativa.

     Între 2002 si 2004, în universitatile facând obiectul acestui studiu, a scazut interesul pentru extinderea TIC în scopul programelor de studiu la distanta dar a crescut rolul TIC în procesul clasic de învatare. În ansamblul activitatilor universitare, folosirea TIC se regaseste în sistemul modular, segmentat, consacrându-se astfel ca instrument suplimentar. Se constata, de asemenea, cresterea rolului TIC la nivel post-universitar, cu motivarea ca TIC favorizeaza simultaneitatea munca/familie si studiu. Disciplinele cu cea mai mare folosire a TIC sunt disciplinele IT si de management.

     În ansamblu, TIC are impact mai mare asupra serviciilor administrative (admiteri, înscrieri, plati ale taxelor) decât asupra predarii si învatarii. Unul dintre motivele scepticismului în folosirea TIC la cursuri este faptul ca TIC, fiind un complement si doar rar o metoda de sine statatoare, nu a reusit sa revolutioneze metodele de predare/învatare. Mai mult, metodele TIC sunt adesea în conflict cu practicile mediului universitar bazate pe autonomia cercetarii si pe raportarea la cercetare pentru promovare. În acest context, unele îngrijorari fata de proprietatea intelectuala pun de asemenea probleme.

     Cu toate acestea, numeroase institutii cu traditie sunt optimiste în ceea ce priveste, pe termen mediu, rolul TIC în reducerea costurilor, identificând numeroase astfel de posibilitati în acest sens: folosirea unor module on-line înlocuind predarea clasica repetata, facilitarea învatarii în grupuri, folosirea software-ului existent, standardizarea mai mare a cursurilor. De asemenea, metodele TIC pot îmbunatati calitatea educatiei, asa cum rezulta din evaluarea globala a experientelor de învatare on-line. Pentru a maximiza efectele pozitive ale folosirii TIC, guvernele si institutiile de învatamânt superior sunt invitate sa evalueze mai exact costurile si beneficiile folosirii TIC, iar aceasta evaluare sa fie diferentiata în functie de tipul utilizarii TIC (de exemplu, atunci când cursurile sunt on-line, trebuie evaluat rolul în contextul învatarii de-a lungul întregii vieti, iar atunci când TIC reprezinta un complement, rolul sau trebuie analizat din perspectiva calitatii).
     Sursa: www.oecd.org
     Documentare si adaptare: Diana Ivan
     www.edu.ro

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Academic Ranking of World Universities – Methodologies and Problems

N.C. LIU and Y. CHENG
Institute of Higher Education,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China

ABSTRACT

     The Institute of Higher Education , Shanghai Jiao Tong University has published on the web the Academic Ranking of World Universities that has attracted wide attentions worldwide. Institutions are ranked according to their academic or research performance.
Ranking indicators include the alumni and staff winning major international awards, highly cited researchers in major research fields, articles published in selected top journals, articles indexed by major citation indexes, and performance per capita. Methodological problems discussed include quantitative versus qualitative evaluation, evaluation of research versus education, variety of institutions, language of publications, selection of awards, and studying or working experience of award winners. Technical problems such as definition of institutions, name expression of institutions, merging and splitting of institutions, searching and attribution of publications are discussed.

INTRODUCTION

     In order to find out the gap between Chinese universities and world-class universities, the Institute of Higher Education , Shanghai Jiao Tong University (hereafter called the Ranking Group) has tried to rank research universities in the world by their academic or research performance based on internationally comparable data that everyone could check. Upon the request of many colleagues from different countries, the Ranking Group decided to publish its ranking on the web as the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Since the initial publication of ARWU in June 2003, there have been more than one million visitors from all over the world, an average of about two thousand visitors everyday. The Ranking Group have received numerous emails, about one third of the emails simply applaud ARWU, 60% of them are positive about ARWU and offer suggestions on improving ARWU. Only about 5% of the emails have negative views on ARWU. In addition, many well-known institutions, organizations, government agencies and the media have reported or cited the results of ARWU.

RANKING METHODOLOGIES

     The Ranking Group has scanned every institution that has any Nobel Laureates, Fields Medals, Highly Cited Researchers, or articles published in Nature or Science . In addition, major universities of every country with significant amount of articles indexed by Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) are also included. In total, more than two thousand institutions have been scanned, and about one thousand institutions have been actually ranked. However, only the list of top five hundred institutions has been published on the web.

Ranking Criteria and Weights

     Institutions are ranked according to their academic or research performance, ranking indicators include alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, Highly Cited Researchers in twenty-one broad subject categories, articles published in Nature and Science , articles indexed in Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), and academic performance with respect to the size of an institution.

     Definition of Indicators

     Alumni - indicates the total number of the alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals. Alumni are defined as those who obtain bachelor, Master's or doctoral degrees from the institution. Different weights are set according to the periods of obtaining degrees. The weight is 100% for alumni obtaining degrees in 1991-2000, 90% for alumni obtaining degrees in 1981-1990, 80% for alumni obtaining degrees in 1971-1980, and so on, and finally 10% for alumni obtaining degrees in 1901-1910. If a person obtains more than one degrees from an institution, the institution is considered once only. Award indicates the total number of the staff of an institution winning Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine and economics and Fields Medals in mathematics. Staff is defined as those who work at an institution at the time of winning the prize. Different weights are set according to the periods of winning the prizes. The weight is 100% for winners in 2001-2003, 90% for winners in 1991-2000, 80% for winners in 1981-1990, 70% for winners in 1971-1980, and so on, and finally 10% for winners in 1911-1920. If a winner is affiliated with more than one institution, each institution is assigned the reciprocal of the number of institutions. For Nobel prizes, if a prize is shared by more than one person, weights are set for winners according to their proportion of the prize. HiCi indicates the number of highly cited researchers in twenty-one broad subject categories in life sciences, medicine, physical sciences, engineering and social sciences. These individuals are the most highly cited within each category. The definition of categories and detailed procedures can be found at the website of ISI Web of Knowledge of Thomson Corporation.

     N&S indicates the number of articles published in Nature and Science in the past five years. To distinguish the order of author affiliation, a weight of 100% is assigned for corresponding author affiliation, 50% for first author affiliation (second author affiliation if the first author affiliation is the same as corresponding author affiliation), 25% for the next author affiliation, and 10% for all other author affiliations. Only publications of article type are considered.

     SCI indicates the total number of articles indexed by Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Science Citation Index in the previous year. Only publications of article type are considered.

     Size indicates the total scores of the above five indicators divided by the number of full-time equivalent academic staff. If the number of academic staff for institutions of a country cannot be obtained, the weighted total scores of the above five indicators is used. For ARWU 2004, the number of full-time equivalent academic staff is obtained for institutions in USA , China (mainland), Italy , Netherlands , Sweden , and Belgium etc.

     Scoring Procedures

     For each indicator, the highest scoring institution is assigned a score of 100, and other institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top score. The distribution of data for each indicator is examined for any significant distorting effect and standard statistical techniques are used to adjust the indicator if necessary. Scores for each indicator are weighted to arrive at a final overall score for an institution. The highest scoring institution is assigned a total score of 100, and other institutions are calculated as a percentage of the top total score. The scores are then placed in descending order. An institution's rank reflects the number of institutions that sit above it.

RANKING STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS

     Statistics of Ranking

METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

     Qualitative versus Quantitative

     There is always the complaint that whether the quality of students can be precisely measured by scores. However, universities and professors are continuing to score students without any significant changes, and the students are usually informed that they will not be judged by scores absolutely, the university and the potential employers will have the capacity to make sophisticated, independent judgments.

     Similarly, there is always the question that whether the quality of universities can be precisely measured by mere numbers. Therefore, people should be cautious about any ranking and should not rely on any ranking either, including ARWU. Instead, people should use rankings simply as one kind of reference and make their own judgment about ranking results based on ranking methodologies.

     Education versus Research

     Since different stakeholders have different expectations about quality, the quality of higher education institutions is not easy to compare internationally. It would be impossible to rank the quality of university education worldwide because of the huge differences of universities in the large variety of countries and the technical difficulties in obtaining internationally comparable data.

     If one wants to construct a reliable ranking of world universities, the only possible ranking will be a comparative display of research performance. Therefore, the Ranking Group chose to rank research universities in the world by their academic or research performance based on internationally comparable data that everyone could check. No subjective measures were taken. No data is obtained from any kind of university reports.

     Type and Size of Institutions

     Many well-known institutions specialized in humanities and social sciences are ranked relatively low partly because of the imbalances in the production of articles among various subject fields. The nominal performance of institutions with medicine faculties appears to be better in the ranking, whereas institutions specialized in humanities and social sciences have relatively low ranks.

     The Ranking Group tried hard but was unsuccessful to find additional indicators that are special for humanities and social sciences. However, the indicator of N&S is not considered for institutions specialized in humanities and social sciences in ARWU 2004, its weight is relocated to other indicators. In addition, the Ranking Group is studying the rationality of setting special weights for articles indexed by SSCI and for institutions with medicine faculties.

     The weight of the Size indicator is rather low. Large institutions have relatively high positions in the ranking. The Ranking Group is studying the possibility of providing separate rankings with and without the size indicator. For ranking with the size indicator, the weight of the size indicator could be as high as 50%. Furthermore, there are difficulties in defining academic staff and obtaining internationally comparable data.

     Language and Type of Publications

     Since English is the international language in the academic world, scholars in English-speaking institutions are more closely integrated into the global academic environment than scholars outside the English-speaking world. As a result, university ranking based on research performance may inevitably lead to bias against institutions outside the English-speaking world. One possible solution would be to set special weight on publications with non-native languages.

     Only publication of original article type is considered in ARWU 2004. Papers of communication type are important sources of original research; they are not considered based on the assumption that most of the work in communications is eventually published in articles. Academic books are important sources of original research and are more common in some research fields than in others. Books are not considered due to the technical difficulties in obtaining internationally comparable data.

     Selection of Awards and Experience of Award Winners

     There are many well-known awards such as Nobel Prize, Fields Medal, Abel Prize, and Pulitzer Prize. However, Nobel Prize and Fields Medal are mostly recognized by the international academic community. There are concerns about the studying or working experience of award winners.

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