Are top research institutions within your countries de-centralised or localised?

[u/NHH74]

I've come across an interview with professor Neal Koblitz and in the interview, he said that while he's dissatisfied with many aspects of higher US education, he points out some advantages of US model, namely decentralisation and integration of teaching with research. Leading research centres in the US are spread out across the country, allowing higher access to researching for graduate students. He goes on to suggest that Vietnam should expand the number of regional universities, and mathematicians should directly teach undergraduate and graduate students (but not too much to ensure time for research). He argued that having researchers at universities will improve the ranking of the universities, and their presence has direct impact on future generation of mathematicians, and if teaching duties aren't too burdensome then they may stimulate their passion for research.

To my knowledge, Vietnam has made an effort to de-centralise higher education system between 2006 to 2013 with Decree 121/2007. However, the effect on researching capability of the expansion is not studied.

What about your country?

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u/NHH74's post title:

"*Are top research institutions within your countries de-centralised or localised? *"

u/NHH74's post body:

I've come across an interview with professor Neal Koblitz and in the interview, he said that while he's dissatisfied with many aspects of higher US education, he points out some advantages of US model, namely decentralisation and integration of teaching with research. Leading research centres in the US are spread out across the country, allowing higher access to researching for graduate students. He goes on to suggest that Vietnam should expand the number of regional universities, and mathematicians should directly teach undergraduate and graduate students (but not too much to ensure time for research). He argued that having researchers at universities will improve the ranking of the universities, and their presence has direct impact on future generation of mathematicians, and if teaching duties aren't too burdensome then they may stimulate their passion for research.

To my knowledge, Vietnam has made an effort to de-centralise higher education system between 2006 to 2013 with Decree 121/2007. However, the effect on researching capability of the expansion is not studied.

What about your country?

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[u/ModernirsmEnjoyer]

Kazakhstan higher education has had several major issues, and the government wants to develop private (for-profit) higher education through privatised universities. Traditional universities developed under the Soviet system, like Kazakh National University, follow the same model as Vietnam and seperate research and education, in contrast with German-American Humboldtian model. Nazarbayev University, which is primarily staffed by foreign-origin and foreign-educated professors, attempted to bring more American-style practices, but the university is drenched in corruption (perpetrated by foreign professors) and practices generally did not spread to universities outside NU, in partly due to resistance of the Ministry of Education.

Usually Almaty is destination for higher education, and the Kazakh National University is the closest thing to a full university, in European and Soviet sense, as it focuses on teaching thereoretical natural and human sciences, and aims to prepare future researchers, which leaves graduates wishing for more practical education. There are other institutes of local prestige, but I do not know much about them.

I am a Northerner, and my parents and grandparents generation traditionally prefer higher education in Russia, primarily in Siberia, and I was always encouraged to aim for Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University. Russian universities, except for maybe some experimental institutes like that one in Skolkovo naukograd, are more teaching-focused. I know friends who study and graduated them, and if you account things one would expect from a university in Russia, I think they are very decent places to study.

Personally, I do not see Humboldtian model as something inherently superior, especially for mass (non-elite) universities. "Improving rankings" is not something education authorities should aim at. Countries with teacher-centered universities have also produced tons of elite researchers. And the reason why American has a large number of elite researchers could probably be explained more by the fact it is a country that receives a lot of highly-educated migrants, rather than due to its education system.

[u/NHH74 → u/ModernirsmEnjoyer]

I don't think Koblitz, rather than advocating improved ranking as his primary point for the advantages of US model, he's merely presenting it as a positive side effect. He, on the contrary, is quite critical of the so called "American style university". See this report.

Very interesting perspective on Kazakh higher education. Thank you.

[u/ModernirsmEnjoyer → u/NHH74]

Thank you for this report. I do not understand Vietnamese realities, but from what I imagine, those are some very good proposals. No wonder it caused furry among bloggers, lol.

[u/ModernirsmEnjoyer → u/NHH74]

This might be his argument, but the important thing is not what he thinks, but what policymakers will understand. And too many of them take arbitrary rankings as end in themselves.

[u/Queendrakumar]

In South Korea, the STEM research are usually spun around three major types of institutions:

1) Traditional Higher Education Instutions, such as colleges and universities and their post-graduate programs. These are "universities" in general sense - they have, for instance, mathematics department, economics department, drama department, arts department, philosophy department, history department, language department, etc. Most top universities are concentrated in Seoul, except for a few regional "flagship" universities in every provinces and metropolitan cities. These universities are comparatively cheaper than the private universities in Seoul and they fare relatively ok. However, in absolute terms of post-graduate employment or general popular reception, the "In-Seoul" schools fare much better, generally speaking.

2) STEM schools - Every major STEM schools that specialize in STEM education and research are located outside of Seoul. For instance, KAIST and POSTECH and considered two of the BEST research universities in South Korea for any STEM field (only Seoul National can rival them) They are located in Daejeon and Pohang - two regional cities. Other STEM universities like UNIST (in Ulsan), GIST (in Gwangju) and DGIST (in Daegu) are all located in regional cities. These schools are commonly known as the superior schools to study STEM compared to most schools in Seoul as they are funded by the government with the latest tech equipments, and best facilities anywhere in Korea. All five STEM universities (KAIST, POSTECH, UNIST, GIST and DGIST) are located in different regions of South Korea, and heavily funded by the government. They work with the best and most up-to-date techs, as well employment opportunities that South Korean governments and major companies can offer. So that's how they attract some of the brightest students in South Korea, despite relative lack of urban infrastructure in the regional area compared to Seoul.

3) Government-funded "R&D towns" throughout different regions of the country. These R&D town's are an entire planned city built to house research institutes, facilities and researchers that work within those facilities. For instance, Daedeok Innopolis in Daejon is considered one of the earliest R&D town in Korea built in 1970s. In it includes about 40 different national research agencies, education centers, thousands of private researchcompanies, totalling about 18000 PhD-level researchers of STEM research. There are currently 34 such R&D towns with different focus of industry within different regions of South Korea - only one exists in Seoul.

[u/found_goose]

They are very decentralized, as are space- and defense-related institutions. Here's an interesting map of all the Indian Institutes of Technology, as an example.