RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES - COMBINING TEACHING AND RESEARCH FOR THE BENEFIT OF BOTH



Why do we have research universities?
The research university has a dual purpose: to produce the fundamental new knowledge which will generate scientific, social, economic and cultural progress, and to educate the next generation of teachers, researchers and other professionals, as well as an intelligent and informed citizenry in general.

Faculty at all schools strive to teach current information, reading the current journals and attending meetings to stay abreast of the latest developments. But many libraries cannot subscribe to all of the important journals. Even when the journals are available, they are usually a year and often several years behind current research. Moreover, attending meetings is expensive and is seldom strongly supported by schools devoted primarily to teaching. Thus their faculty often find it hard to stay current.

But teacher-scholars at a research university are gathering knowledge themselves in their research laboratories and libraries. Their unique responsibility is to education citizens beyond the undergraduate degree, and so they involve their students in the creative process. Thus they impart not only new information but also the joy of discovery, critical thinking, and analytical skills. Moreover, these faculty are writing the texts for advanced courses, and their students often get involved in this activity as well.

The faculty at a research university have had to prove themselves over and over in the course of many years to be successful researchers. They are given time and incentive to do such research. Indeed, many have achieved world acclaim among workers in their fields for their creative research.

A unique responsibility of research universities is that of educating citizens beyond the undergraduate degree. This graduate education prepares the next generation of professionals, researchers, and teachers, as well as business, political, and community leaders.

Why should research be done at a university? Don't businesses also do research?

Research done in a business setting is usually focused on the specialties of that business. It is often more related to applications of basic discoveries than directed toward making basic discoveries. In fact, many businesses would not exist today if it were not for discoveries made in university laboratories and then applied by businesses.

Then are universities places where research is done that businesses are generally not willing to pay for?

Essentially, that's right. Although business won't usually pay for basic research, it actually has a very high value. It is just not obvious in what area the value will appear. Mathematicians studied whole numbers, producing the mathematical field of number theory, with no object in mind but to study something that was beautiful and challenging. And until the middle of this century, outside of mathematics the results were little more than that. But now number theory is one of the mainstays of cryptography. Without the centuries of development that went into this subject, cryptography could not offer the security it does today. Nobody would have predicted that even as late as 1940. For another example, Roentgen was studying the conductance of electricity through gasses (a study of no practical value at the time) when he discovered x-rays.

When we're trying to balance the budget, is this really something we can afford?

Yes, absolutely! Both tangible and intangible benefits derive from the work done at research universities. Here are some tangible benefits:
Intangible benefits include:

Do students get any direct advantage from research faculty?
Yes. First, recall that research faculty are involved in discovering knowledge in their area of expertise. When faculty communicate their discoveries to their students, the classroom can become a center of excitement where students become deeply involved in understanding how knowledge is produced and tested. Often the textbook for the next generation of students is being written by these students' professor.

Faculty who actively expand knowledge through research are themselves students in their fields: they continuously change what and how they teach to reflect their discoveries. Because they are continually learning themselves, they tend to expect more of their students, setting high standards and pushing students to greater effort. The students discover they can do more than they ever thought they could.

The faculty often have grants which support graduate students, high quality equipment, and resources used in laboratories and classrooms. Also, they are part of international networks of professionals who visit campuses as expert speakers and who can further the careers of graduates by giving them advice and job recommendations. Some of these speakers are world leaders in their fields of study. Just meeting and learning from such a person can be a life-changing experience for a student.

It should be noted, though, that not all students will find research universities suited to their goals or learning styles. High achieving and self-motivated students are more likely to succeed in a research environment.