“Is science contributing to the division of Europe or can it help secure a common future? Euroscience Open Forum in 2014 Copenhagen https://esof2014.pathable.com/#meetings/198565

1. Francesco Sylos Labini
The crisis of the Italian university
and research systems
Enrico Fermi Center, Rome, Italy
Institute for Complex Systems, CNR, Rome Italy

2. Summary
• Italy: a long standing problem now
reaching the critical state
• Italy and Europe: things are getting
worst
• Conclusion

3. Summary
• Italy: a long standing problem now
reaching the critical state
• Italy and Europe: things are getting
worst
• Conclusion

4. Expenditure on university % GDP
[Eurostat]
Expenditureonuniversity%GDP

6. National University
Budget

7. Budget for curiosity driven research
national projects [PRIN]

8. Roma 21 febbraio 2014 Paolo Rossi 8
Number of
professors+researchers: -20%

9. Roma 21 febbraio 2014 Paolo Rossi 9
Recruitments 2006-2013: -90%

11. 15
Figura 2.1 Evoluzione del numero di ricercatori a tempo pieno equivalente, Italia e principali paesi, 2000-2010, Fonte:
OCSE, Main Science and Technology Indicators
Figura 2.2 Evoluzione della quota del numero di ricercatori a tempo pieno equivalente per mille unità di forza lavoro,
Italia e principali paesi, 2000-2010 – Fonte: OCSE, Main Science and Technology Indicators
RICERCATORI PER MILLE UNITÀ DI FORZA LAVORO
ITALIA
Researchers/1000 workers

12. Source of bibliometric data: Scopus
HERD = Higher education Expenditure on R&D (source: OECD)
Productivity: articles !
per million dollars!
Productivity: citations!
per million dollars!
from “Internat. Comparative Perform. of the UK Research Base”
by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills

15. Italy 21% - OCSE 38%

16. 3
2. La formazione universitaria 4
3. Formazione post-laurea 13
4. Reclutamento del personale universitario 16
5. Finanziamento della ricerca 18
6. Valutazione di ricerca e didattica 19
7. Accessibilità e trasparenza dei dati 20
8. Un’autonomia con confini e spazi da ridefinire 21
CUN – dichiarazione per l’università e la ricerca, le emergenze del sistema, gennaio 2013
Numero di studenti immatricolati
Fonte: MIUR – anagrafe nazionale degli studenti
Number of enrolled students (-20% in 10 years)
MIUR DATA

17. Europen lowest 2020 target

18. Fraction of workers in
specialized occupations
ALMALAUREA ON EUROSTAT DATA

19. Unemployment for different degrees and age
Univ. Degrees
(age: 25-34)
High School
(age:18-19)
Secondary school
(age:15-24)
[ALMALAUREA ON ISTAT DATA]

20. • Italy: a long standing problem now
reaching the critical state
• Italy and Europe: things are getting
worst
• Conclusion
Summary

21. Unemployment

23. Research is risk
• Rewarding what is today recognised as excellence
is trivial
• The real problem is to understand whom to reward
today, among the large magma of good quality
researchers, and how to pick those who would
become excellent tomorrow.

24. Rischio e Ricerca
1963

25. 2010

26. Ideology
Reality
Productivity
Competitiveness

27. We conclude that scientific impact (as reflected by
publications) is only weakly limited by funding. We
suggest that funding strategies that target diversity,
rather than “excellence”, are likely to prove to be
more productive.
Research is risk

28. Risk and Innovation
“The important thing for government is not to do things which
individuals are doing already, and to do them a little better or
a little worse; but to do those things which at present are not
done at all.”
John Maynard Keynes, The End of Laissez-Faire (1926)

29. • Italy: a long standing problem now
reaching the critical state
• Italy and Europe: things are getting
worst
• Conclusion
Summary

30. Expendituresforresearchanddevelopment/GDP
IT
ES
P
IR
UK
D
US
J
OECD
OCSE (2011)

31. The visible hand at workWilliamH.Press
(Science15November2013)

32. WilliamH.Press
(Science15November2013)

33.  PIGS have historically spent (invested) too little in
R&D (quality/quantity of public spending)
 Lag in R&D is structural but after 2008 the speed
of disequilibrium has accelerated
 Investment in R&D produces growth
WilliamH.Press
(Science15November2013)

34.  There is no effort to cure the R&D lag neither at
the national level
 Why should we pay a scientist if we make the
best shoes in the world?
 Italy does not have a future in biotechnology
because our universities are not competitive, but
it has a chance in tourism

35.  There is no effort to cure the R&D lag neither at
the national level nor at the European level
 There is a net transfer of human and financial
resources from South to North
 Austerity measures make things worst both
on the short and long term
 Human resources
 Infrastructures

36.  Only a massive state investment at the European level in
R&D can invert the trend: diversification of research
systems, human resources, infrastructures, focus on basic
research and on the filters between “basic” and “applied”
research. Starting supporting grants
Micro HD (Nobel phys. 2007, EU+US)
Micro integrated circuits (US airforce, Nasa)
Multi touch (NSF, US)
Internet (NSF, Darpa, CERN, …)
GPS (US airforce)
Siri (Darpa, Univ.)
LCD Screen (Darpa)
Litium Batteries (DoE, NSF,…)