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Mogens Høegh Jensen, Liselotte Højgaard, members of the Committee: Thank you for inviting me to speak here today.
It is always an honour to be in your distinguished company. I would like to thank you for putting research-based education on the agenda. Or researcher-based education as you prefer to call it.
I like that metonomy. It underlines the importance of teaching as part of the researcher’s job.
The interaction between a researcher and the students is what defines the core of a university. It is its very DNA. What lifts it up from ordinary schooling and common one-way teaching.
Ideally, to the benefit of both the researcher and the student.
If I may quote one of the founders of science: “The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge, is the power of teaching”.
The words are from Aristotle.
A good teacher gives us the tools to obtain knowledge, to master a scientific field. A good teacher sets up high demands. Makes us curious. Open our minds and hearts for knowledge and critical thinking. Makes us a better version of ourselves.
That’s the art of university teaching.
University is a gain for society
I was delighted to see that when you publish a white paper on research-based education, you start by taking the reader 500 hundred years back in history.
Of course, you might add.
You eloquently track the development from the first university in Denmark in 1479 – to the state of the modern universities of today.
It inspires me to give you a “state of the union” speech. On how I see the research-based university education, we offer our young ones in Denmark today.
Firstly, let me state: The value of universities to the Danish society is high. Very high.
Every year you equip thousands of students with knowledge and skilled, critical minds.
Knowledge, that helps our companies grow, brings about new solutions, and makes our society prosper.
Our analyses show that even though the number of university graduates has more than doubled since the 1990’s, the economic returns have kept up.
The value of university graduates – in terms of salary and employment frequency – has been maintained at a stable level.
So far, history thus tells us that the increasing number of university graduates has indeed been beneficial. For society. For the individual. And for our general level of knowledge in society.
Danish graduates at a high level
Secondly, in this “state of the union” talk, let me touch upon the issue of quality:
We have a number of excellent degree programmes at the Danish universities.
I visited Berkeley and Stanford in January, and the Faculty members we met had no doubt. The Danish exchange students at Berkeley and Stanford are cutting edge. Fully in line with the other elite students at these outstanding universities.
It made me happy as minister. And proud as a Dane.
I would, however, like to know more about the quality of the degree programmes we offer to our youth. We have nearly a thousand university degree programmes in Denmark.
Not all offer the same quality. Some are excellent, some are not. Judging from testimonies from students and examinators.
Ever since my first day as Minister of Higher education and Science, I have been on a quest for quality. We have data on how well the graduates do after their studies, but what about data on the actual quality?
I am happy to note that your white paper acknowledges the relevance of my quest for methods to measure quality. And I will look forward to look into the pitfalls and difficulties that you point to in relation to that task.
“Academia must be difficult!” – as you agree!
The importance of research-based education
Thirdly, let me emphasize:
Research-based education will become even more important in the years to come.
The labour market has always been changing. But these years the technological evolution is bringing about some very distinct changes.
Big data, robotics and artificial intelligence are shaping the labor market in ways we can’t even comprehend.
Many jobs will be automatized, particularly low skilled jobs. The demand for high skilled specialists will increase. Many of the graduates of tomorrow will go out and get jobs that do not even exit today!
Research-based education equips students with profound knowledge and with the ability to learn and to relate critically to a world yet to be known.
The right match for a world in hasty development.
Bildung and digitalization
Fourthly, let me point to some of the things we can do better.
We can educate more wisely. In terms of how many we educate to what.
Don’t get me wrong. I am the first to recognize the importance of educating specialists in small scientific fields. But, overall, we need to move our intake of students slightly more towards what’s attractive for the employers on the other side of university life.
We also need to bring about a stronger sense of Bildung in our graduates.
Bildung – defined as the ability to navigate in the world.
In a world of algorithms affecting our habits – in a world of big data, fake news, and a constant flow of information, we need a strong core of critical, analytic skills to navigate. And we need a solid knowledge base and a strong sense of our cultural roots to build upon.
I would like to see introduced - in all university degree programmes – a core element, where students enhance their ability to understand and navigate in the complex world of today.
Students in humanities should understand basics in technology, and the future engineer should understand the basics in humanities. In order to get a better grasp of issues outside their own field of study. Thus strengthening their ability for critical thinking.
I have asked a group of highly insightful persons from the university sector to think about this issue over the coming months. I hope that you will join in on the debate and enlighten me with your thoughts on the matter.
I, indeed, find that there are many good arguments for strengthening the Bildung-component as part of a research-based education.
Let me point to one more thing, in terms of what we can do better: We need to give as high priority to teaching as we do to research. This is not the case today.
There is an increasing awareness among university leaders of the importance of acknowledging good teaching. And of the importance of working systematically with teaching practices.
But we need to do more. In particular as one of the most important ways in which research spreads to society, is when graduates go out and use their knowledge in practice.
Those are just three of the things that, in my view, are key when we point to areas where we can do better. As you are well aware of, last spring I established an Expert Committee on Better University Education.
The committee will soon report on its findings. I look very much forward to the debate that will follow.
Research freedom is key
Before I end my talk, let me touch upon the debate on research freedom.
I am, and always have been, preoccupied with freedom. In my opinion, academic freedom is crucial. For scientific work. For society’s development.
The University Act makes clear that universities have research freedom.
I note that some people in the debate argue for more rules.
For my part, I cannot see how we can solve any problems in this matter with more rules and legislation. That’s a task for university leaders. And it is important for the individual researcher to speak out if he or she experiences any restrictions what so ever.
As minister responsible for higher education and research, I will say very clearly to you: I expect universities and researchers to always insist on their research freedom and independence.
Honourable Academy. To sum up:
At the core of universities, we find research-based education. A research- or researcher-based education which you continuously must develop.
And adapt to the world of today and the demands of tomorrow. It should be driven by wise, creative, independent minds such as yours.
As Churchill said, when he visited Harvard in 1943:
“The empires of the future will be the empires of the mind.”
Let us together create a future where Bildung, knowledge and critical minds are guiding us in bringing society forward.
Thank you.