Are British universities really destined for long term decline?

predictions of a collapse of the United Kingdom in mediocrity may be premature and miss the point, says Ferdinand von Prondzynski

. Top 200 QS World University Rankings 2012

The latest ranking of colleges has led to a new series of questions about the future global distribution of excellence in higher education and strength. There was a change in the position of some universities in the Western Hemisphere, with Ireland and Scotland, both the experience of this phenomenon. Ireland no longer has any university in the top 100 universities in the world, Scotland has always, Edinburgh, in the top 100 (or more), but other Scottish institutions have declined, in some cases, significantly

"Out of the golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge, England world-class universities face a collapse of the general mediocrity, while investments in research universities Asia is beginning to bear fruit "editor Phil Baty ranking told the Guardian.

Although there is some drift, predicting a fall in mediocrity UK can be a bit premature. It is absolutely true that some emerging countries have made significant investments in higher education, as might be expected. But it produced no immediate challenge for global leadership. It contains only one top 20 in the U.S. non-university or the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

addition, the success of universities in China, Singapore, Korea and Japan (and only a very small number of the thousands of Asian universities do so at any university rankings) is mainly based on "Westernization" of these institutions and their teaching and research remit money. It did not start last year - was a phenomenon of the last decade, and although the results are there, not alarming

is clear that some countries make a transition to a more developed economy, universities benefit from increased investment and higher levels of ambition. But in reality, it is quite surprising that this has had a much greater impact on the ranking. This does not mean that there are no problems here treated. The uncertainty of university funding in these islands has certainly had an impact, but if other factors, such as inconsistencies and improbabilities of migration policies that affect the student movement, and the tendency for large companies to try university links outside of the classic series.

What can be more interesting, however, is the following: a track in the classification that the future university is no longer necessarily the oldest institution of classic blue-sky research. The new leader, ranked consulted or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology, perhaps a more targeted approach, university network and translation. Other institutions that reflect this profile rose in the rankings. Trying to find out what is the role of higher education is to be in the future, it may be the most interesting trend.

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Ferdinand von Prondzynski is Vice-Chancellor of the

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