Nature Asked Stanford's President What He Sees for Universities Come 2020. (January 7, 2010)

Among a group of researchers and policy makers the journal Nature spoke with Stanford University's president John Hennessy and asked his opinion of whither universities come 2020.

   His reply:

The world faces increasingly complex challenges, such as maintaining our ecosystem while supporting 9 billion to 10 billion people, reducing poverty, increasing peace and security, and improving human health in both the developed and developing world. Universities must have a role in seeking solutions for these problems and in educating the next generation of leaders to tackle them.

Perhaps the largest threat to our research universities over the next decade is the financial challenge facing governments. In the United States, for example, budget deficits have caused many states to reduce their funding for public universities, and at the federal level, there is likely to be no growth or a cut in funding for research programmes.

To address these financial and intellectual challenges, universities need to be willing to change how they see their research and teaching mission. The scale and complexity of today's global problems demand a more collaborative, multidisciplinary approach.

Traditionally, universities have been structured around disciplines and departments. The agencies that fund research often reflect that structure in their financial support of projects. That rigidity can be a barrier to innovation, and to the need to educate students for a more collaborative working environment.

Therefore, universities and funding agencies need to encourage working across disciplines — for example, through academic centres based around broad themes rather than narrow fields. The challenge will be to do this without abandoning the traditional disciplines and the role they have in ensuring excellence.

As financial pressures increase, institutions may be forced to make difficult decisions — prioritizing areas in which they have sufficient existing strength or student interest and collaborating with peer institutions that have greater capability in other fields. Continuing support for fledgling cross-disciplinary efforts in difficult financial circumstances will require vigilance.