What has Lynda really been up to on this epic round the world trip?

What is U21 and what is a U21 Scholarship?

Universitas 21 (U21) is a Global Network of Distinguished Research-Oriented Universities.

U21, a partnership network established in 1997, comprises 21 prestigious universities in Australia and around the world. These partner institutions are committed to advancing the internationalisation of education and all offer exemplary tertiary study across a wide variety of disciplines. For more information see The Universitas 21 homepage.

Each year the University of Melbourne awards two U21 Scholarships to professional staff. Scholarships involve an eight week study project visiting U21 member institutions overseas.

On this scholarship, I have visited three U21 member Universities; University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville USA; McGill University in Montreal; and University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver and the Okanagan, both of these Universities are in Canada. In addition I have visited the University of California Davis in the USA and also the French National Institute for Agricultural Research Nancy Division (INRA Nancy) as each of these institutions were accessible and relevant to the project.

The focus of the project was to gain an insight into University supported research centres and institutes, especially where a need existed to support significant resources away from the central headquarters of the University, for example rural and regional campuses and research stations. The methodology was to conduct in-depth interviews of centre and institute directors and/or senior Faculty representatives, with an aim to analyse governance and financial sustainability in the context of the new "Responsible Divisional Management" environment at the University of Melbourne.

I have conducted interviews at the following Institutes, Centres, and or Regional Campuses;

·French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) at Nancy (Forest Ecosystems, Engineering & Food Safety, Land Water and Biodiversity)

·Centre for Regional Environmental Studies (UVA)

·Department of Environmental Studies (UVA)

·Blandy Experimental Farm (UVA)

·Centre for Indigenous People's Nutrition & Environment (McGill)

·Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science at MacDonald Campus (McGill)

·McGill School of Environment (McGill)

·Institute of Parasitology (McGill)

·Seed Biotechnology Center (UCD)

·Agriculture Sustainability Institute (UCD)

·Department of Forest Resources Management (UBC)

·Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention (UBCO)

·Faculty of Forestry (UBC)

·Okanagan Campus at Kelowna (UBCO)

A principal research question that underpinned my project is:

Are these Centres and Institutes (a) products of history with minimal strategic benefit and/or (b) loose arrangements to suit the academic personalities and dynamics of the time and/or (c) well structured, well funded strategic, flexible, interdisciplinary vehicles that provide an effective and efficient framework for the delivery of high quality, innovative, teaching, research and community engagement?

To answer this question, I adopted the formal human ethics research project model for the Scholarship, fulfilling the detailed policy requirements of the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee standards. Approval was sought from the Melbourne School of Land and Environment Human Ethics Advisory Group on the basis that the research was a Minimal Risk Project.

A formal report and presentation will be prepared from the interviews and data available. If the report is relevant and interesting to a wider audience I aim to get it published in the public domain. Current feedback suggests that this is a topical subject with wide interest.

The timing of the conduct of the research must be recognised in a global and economic setting. Since the beginning of the global financial crisis in September 2007, many Universities and research institutions, especially those heavily reliant on government funding, have seen core funding for research significantly reduce. In North America and Europe research is funded by a combination of government, industry and endowments (donations) from individuals and businesses. In each category funding has seen real reductions in the last 1 to 2 years at least. For example the UBC's Centre for Advanced Wood Processing has, in the last year, seen a 50% reduction in the investment returns from endowments which are the primary source of funding for the Centre. The overall impact in the loss of funding is a reduction in staff numbers (especially non-tenured staff), and a decrease in administration and technical support. Ironically the Federal Government in Canada has used public funds to provide "economic stimulus" and has invested huge sums into education in the form of bricks and mortar. At UBC the building boom at both the Vancouver and Okanagan Campuses was not unlike Beijing before the 2007 Olympics.

Despite the economic conditions research leaders and senior administrators are, on the whole, optimistic about the future. I think many of them have seen the swings and roundabouts before and also know that research investment is more important in the 21st Century due to the big issues of our time: Global warming, environmental sustainability, food security, water quality and quantity, and the social and health conditions in complex and challenging communities. I suspect there is a strong belief that the economic conditions will recover and that the required levels of investment will restored.

The analysis of the interviews and data is underway and with Rachel's assistance (Rachel is the second named researcher in the project) we will have a report prepared within the next 4 to 6 weeks. Only a new job (Executive Director of the Faculty of VCA and Music which starts on 14 June) and my setting up home in Thornbury will delay us from finishing this earlier.

As you can see my U21 travels have taken me far and wide - from a practical point of view this has meant seeking out administrators and researchers in all kinds of nooks and crannies that exist on university and research campuses.I have been through laboratories, field stations, regional campuses, metropolitan campuses, and I have spoken with fascinating, inspiring and interesting folk. It is no surprise that we share many of the challenges. But some of the innovative solutions are worth consideration (see my report for those!).