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UNSW VC Ian Jacobs . Photo : John Feder
Putting a premium on competition has held us back and the state itself has suffered .
Less ‘ bickering ’, more cooperation
USyd VC wants closer ties with UNSW after decades-long rivalry .
By Wade Zaglas
Sydney ’ s two highest-ranked universities will put aside their competitiveness and “ bickering ” to build more of a collaborative relationship , new vice-chancellor and president of Sydney university Professor Mark Scott said .
For decades now , the University of Sydney and UNSW Sydney have been fierce competitors , with a difference of only a few positions on the world ’ s major university rankings . However , Times Higher Education ( THE ) reports that Scott is ready to depart from their historical rivalry in the interest of collaborating on meaningful and impactful research .
“ Putting a premium on competition has held us back and the state itself has suffered ,” Scott said .
“ I suspect other states have lived for a long time on the happy assumption that the universities in New South Wales will not be able to get their acts together on this .”
Scott comes to the vice-chancellor and president role at USyd after having highly successful careers in a range of media and adviser roles , the most prominent and recent being the managing director of the ABC and the secretary of the NSW Department of Education .
“ My experience on the inside in state government is that they do not want to have to choose between institutions ,” he said .
“ They don ’ t want bickering or rivalry . What they want is a unified and cohesive solution to problem-solving .”
Scott has applauded Victoria ’ s success in creating a collaborative culture among its top universities , THE said , particularly the highly ranked universities of Melbourne and Monash . The Sydney University VC also mentioned that the NSW government has plans to turn Sydney into an Asia-Pacific leader in both research and technical expertise , specifically in medicine .
“ They are keen to partner with the university sector , if we can come up with solutions to develop that expertise in [ fields ] from mRNA to advanced manufacturing and everything in between ,” he said .
And stronger collaboration between the two universities has also been welcomed by UNSW .
“ Historically , perhaps , UNSW and the University of Sydney have not grasped the full potential of collaboration and the added value it brings for everyone ,” vicechancellor Professor Ian Jacobs said .
Like Scott , Jacobs believes value can be added through partnerships between the two universities – particularly in health – and also shares Scott ’ s observations that Victoria is already far ahead of the premier state in establishing such partnerships .
But while keen on more collaboration , Jacobs emphasises that rivalries between top universities , such as Oxford and Cambridge , were often “ seen in the wrong context ” and generally constituted healthy competition .
“ In London , Imperial College , King ’ s College and UCL compete for resources and people . But they also come together when there are great things they can do working in collaboration [ or when ] equipment and resources need to be spread across the city ,” the UNSW vice-chancellor said .
“ We have lots of good examples of that in Sydney , but I think we could do more .”
Jacobs said the pair already collaborated in quantum physics , marine science and many other areas , and , despite the rivalry , ironically suspects “ the largest number of partnership ventures each university has would be with each other ”.
Discussing the health of the university sector , Scott said it would take a “ brave person ” to predict the pandemic ’ s impact on universities and their finances .
“ Relatively few thought we ’ d be locked down in the second part of 2021 , [ or that ] we would have vaccinated so few people by this time . It ’ s uncertain [ and ] it changes quickly ,” he said .
The Sydney University boss said research funding would be impacted by significant drops in international enrolments , as well as the Job-ready Graduates reforms .
“ For decades now , that has been a source of research funding that now appears to be closed off ,” he said .
“ This is a matter of national importance . The discovery of knowledge is going to be vital to the future of this country , our intellectual capital , the innovation of our industry and our global competitiveness , and we need to find a way of funding it .”
And while Scott said that many international students ’ wish to keep studying remotely with the University of Sydney is a testament to his staff ’ s hard work and the institution ’ s reputation , he is also aware of the substantial threat posed by the international market .
“ North American , European and particularly UK universities are willing to fully recognise prior coursework completed at Australian universities , and are trying to take advantage of the market ,” he said .
“ Under President Biden , [ there ] is a total rethink around the importance of international students as a strategic opportunity for the US , in a way that was clearly not evident under the previous president . We are watching it like a hawk .” ■
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