Professional / Research University

In the “Research universities: new paradigm?” Section, this concept is analyzed in some detail and completed with another section called “University: Tradition and Modernity”.

A synthesis that could be made and that is advanced here is that the professional university concept, so present in practically many countries, has its beginning at a certain time in the second half of the 19th century and linked to the conceptual repercussions resulting from the French revolution. On the other hand, other university systems continued with a university focus more focused on their role as creator of knowledge and dissemination through an always innovative teaching. It is the case of the Anglo-Saxon and German field that presents a synthesis development of the two in the North American model.

The experience of many years of work and reflection has led us to promote this Government Portal of research and innovation universities because we think they are the ones that best reflect the university spirit of always but in the 21st century. The following figure glosses this reflection very briefly.

Another reflection that we leave expressed in this figure is something that seems key to us and that the key of the universities is in their professors.

It is clear that there may be “transmitting” professors in research universities and “creative” professors in professional universities but always in one case or another they will be a minority because the government of those universities is the one that sets the standard for one or another style and this Government style will make it easy or difficult depending on the case you are professor of one type or another. For what has been expressed so far in this figure, it seems very illuminating and synthetic: