Britta Piel
Universities should apply their own research to themselves
A direct transmission of research into the practice of the university itself. The biggest unsolved problem is a paradox: universities study an enormous range of topics, yet almost none of that knowledge shapes how the university is actually run. Research on human resources is a clear example — it exists, but it is not translated into the way universities recruit and hire their own people. The change worth making is a dedicated mechanism that systematically carries the institution’s research findings into its everyday management and practice, so that the university becomes a user of the knowledge it produces, not only its source.
We do research on so many things, but it has no influence whatsoever on how we do a university.