When the market wins over research and higher education
- In this chapter, an overview of systematic eradication of basic science foci in European universities in the last two decades is given. This happens under the slogan of optimisation of the university education to the needs and demands of the society. It is pointed out that reliance on “market demands” brings with it long-term deficiencies in the maintenance of basic and advanced knowledge construction in societies necessary for long-term future technological advances. University policies that claim improvement of higher education towards more immediate efficiency may end up with the opposite effect of affecting its quality and long term expected positive impact on society.
