Research universities are among our nation’s greatest assets, attracting the best and brightest students and researchers from the U.S. and abroad. They are a crucial component of the research enterprise - educating the future scientific, technological, and medical workforce; conducting cutting-edge scientific and engineering research; operating research hospitals; and driving economic development in their communities and nationwide.
Research universities and medical centers are playing a critical role in the fight against COVID-19 and are essential to our capability to address global crises that arise in the future. In recent decades, however, these institutions have faced increasing challenges. The pandemic has both sharpened the focus on these previously identified stresses and posed new challenges. As we slowly reopen our research universities, we have a unique opportunity to shore up the strengths of these institutions while shaping anew a research ecosystem designed to meet future challenges.

At this virtual workshop, the presidents of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and leaders from government, academia, and publishing explored the key questions the research enterprise must address to build a more effective and resilient 21st century research university.

View video of the event at: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7390716