Universities as Science-Companies, Potential for ETH Zurich

R. Boutellier

Collegium Helveticum ETH/Uni ZürichCritical thinking initiative ETH

20. Mai 2016

Prof. emer. Dr. Roman Boutellier ETH / HSG

R. Boutellier

• „We can no longer commit on ravaged Europe as a source of

fundamental knowledge“

• Deficit of 150’000 science and technology graduates

Philosophy: „Progress in the war against disease results from

discoveries in remote and unexpected fields of

medicine and underlying sciences“ The Bell Labs

National Research Foundation (1950)

Vannevar Bush: The birth of “free play of free intellects”Useful results = technology = random spillover

+

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US governmental R+D is heavily driven by defence

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Total R+D expenditures (PPP)2015

• US $ 470 Billion• PRC $ 350• EU $ 330

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The social contract for science: USA since 1945, Vannevar Bush separates R from D

Politics

Science

We provide

• money

• freedom of research

We expect

• freely availableinnovations

• Unspecified but useful technology

• Trust in the “common sense” of all agents

• Technology comes as a spillover

• Welfare (and power) are driven by technology

Self-organization and self-correcting

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Stevenson-Wydler act 1980: “The end of technology clause of social contract in USA”

• Every major federal lab: Office of Research and Technology Application(ORTA)to licence technologies

• Centre of Federal Technology: One-stop shopping centrefor information about federal technologies

• National Technology Medal: Awarded by President

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Western Nations follow US example

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Federal R+D Industrial R+D

1953 $ 3 bn $ 3 bn (nominal $)

4.10.1957 Sputnik

2002 $ 78 bn $ 181 bn

1980 - 2000 + 1.1% workforce p.a. (in total economy)+ 4.9% workers in science and engineering

Science: Boom since 1950 in the United StatesBoom of knowledge jobs

Judson, H.F.: The great betrayal, Harcourt, 2005, p.24ff

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CH-Research after WWII: We have a crisisGovernment shall help!

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Technische Rundschau, Mai 1943

Swiss National Foundation

Start 1952, 1. AugustBudget 4 Mio

+ 9% p.a.

2013 820 Mio

ETH 1945 ca. 4 Mio

+ 9% p.a.

2016 ca. 1’500 Mio(BIP ~ 3% real p.a.)

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US: After 20 years, a division of work has been established

Scientist

Public domainmarket work

lab work

TDC

Technology development coordination

• team for every invention

• patenting

• marketing

• licensing

• train scientists (IP)

• screen papers before publication

• assess patent applications

• manage CRADAs

Science / Technology meetings

licensing specialists

paper work

Guston, J.H.: Between Politics and Science, Cambridge, 2000, pp.113-137. (CRADA: Coop R+D Agreement)

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Scientists have no qualms about risks

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ETH nuclear powerstation Clausiusstrasse – project1956,Planned but not realized

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Today’s problems should have been solved in the 1950, but in the 50s we were solving the problems of the 20s and ………

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Sidney Harris 2003 / Paul Feyerabend: 2009

Government: Dilemma

• pushes scienceto get welfare

• protects usagainst side effects

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Collaboration and co-production of scientific and social order

Science Politics

“The social contract”

“Trust us, we are smart”

Agency problems

• monitoring

• incentives

• whistleblowers

Boundary organizations

Accountability

Office of Research Integrity

ORI

Productivity

Office of Technology Transfer

OTT

Collaborativeassurance

Guston, J.H.: Between Politics and Science, Cambridge, 2000, p.138ff./ETH Guidelines for Research Integrity 2008

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"We have to let the public also into the kitchen" (Claude Bernard)

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Adapted from Nowotny et al., The Public Nature of Science under Assault, Springer 2005

Freedom of inquiry

("Wissenschaftsfreiheit")

Science speakes the truthin the name of Nature

• not negotiable• self-correcting• autonomous

"Science in Society"

Freedom of ownership

Science is the handmaiden ofinnovation. It is the source of

• advancement• progress• can sell what it produces

" Society in Science"

Historical perspective of science: "Usefulness is all we need" (Feyerabend)

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Given status- Knowledge- Methods- Beliefs

New status- Knowledge- Methods- Beliefs

Scientific process:Small, incremental changes

• Accuracy• Breadth of applicability• Consistency• Simplicity

But truth is not correspondence to reality

"Necessary characteristics of any evolutionary process"

Th. Kuhn, The trouble with the historical philosophy of science, Harvard, 1992, p.11,13,14,18

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Needs change: Obesity was a status-symbol in renaissance timeToday: Sickness and health are social constructions

General Alessandro del Borro(† 1656, “Terror of Turks”)

Madonna 2008

Everybody has the right to be healthyGenetical engineering a must?

Skill-biased technical change: Relative demand for skilled labour increases

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• Since 1990s employment does not recover after recessions

• Demand falls for routine tasks• Labour share of GDP falling,

6% in 10 years

Plutarch:“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatalailment of all republics.”

Brynjolfsson 2014, The second machine age

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E. Q. Wilson, Consilience, Knopf 98, p.273

Natural selection

Social choice

„ The most profound intellectual and ethical choice.humanity has ever faced “

Progress needs a new definition, too many technical possibilities

Genetics Molecular Biology

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Bypass! Bypass!

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Technology and the idea of progress go in parallel

1 m B.C.

1600

1850

Technology as a tool to make life easierProgress is no choice, man has to survive

Technology as a tool to drive scienceProgress = Understanding

Science drives technologyProgress = Technical progress

“Technopoly”Humanity drivenby technology

2000

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Neil Postman Technopoly

Ecole Polytechnique Paris: Too many top down targetsRational strategy

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• Improve ratings• More women• More students from «lower classes» (Diversity)• Bachelor and Masters, not only engineers• More international faculty and “élèves”• More third party money• Integration into UPS• New campus outside Paris• More innovation targeted research

Oxford: Vision, Priorities, Core Strategies, Enabling StrategiesA framework, for communication, setting priorities

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Vision • The University of Oxford aims to lead the world in research and education

• …that no potential student should be deterred from applying to Oxford by financial or other barriers …

• To contribute effectively to the cultural, social and economic life of the cityof Oxford

• …ensure that under-represented groups have equal opportunity ….

Priorities• Global reach• Networking, communication, and interdisciplinarity

Swiss research starts with topics, not questions

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• Demography• Innovation-driven economy• Mass customization• Globalization of «thinking and working»• Realization of «Masseneinwanderungsinitiative» ( Migration )• Reorganization of energy system

Source BFI 3129

Swiss Research-Principles ( as presented to parliament )Inconsistent?

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• Partnership• Bottom-up• Autonomy, Competition, Excellence• Long-term-targets, need-driven• Synergies• Efficiency

Source BFI

Targets• New generation of academics for economy and society• Sharpen profiles ( of Universities )• Financing according competitive principles

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Kann sich der Mensch am eigenen Schopf aus dem Sumpf ziehen?

“Man wird aber den künftigen Menschen umbauen,die Schöpfung pfuscherisch nachvollziehen können.Und wenn man es tun kann, wird es auch getan.”

versus

“Gelenkter Fortschritt wäre kein Fortschritt mehr”

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Peter Noll, Diktate über Sterben und Tod, pendo 1984, p 120, F.A. von Hayek, Die drei Quellen menschlicher Werte

Baron von MünchhausenWissenschaftsfreiheit gepaart

mit Verantwortung

Science is only one of the many tools to rule nature

Science has made many big errors

The theoretical authority of science is much smallerthan anticipated

The societal authority is so high that it has to be controlled by politics

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Feyerabend, Paul, 1924-1994, Prof. ETHZ: Wider den Methodenzwang, Suhrkamp, 1983, p.290

“Time is more than ripe to let the separation of church from state follow a separation of science from state“

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