Abstract :
[en] It is fully evident that universities play a crucial role in training scientists and providing a place for research endeavors. Since at least 1900, the consistent establishment of research-oriented universities, fueled by the increasing influx of students, has been pivotal in shaping the trajectory of scientific progress. Without this steady support, the recent history of science would have taken a different course, likely resulting in a significantly diminished scientific enterprise (Baker & Powell 2024). Globally, there exist tens of thousands of universities, from where faculty scientists consistently make substantial contributions to scientific advancements, benefited by increasingly complex collaboratives across universities and borders. Approximately 90% of the now over fout million annual scientific journal articles in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (hereafter, papers) include at least one university-based scientist and a significant majority of these papers are authored solely by university scientists. The world’s mainstream scientific journals, a reflection of the reach of science to more topics, grew from just under one hundred at the beginning of the 20th century to over eight thousand by the new century. As the volume of papers and subtopics of discovery continues to increase, so does the capacity of universities to train and hire aspiring scientists. Initially witnessed within a limited number of nations in the early 20th century, over time the magnitude and worldwide impact of these scientific dimensions have significantly expanded and disseminated, earning the fitting designation of “global mega-science.” And behind the dispersion of mega-science is a more-or-less isomorphic cultural model for combining the educational and research missions within the single university, an arrangement that is at once well-known and glossed over in the history of
contemporary science.
