Document Type : Research Paper

Author

• Hamed Bikaraan-Behesht

Department of Theory-Oriented STI Studies, National Research Institute for Science Policy (NRISP), Tehran, Iran

Abstract

It has been several decades since the center of excellence (CoE) schemes, which are policy instruments for achieving specific goals, have been developed, and several CoEs with different functions have been established. These centers provide suitable environments for research collaborations, especially interdisciplinary collaborations, which are essential for mission-oriented innovations for addressing the grand societal challenges. However, CoEs are faced with serious problems. One problem is that, although these centers aimed to create a critical mass of top researchers, which is essential to tackle the grand challenges, there are barriers to doing so. Besides, it seems that CoEs are in opposition to the value of equity that are important in scientific activities. In this paper, after discussing the concept of excellence and the classification, ways of establishing, funding, and the rationale for centers of excellence, I will discuss the two issues of critical mass and equity. Then, inspired by the structure of networks of excellence, I will propose a CoE scheme that can address both issues by establishing a collaborative network of researchers from different institutes to work in a research area or to tackle a societal challenge.

Keywords

• center of excellence
• critical mass
• mission-orientation
• networking
• equity