Universities need joint vision and actions - Tec’s Rector at summit

What is required for universities to help tackle global challenges? This was the starting point of the panel in which David Garza, Rector and Executive President of the Tec, participated at the international summit.

As it was the first time the Tec had been invited as a panelist to the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit, Garza presented the institution’s experience in the development of applied research.

“Multidisciplinary research needs clear vision and action; vision without action is a dream and action without vision is chaos,” highlighted Garza, who was the only speaker representing Latin America on the panel.

During the summit, Garza shared ideas with Shearer West, President of the University of Nottingham; Megan Kenna, Executive Director of Schmidt Science Fellows; Rocky Tuan, President of the Chinese University of Hong Kong; David Lloyd, President of the University of South Australia; and Annamarie Jagose, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney, who was the moderator.

Experiences and challenges in research

The objective of the panel “Leadership reflections: Building multidisciplinary research from the ground up” in which Garza participated was to explain how educational institutions do research and to discuss how to create a shared vision for the future.

The Tec’s rector outlined the creation of research institutes: the Institute for Obesity Research, the Institute for the Future of Education (IFE), and the Institute of Advanced Materials for Sustainable Manufacturing.

“We’ve developed three research institutes -we could create more- to actively participate in solving social and economic challenges,” he said.

He also pointed out that each institute has a strategy to position its projects, researchers, vision, and main results.

“At first, the institutes can count on funding from the institution but then they will need to access external resources since they are designed to develop solutions to real challenges,” he said.

During the panel, they addressed challenges such as the risk that comes with multidisciplinary research and the patience that is required with failure, but with the assurance that the results are worthwhile.

Among the priority challenges discussed during the panel were the need for clear structures and governance, the creation of a community among researchers, and support for funding sources.

“Multidisciplinary research needs a clear vision and action; vision without action is a dream and action without vision is chaos,” said Garza, Rector and Executive President of the Tec.

About the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit

In its 10th edition, the Times Higher Education World Academic Summit, held in Australia, was attended by more than 600 attendees from 50 countries, including 140 rectors or presidents of educational institutions.

The goal was for collaboration between higher education institutions, industry, and policymakers with the goal of diversifying and expanding global educational approaches.

Its focus was on promoting gender equity and diversity, multidisciplinary research initiatives, cross-community collaboration, and new teaching-learning methods.

In addition to the panel in which David Garza participated, Tec de Monterrey was present at roundtables with the institution’s research director, Neil Hernández.

“I was invited to participate in a discussion with different universities such as the University of Manchester and the University of Santa Barbara, California, from the United States.

“We discussed the evolution of assessment metrics for research,” Hernandez said.

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