Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.

International Links Crucial to Society

MIT STUDY
International Links 
Crucial to Society

MIT's broad and open links with the international science and technology 
community are crucial to its ability to serve American society, an MIT 
study has concluded. 

The study recommends that MIT continue these diverse links while 
strengthening and expanding its research and educational programs in 
support of American industry. 

"MIT's responsibility to the nation in which it was founded and nurtured 
is served first and foremost by maintenance of its position as a premier 
institution in education and research in science and technology," the 
report concludes. 

"The commitment to maintain preeminence requires that MIT be thoroughly 
engaged in international activities in science and technology and that 
its faculty, students, and research staff be able to interact fully and 
openly with, and stay abreast of, research wherever it is carried out." 

MIT's responsibility to the nation also "mandates a strong interest in 
America's economic health, calling for programs that go beyond the 
Institute's basic contribution through education and research." 
America's professional engineers and engineering deans both ranked MIT 
as the nation's top engineering school, according to a recent survey 
conducted by US News and World Report. 

Charles M. Vest, who was inaugurated as MIT's fifteenth president on May 
10, said that "MIT must stand fast in its commitment to excellence, 
especially in these times when our nation faces unprecedented economic 
challenges. This requires that we reaffirm our responsibilities to 
American society at the same time as we continue to participate fully in 
the evolving international research community."

"MIT's contributions to our society have arisen in large part from its 
dedication to the free and open exchange of ideas," said Political 
Science Professor Eugene Skolnikoff, chairman of the study group and 
former Director of the MIT Center for International Studies. 

"With the current trends toward the globalization of business and 
research, this willingness to share ideas and especially to learn from 
others is more important than ever to MIT--and to the nation," Professor 
Skolnikoff said.

The study was commissioned in 1990 by the MIT administration in 
recognition of the changing international scene in which competence in 
science and technology has grown throughout the world, along with 
intensifying economic competition among nations. The review was in part 
prompted by public criticism by some members of Congress concerning 
MIT's links to foreign nations, which go back more than a century.

The report, titled "The International Relationships of MIT in a 
Technologically Competitive World," acknowledges that MIT's national and 
international roles may occasionally clash. "In the resolution of such 
conflicts, we believe the administration, with the advice of the 
faculty, should give primary weight to the general responsibility to the 
nation," the report says.

The study group's report ranged widely over a broad spectrum of 
international activities and issues. Specific conclusions and 
recommendations include:

Research Sponsorship--In 1990, foreign-based companies sponsored 
approximately three percent of on-campus research at MIT. This support, 
which helps fund research in the US and keep American scientists abreast 
of research interests of foreign enterprises, is acceptable as long as 
it is conducted with the same conditions as US-sponsored research: it 
advances the research and education missions of MIT, fulfills the 
research goals of the faculty, provides an accessible and enriching 
experience for students, and can be freely and openly published and 
discussed.

MIT faculty should continue to give emphasis to identifying research and 
education opportunities that are responsive to the needs of American 
industry, and to provide American companies with an early chance to get 
involved in promising research ideas.

Visiting Scientists--Scientists from universities, government, and 
industry are invited to spend a semester or more at MIT to share their 
special skills and knowledge in ongoing research, and to learn from the 
research underway. Openness in the exchange of knowledge is a critical 
condition for the success of these visits. With genuine sharing, foreign 
visitors invited at faculty discretion to participate in research are as 
appropriate as domestic visitors. American industry, however, has sent 
relatively few visitors for these valuable extended visits. MIT should 
join with American companies to explore ways to increase the flow.

Faculty Contacts with Industry--Contacts between faculty and 
industry in many fields are an important part of professional 
development, helping faculty stay abreast of needs, interests, and 
advances in their fields. These contacts also further MIT's commitment 
to the transfer of knowledge to the community. A recent survey has shown 
that faculty contacts of all kinds with American firms are three times 
as numerous as with either European or Japanese companies.

Commercialization of Research--American firms in many industries 
are trailing their foreign counterparts in converting new ideas and 
information into products. In cooperation with industry, MIT has 
developed several major programs designed to address various facets of 
the problem. The president of MIT should consult with industrial leaders 
to make further progress in this critical area. The essential openness 
of university research must be maintained.

Foreign Gifts--About 30 of 215 endowed chairs at MIT have been funded 
by foreign-based corporations. These and other gifts support the 
infrastructure of research and education at MIT, but do not influence 
the direction of or access to research, and thus need raise no special 
concerns.

Foreign Graduate Students--In order to maintain MIT's record of 
contributions to society, academic quality should remain the overriding 
criterion for admission. The number of high-quality applicants from both 
the US and abroad far exceeds the number of places in such highly 
competitive departments as biology, and electrical engineering and 
computer science. It is therefore appropriate to provide space for a 
large proportion of American applicants in those departments, since this 
has no effect on the overall level of quality. It is important to note 
that an estimated 60 percent of international students receiving 
doctorates from US universities remain in the US, resulting in a 
significant net gain to American industries and universities.

MIT/Japan Program--The report strongly endorses the MIT-Japan Science 
and Technology Program that for ten years has been educating MIT 
students with Japanese language and cultural skills and placing them in 
industrial, government and university laboratories in Japan for a year's 
internship. The program has been successful in providing for Americans 
in Japan the same kind of learning experience the much more numerous 
Japanese visitors have in the US, thus beginning to redress the 
imbalance. It has also formed the basis for a national initiative 
approved by the Congress in 1990, and similar programs have been adopted 
by other universities.

Industrial Liaison Program (ILP)--Although access to MIT research 
is open to all, the ILP provides more efficient access to member 
companies for an annual fee. This service has served mostly American 
companies, but also has been particularly useful for foreign-based firms 
who do not share the same business day, language and culture as American 
firms. A study group survey showed, however, that US firms have five 
times as many contacts with faculty outside the ILP as through the ILP. 
Nonetheless, the ILP should boost its effort to increase the interaction 
between MIT and American industry. Because of the value of foreign 
contacts to MIT's research and educational programs, foreign membership 
should not be restricted. It is appropriate, however, that foreign firms 
be charged more than domestic firms for the service.

MIT's Tokyo Office--This office was created over a decade ago to 
overcome the problems of managing relationships with Japanese firms and 
government posed by distance, time and cultural differences. The MIT 
administration should consider expanding the role of this office to 
actively assist members of the MIT community and US companies to become 
more familiar with science and technology in Japan.

Internationalization of the Curriculum--To prepare MIT's 
graduates better for the realities of today's global society and 
marketplace, the faculty and administration should take steps to 
strengthen the international dimensions of the undergraduate curriculum.

Educational Initiatives--MIT should consider new programs to aid in 
the improvement of science education at primary and secondary schools. 
Education at these levels is central to the nation's future 
international position.

In concluding, the study group recommended that the office of the 
provost, in conjunction with the faculty, should have explicit 
responsibility for implementing these recommendations.

The study group members were: Eugene Skolnikoff, chairman and professor 
of political science; Rudiger Dornbusch, professor of economics; Arnoldo 
Hax, professor of management; Nancy Hopkins, professor of biology; Eric 
Johnson, director of corporate relations; Arthur Kerman, professor of 
physics and director of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science; Philip 
Khoury, acting dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science and 
professor of history; Richard Lester, professor of nuclear engineering; 
Nicholas Negroponte, director of the Media Laboratory and professor of 
media technology; Jack Ruina, professor of electrical engineering and 
computer science; Richard Samuels, associate professor of political 
science and director of the MIT-Japan Science and Technology Program; 
Kenneth Smith, professor of chemical engineering and former associate 
provost and vice president for research; and David Hart, staff.