Special Initative: Mapping National Reserach Systems

Symposium on Comparative Analysis of National Research Systems 16-18 January 2008 UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France Summary The Symposium on Comparative Analysis of National Research Systems provided a venue of discussion on the basis of Professors’ Johann Mouton and Roland Waast studies on knowledge and research systems of 52 low and middle-income countries. About 130 experts were invited to compare and exchange knowledge and views on the methodology and the quality of the country reviews. Since research systems play a key role in the development of low-income countries, the mapping of research systems, with special emphasis on national policies, infrastructure, human capacities and investment, was critical to get a global overview on what we know. The other objective of the meeting was to highlight the importance of launching a flexible template with appropriate indicators that may be used by interested countries to give them the opportunity to study their research systems and to compare them on a wider scale with the view of identifying priority needs for policy making and capacities building. The Special Session of the Symposium looked at the interface between Health Research Systems and National Research System, which was complementary to the “general” debate and aimed to compare assessment methodologies for overall national research systems and for specific health research systems. The Forum on Higher Education, Research and Knowledge was encouraged by the participants of the symposium to: · Finalizing the current meta-review based on the feedback of the symposium · Find a method on how to present and update information on countries' national research systems · Continue to provide opportunities for cooperation and networking amongst researchers to discuss issues related to higher education, knowledge and research systems · Continue to provide a venue for researchers and other actors such as OECD, NEPAD, World Bank, EU, FAO, WHO, NGO:s and other stake holders to provide an interface between researchers and practitioners on issues related to higher education, knowledge and research systems. Documents of the Symposium: Terms of Reference Draft Agenda List of Participants Presentations Country Reviews Regional Reports Draft Global Synthesis Report Draft Consolidated Bibliography Final Report Draft Country Review Template Report from the First Workshop on National Research Systems 6-7 April 2006