University of Tilburg, School of Catholic Theology
Honorary Doctorate
November 9th, 2012
I would like to express my warmest thanks to the University of Tilburg and its
School of Catholic Theology for the honorary doctorate you have so graciously
conferred upon me. I am humbled by this honor, because I am keenly aware of what it
means: I am now a member of a University with an eighty-five-year tradition of providing
excellent education and pursuing research that leads to a better understanding of society. I
was pleased to learn that, for many years, the University of Tilburg has been honored in
several fields as the finest specialist university in the Netherlands.
At Tilburg, scholars work every day to bring the ideals of the University to life.
You pursue fresh and interdisciplinary forms of research-oriented teaching; you share your
knowledge generously and urge students to develop their skills, engage in society, and be
open to all cultures and traditions. Tilburg is a place where everyone, regardless of
personal philosophy, is welcome to pursue knowledge. Ideals that may sound lofty or
abstract are put into practice at this institution. That is why the University of Tilburg
consistently makes valuable contributions to a better world for all.
As a Catholic theologian, I look at the research programs of the Tilburg School
of Theology with particular admiration. The basic concern of Christian theology is to
explore the connection between faith and reason, which means giving reason to the hope
that lives in every one of us. When scholars here at Tilburg turn to primary sources to
develop Christian identity in a pluralistic context, they are practicing theology in exactly
this sense. Catholic identity can remain relevant and even grow stronger as we fearlessly
engage the modern world.
I was encouraged when I read about the main priorities of this University,
which include scholastic excellence, social responsibility, cooperation across disciplines,
and openness to intercultural dialogue. The same concepts are expressed in our Charter at
the University of Fribourg, so I can honestly say I feel at home here.
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Sharing and cooperation are particularly relevant values as the University of Fribourg
prepares for its 125th anniversary. Since we are a bilingual university, we chose the slogan:
Partager les Savoirs - Gemeinsam Wissen Schaffen - Creating knowledge together.
I would like to share some insights about cooperation that I believe will help
us perceive some deep connections between our two institutions.
At the University of Fribourg, we want to take students to the frontiers of
human understanding. We expand our knowledge by engaging in basic research, which
is the foundation of innovation. Our research is carried out in close cooperation with
industry and the rest of society. The same ideals and methods are shared by some of the
world’s finest institutions, including the 21 elite centers that make up the "League of
European Research Universities" (LERU). That organization was founded in 2002 and
includes two Swiss universities, Zurich and Geneva. The University of Fribourg has not yet
been invited to join the club, but we share its objectives.
The LERU has created a working definition of what makes a great research
university. It states that high-quality research most often takes place in larger
institutions that have the freedom to set their own priorities. It values research-oriented
teaching and honors institutions that can satisfy the needs of the very best students at the
Masters and doctoral levels. Beyond that, a university becomes a member of the League
based on quantitatively measurable scientific output.
The University of Fribourg is comparatively small and has relatively few professors
engaged in the Nobel-Prize disciplines of the natural sciences. I do not think it is likely that
we will be invited to join the League soon. Yet because we share its values, we developed at
Fribourg a plan of action called "Strategy 2020" which reinforces our dedication to being a
research university of the highest caliber. We are committed to development, to supporting
research and forming the next generation of scientific talent, and to providing ample
funding for research. We want to create a healthy internal climate at the University, but
also to attract third-party funding and build public-private partnerships which can move
new knowledge and technologies into the marketplace.
Strategy 2020 puts it this way: "With limited financial resources at our disposal, we
must establish clear priorities for long-term development. We seek to strengthen research
at our University by gathering the projects in which our researchers excel around several
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"lighthouses," or key topics, in areas that have the potential to strengthen our society.
Gathering with similar projects around a "lighthouse" is a way for a project that may be
less well-known to receive the attention it deserves. Thus, while concentrating on our
particular strengths, we maintain the rich diversity of research that is the hallmark of a
great university. We want to develop interdisciplinary cooperation as a special priority at
our University, but we can never forget that, to succeed in working with other disciplines,
one must first master one's own field." Some "lighthouses" or key topics that are important
now in Fribourg include new developments in nano-soft materials, research on
multilingualism
from
the
linguistic
and
socio-psychological
perspectives,
and
groundbreaking research in biblical, thomistic and ecumenical studies as well as
international management and European business. We are also engaged in promising
clinical research on cognitive perception.
At the University of Fribourg, research is a priority as we recruit new
professors to our faculty. When we hire professors, we assess their "research
potential," looking not only at the funds but also at the projects that would be entrusted to
a new professor within a given faculty. In this way we strengthen the bond between
teaching and research which has shaped the ideal of the university in Western culture. This
bond must remain strong in spite of organizational changes like those made necessary by
the Bologna system.
Our University's commitment to research has been recognized and reaffirmed by
significant "Advanced" and "Starting" grants awarded to four of our researchers by the
European Research Council. At the University of Fribourg, we believe that researchers
should not work in isolation, pursuing their own whims as if research were an end in itself.
Every researcher is part of a larger scientific community, and it is this community which
guarantees the freedom of the researcher and monitors the quality of research through the
peer review process. The League of European Research Universities, in one of its
publications, states that: “Universities are not enterprises with a defined product with
standardized processes required for its cost-effective production. Universities generate a
wide diversity of outputs. In research, they create new possibilities, in teaching they shape
new people.”1
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(Geoffrey Boulton and Colon Lucas, What are universities for? LERU September 2008, §7).
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Research within the university should be planned with the marketplace in
mind. We must think of how we can transfer knowledge to industries and service
providers in order to bring our discoveries to life. Nevertheless, practical applications
cannot be the first priority when we do research. The fundamental values of each
researcher should be diligence and tenacity in questioning results, curiosity and skepticism
of the status quo, and inexhaustible creativity in the search for new answers. It is not
market-oriented innovation that takes pride of place, but community. We need to build a
creative community in which researchers are free to develop their talents, exchange ideas,
and interact with their peers on a global scale. It is the human potential of the researchers
that has been and will remain the foundation and ultimate measure of all successful
research.
With this in mind, we can say with confidence that research in the human and social
sciences has enormous importance for the University of the Future, even if such
research is frequently overlooked in worldwide rankings because it is hard to measure by
quantitative, bibliometric methods. A society that is based on knowledge and wants to
expand knowledge cannot thrive without a sound understanding of the human person and
well-grounded insights into human motivation, the ways people structure their personal
lives, the social environment, and the means by which we order our lives together.
We are proud of high evaluations and prestigious rankings for our institutions. But, deep
down, we know that what is important is not the league we play in but the fairness of the
game, the strength of our teamwork, and the integrity of the results we achieve.
Prof. Dr. Guido Vergauwen o.p.
Rector Fribourg University (Switzerland)
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