A pioneering collection of case studies on the global phenomenon of academic excellence initiatives and how they shape the performance of research universities.

Academic excellence initiatives (AEIs)—special government-sponsored programs to improve research universities—have provided billions of dollars to top universities and represent perhaps the most significant effort in the past half-century to jumpstart academic research. The contributors to Academic Star Wars, superbly edited by Maria Yudkevich, Philip G. Altbach, and Jamil Salmi, analyze AEIs in nine European and Asian countries, including China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Denmark, France, Germany, and Russia, and offer penetrating insights into the successes and problems of these initiatives, as well as into the broader system of higher education itself.

Academic Star Wars provides a comprehensive analysis of AEIs across the globe as it seeks to understand the impact of these programs on national higher ed systems. The contributors explore a host of topics, including how the idea of excellence varies across national systems; the lessons to be drawn from the most successful AEIs; the consequences of AEIs, both intended and unintended, for participating universities; and whether AEIs ensure a significant impact on the global standing of national higher education systems.  Finally, the contributors offer policy recommendations for national decision-makers and university leaders, taking into account the variety of initial conditions of national higher education systems and the differences in AEI design, scope, and funding.

Maria Yudkevich is a professor and head of the Center for Institutional Studies at HSE University, Moscow. She is a coauthor of Higher Education in Russia.

Philip G. Altbach is Research Professor and Distinguished Fellow of the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College. He is the author of Global Perspectives on Higher Education and other books.

Jamil Salmi is a global tertiary education expert; former World Bank higher education coordinator; Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Policy, Diego Portales University, Chile; and Research Fellow, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College.

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
1 The Context of Academic Excellence Initiatives 1
Philip G. Altbach, Jamil Salmi, and Maria Yudkevich
2 Academic Excellence Initiatives: The Case of China 11
Rui Yang
3 Academic Excellence Initiatives in Japan: Can a Series of Government Interventions Make a Difference? 33
Akiyoshi Yonezawa
4 Malaysia's Quest for Excellence in Higher Education 57
Chang Da Wan and Tien Hong Lim
5 Academic Excellence Initiatives in the Republic of Korea: Brain Korea 21  81
Byung Shik Rhee and Meishan Yin
6 Did Taiwan Academic Excellence Initiatives Build World-Class Universities? Governance, Funding Schemes, and Policy Shifts 107
Angela Yung Chi Hou
7 Academic Excellence Initiatives: The Danish Case 129
Lise Degn
8 Academic Excellence a la Francaise: Between Excellence and Equality 151
Andree Sursock
9 The Long and Winding Road to Excellence: The German Case 177
Torger Moller and Stefan Hornbostel
10 A Project for the Elite That Changed the System as a Whole: A Case Study of Project 5-100 203
Andrey Volkov, Yaroslav Kuzminov, and Maria Yudkevich
11 The Transformative Impact of Academic Excellence Initiatives: What Have We Learned? 227
Jamil Salmi, Philip G. Altbach, and Maria Yudkevich
Contributors 251
Index 257