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.

Acknowledgments viiIntroduction ix1 The Context of Academic Excellence Initiatives 1Philip G. Altbach, Jamil Salmi, and Maria Yudkevich2 Academic Excellence Initiatives: The Case of China 11Rui Yang3 Academic Excellence Initiatives in Japan: Can a Series of Government Interventions Make a Difference? 33Akiyoshi Yonezawa4 Malaysia's Quest for Excellence in Higher Education 57Chang Da Wan and Tien Hong Lim5 Academic Excellence Initiatives in the Republic of Korea: Brain Korea 21 81Byung Shik Rhee and Meishan Yin6 Did Taiwan Academic Excellence Initiatives Build World-Class Universities? Governance, Funding Schemes, and Policy Shifts 107Angela Yung Chi Hou7 Academic Excellence Initiatives: The Danish Case 129Lise Degn8 Academic Excellence a la Francaise: Between Excellence and Equality 151Andree Sursock9 The Long and Winding Road to Excellence: The German Case 177Torger Moller and Stefan Hornbostel10 A Project for the Elite That Changed the System as a Whole: A Case Study of Project 5-100 203Andrey Volkov, Yaroslav Kuzminov, and Maria Yudkevich11 The Transformative Impact of Academic Excellence Initiatives: What Have We Learned? 227Jamil Salmi, Philip G. Altbach, and Maria YudkevichContributors 251Index 257