Crude university comparison is flawed
The Times Higher Education survey, which found that Ireland receives less investment from industry in higher education research than the 29 other countries studied, is a very crude and flawed single measure of research performance and the relationship between business and higher education.
Germany and Israel, for example, also fare badly in the study, but have an extremely strong record of innovation and of excellence in research and higher education. Like Ireland, they rely on a publicly funded model of education. In many of the countries that feature highly on the Times Higher Education list, the level of public funding is significantly less than in Ireland, hence universities and other higher education institutions are more dependent on private-sector investment.
