Ireland’s technological universities must be empowered to appoint professors in order to prevent loss of talent, sector leaders have said, as institutions consult with unions and the government over the introduction of a new employment grade.

At the country’s five such institutions, which were?formed by merging Institutes of Technology?following the 2018 Technological Universities Act, there are currently three grades of academic employment: assistant lecturer, lecturer and senior lecturer.

The grade of professor could be introduced in the near future, university leaders have told Times 黑料吃瓜网, following extensive consultation with the Department of Further and 黑料吃瓜网, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland.

Vincent Cunnane, president of the Technological University of the Shannon, told THE that he hoped to launch professorships “over the next number of weeks”, while Veronica Campbell, president of South East Technological University, said she would like to recruit professors “in time for or during the next academic year”.

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At present, Cunnane said, technological universities “are losing talent to traditional universities because we don’t have promotion opportunities for really talented leaders in their domain”.

“Currently we have a lot of really good researchers with international reputations, and they are highly desirable to other institutions who can offer them professorship roles,” he said. “We need to retain talent, and we need to attract new talent at formative periods of their careers.” ?

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Technological universities were introduced to “address the social and economic needs of their region”,?, and should “engage in industry-focused research”.

“There’s some really exciting research going on, particularly research that’s related to regional specialisations and specific industry clusters,” said Campbell. “The ability to hire and recruit talent in the form of the professor grade is hugely important in driving that research agenda, and driving the economic, cultural and social development of the regions.”

Their current lack of professors, she said, puts the institutions “at a competitive disadvantage when applying for funding from Horizon Europe, for example, or for other national funding schemes where that level of seniority is really important”.

Noting technological universities’ focus on “producing industry-ready graduates, with an emphasis on both the theory and the practice of their profession”, Cunnane said the introduction of professorships will not diminish the importance of teaching.

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“I don’t have concerns about bringing in professors,” he told THE. “They will still have to do a significant amount of teaching in order to impart their knowledge to the students, so I think it will actually help in talent development. Seeing people operating in the very top end of their profession will be an inspiration to future graduates.”

The professor grade, Cunnane said, “is about leadership. It’s about being seen as the person with the knowledge, experience and outputs in that space.”

Describing the introduction of professorships as a “no-brainer”, Campbell said the move “will bring new people into our region, but it’s also a huge opportunity for existing staff”.

“For universities with a very ambitious strategic plan, with very ambitious underpinning legislation, not to have professors? It’s just nonsense.”

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?emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com