Outlook

Abstract

The present study provides answers to the question of why universities rise or fall but also raises many new questions. Some of them depart from the topic of this book, the interrelationship between globalized higher education, world-class research universities and rankings and fundamentally question the standards set by the framework they define. Its merits are obvious, but one can’t and shouldn’t ignore the weak spots, particularly the high barriers to new players from hitherto neglected research fields and world regions eager to (also) compete for a place in the sun.