Acknowledgements ; Paths to a World-Class University - Jamil Salmi and Nian Cai Liu; Section I: The Role of World-Class Universities in National Systems; 1. Global Perspectives and Strategies of Asia-Pacific Research Universities - Simon Marginson; 2. The Role of Elite Universities in National Higher Education and Research Systems, and the Challenges of Prosecuting the Case for Concentrating Public Investment in their Development in Australia - Michael Gallagher; 3. The "Global 30" and the Consequences of Selecting "World-Class Universities" in Japan - Akiyoshi Yonezawa; 4. Is Developing Elite Universities a Top Priority Agenda for Higher Education in Romania?: Analyses of the Evolution of the Higher Education Sector's Priorities and Romanian Top University Strategies in Developing Excellence - Paul Serban Agachi, Camelia Moraru, Romana Cucuruzan and Adrian Curaj; 5. The Role of Research University in the Third World: A Case Study of the National University of Colombia - Natalia Ruiz-Rodgers; 6. Towards a European Approach to Ranking - Marijk van der Wende; Section II: Institutional Practices of Building World-Class Universities; 7. Effective University Management in Difficult Times - John T. Casteen III; 8. The Role of Elite Universities in Africa: A Case Study of the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon - Etienne Zé Amvela; 9. Riding the Globalization Wave: EPFL's Strategy and Achievements - Dimitrios Noukakis, Jean-François Ricci and Martin Detterli; 10. World-Class Research Performance through Research Focus and the Strategic Use of Research Resources - Chris Marlin; 11. Emergence of Asian Universities as Centres of New Knowledge Generation and a Base for National Competitiveness: A Case Study of the National University of Singapore - Seeram Ramakrishna and Venni Venkata Krishna; 12. Strategy for Impact: The University Global Partnership Network - Colin B. Grant; 13. Becoming a World-renowned Health Sciences Centre in the Era of the Global Market: Institutional Effort and Policies for the Promotion of Academic Talent - Harold M. Maurer and Jialin C. Zheng; 14. Developing a Quality Culture to Become a World-Class University - Jacques Lanarès; 15. Transformation towards a World-Class University: Action and Prospects in the Case of King Abdulaziz University - Osama S. Tayeb and Zoheir A. Damanhouri; About the Authors

Within higher education, world-class universities are regarded as elite research universities and play a critical role in developing human resources and generating new knowledge in the context of a knowledge-based economy. Governments around the world have made the operation of their universities at the cutting edge of intellectual and scientific development their policy priority; and top universities make every effort to compete at this global stage. "Paths to A World-Class University" provides insights into recent and ongoing experiences of building world-class universities, both at a national level and at an institutional level. It collects fifteen essays, most of which originated from papers presented at "The Third International Conference on World-Class Universities", held in November 2009 in Shanghai, China, and organised by the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Divided into two parts, the book: - focuses on the role of world-class universities in national systems; and - looks at institutional experiences and lessons in building world-class universities. This book not only represents a contribution to the ongoing discussion on the topic of building world-class universities, but can be seen a continuation of the previous two volumes on this topic - "World-Class Universities and Ranking: Aiming beyond Status" and "The World-Class University as Part of a New Higher Education Paradigm: From Institutional Qualities to Systemic Excellence". All three books will be useful reading for students and academics in higher education generally, in addition to policy makers and informed practitioners.