Gittins criticises ‘funding-obsessed’ university admins

Australia’s universities have become “obsessed with money” and are forming “unhealthy relationships” with corporate donors, according to Fairfax media economics editor Ross Gittins.

In a hard-hitting editorial published by the Sydney Morning Herald on 17 September, Gittins says universities are accepting “soft power” grants from foreign governments “without asking awkward questions”.

He also accuses university administrators of pressuring academics “not so much to do more research as to win more research funding”.