| Abstract: | The gap between social reality and the Italian higher education system, which is little geared to respond to massive social demand, has had a negative impact on the quality of education. The research institutions are in a similarly difficult situation. Thus it is mandatory that the role and functions of the individual universities and research centres be redefined and properly coordinated. During the tenth Italian legislature, various measures were implemented to initiate the reform of the university and the research system. The role of the state, previously assigned to the Ministry of Public Education and to the Ministry of Coordination of Scientific and Technological Research Projects, has been redefined and reduced, and the principles of university and research autonomy were defined in bills debated in the Parliament, to be followed by a law developing and refining the regulation of this area. The autonomy of the university and of research institutions is never permanent; it must be re‐established from time to time. This need is never more obvious than in the frequent disputes over academic freedom and university autonomy. |
