Board Thread:Fiction Universe Discussion/@comment-4242472-20180411162824

Xho, Medwedian and I talked recently abut higher education in the First Gigaquadrant. One thing that's got me curious is how connected the various universities and academies are within known space, and what could be the campus that everyone dreams of attending. The thing I've noticed is that while there is a lot of content on the science and politics possessed by various species, there is

Universities are a completely different beast to secondary or high school, or any equivalent. While state education is often about creating model citizens, universities strive to provide the world with experts and future leaders, and so tend to be a lot more open about doctrine or philosophy held by their students. Historically universities saw it as a point of pride that they could draw the offspring or relatives of powerful foreign figures like kings or princes, and in turn to say you studied in Geneva, Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard or the like was something of a bragging right for foreign dignitaries.

Most importantly for the ficverse perhaps, universities are a more benign alternative to research labs. In the cycle of gaining prestige, the best universities look for the brightest professional talent to study and perform their research at facilities owned by the campus. Delegates can also ingratiate themselves to local major powers by proudly saying their son or daughter studied at one of the major nation's institutions.

So the purpose of this thread is to gather an idea of what higher education and university-based scientific cooperation look like in the first gigaquadrant. What nations hold X or Y institution in high regard, what places to the young dream of studying at. What campuses of renown are available and what are the most popular subjects of study.

While there is going to be an air of competition as we're talking about reputation here, ideally we should keep discussion to what our fictions woudl find attractive. To keep this as smooth as possible, I figure this could be broken down into at minimum two stages

STAGE ONE Everyone contributes to a list of academies and universities that could be important enough to be known internationally. This will include a brief overview of an academy's location, it's age and its reputation within the host empire. Followed by a brief idea of what the academy is known for.

Optionally this section can include any alumni of note.

STAGE TWO Discussion around the universities or academies we have. What might seem attractive to various species. The focus will be on what institutions would look attractive based on what they offer, followed then by whether the host nation is appealing or reputable enough to be attractive.

If anyone ha suggestions on what we could add, or any stages that would smooth or boost the development of this subject, feel free to mention it here. 