UGent lecturer raises debate over expensive congress visits

Universities expect their professors and researchers to attend or give lectures at congresses several times a year to increase the university’s profile and to publish more in collaboration with international colleagues.

Boudry (pictured) said he could spend up to €5,000 a year on costs such as flights and hotels for congresses. “Now that it is necessary to save on the overall budget of higher education, I propose a voluntary saving of €1,000 on that budget,” he said.

Boudry recently returned from a trip to Sydney, Australia, where he lectured in front of about 20 people for half an hour. “Is that worth €1,000 in flight and hotel costs from taxpayers’ money?” he asked. He added that he attends fewer and fewer foreign congresses, but that it was impossible for him to stop completely. “That would not sit well at the university,” he said.

In 2011, Boudry carried out an experiment to test the requirements to speak at a congress. Under a false name, he wrote a nonsensical speech to be made at a congresses at the Polish University of Krakow and the Dutch Free University of Amsterdam.

“I was accepted to speak at both congresses,” said Boudry. “I didn’t do it in the end, but my point is that the quality monitoring is lacking, and you could easily abuse the system.”

According to Boudry, many of his colleagues share his opinion, and there are sufficient alternatives to congresses. “Video conferencing via the internet doesn’t cost anything,” he said. “I could easily find a way to travel to the beautiful South Africa, but I actually don’t need to be there for my work. I can work more efficiently via the internet, without losing time in planes and hotel lobbies.”

Photo courtesy Tim Deschaumes/Wikimedia Commons