Slippers, BernardVogel, Coleen H.Fioramonti, Lorenzo2015-07-042015-07-042015-01Slippers B, Vogel C, Fioramonti L. Global trends and opportunities for development of African research universities. South African Journal of Science. 2015;111(1/2), Art. #a0093, 4 pages. http://dx.DOI.org/ 10.17159/sajs.2015/a00930038-2353 (print)1996-7489 (online)10.17159/sajs.2015/a0093http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46292It has been more than a decade since Jamil Salmi, former tertiary education coordinator at the World Bank, published his influential report Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education.1 In this report, he discusses the unprecedented challenges facing tertiary education globally, driven by the ‘convergence of the impacts of globalization; the increasing importance of knowledge as a principle driver of growth; and the information and communication revolution’1. Since then, these factors have been further intensified by the rise of various global university ranking systems that are increasingly driving the choices of academics, students, industries and governments of where to invest their talents and funds.en© 2015. The Author(s). Published under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.InterdisciplinarityTransdisciplinarityResearch networksResearch teamsProblem-oriented researchTertiary educationGlobalizationKnowledgeInformation and communication revolutionArticle