From June 22-23, the virtual Times Higher Education Young Universities Summit, jointly organized with HSE University, will take place. This marks the first time that the summit will be conducted with support from a Russian university. The choice of HSE is no coincidence: it is the only Russian university in the Top 50 of THE Young University Ranking.
THE Young Universities Summit was intended to take place on-site at HSE University in 2020, but the plans had to be changed due to the pandemic. This year, a virtual summit will be held, which will be open to representatives of any international university without a registration fee.
The main topic of the summit is 'Transforming the Future: New Visions of Young Universities'. HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov says, 'Over the course of two days, all virtual summit participants will discuss the consequences of the changes taking place in the world and their impact on all aspects of universities' life - education activities and students' experience, research and innovation activities, universities' civic role and other important issues.'
The summit agenda includes a discussion of the following topics: 'Is the pandemic a watershed moment for young universities?'; 'The government's role in accelerating university success'; 'Does age still matter to university reputation?'; 'Has the pandemic shifted research culture for young universities?'; 'Why science isn't our only answer to the pandemic'; 'Industry-academic collaboration'; and 'Digital transformation and its impact on student experiences'. At 1 pm, this year's THE Young University Ranking will be announced at the event.
The summit speakers include renowned education experts such as Simon Marginson, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford; Jamil Salmi, Professor Emeritus of Higher Education Policy at Diego Portales University; Ellen Hazelkorn, Professor Emerita at Technological University Dublin; Dhirendra Pal Singh, Chairman of the India University Grants Commission; Ilkka Niemelä, President of Aalto University; Margaret Sheil, President and Vice-Chancellor at Queensland University of Technology, and other representatives of university administrations and technology companies.
Phil Baty, THE's chief knowledge officer, said: 'While younger universities usually lack the reputation, and often the accumulated wealth and resources that come with centuries of history, I've always said that they have one great advantage over their older counterparts: they are unencumbered by the weight of tradition and are more able to be agile, risk-taking and innovative.'
'We hope that the upcoming summit will contribute to the further improvement of education, the introduction of new technologies, and increased accessibility of higher education to everyone around the world," said Yaroslav Kuzminov.
Registration and a detailed agenda are available on the event website.
THE Young Universities Summit will be the seventh event in the series. Over this time, it has become a global forum for university leaders, education executives and experts who discuss the future of world-class universities. It is organized annually by Times Higher Education, a leading international education ranking agency.
###