Globalising Geographies of Higher Education and Research

1 Feb 2012 – 3 Feb 2012
18:00 – 15:30 U.K. - England - London
What time is this for me?
University of Bristol

Event contact: Susan Jim (susan.jim@bristol.ac.uk) University of Bristol

Background

This event will build on the activities of three interconnected WUN initiatives under the WUN Global Challenge on the ‘Globalisation of Higher Education and Research’: Globalising Geographies of Research (led by Wendy Larner), Global Regionalisms, Governance and Higher Education (led by Susan Robertson and Kris Olds), and Ideas and Universities (led by Ian Wei and Adam Nelson).

Research summary

Global research and higher education collaborations are being fostered by multiple constituencies: international and national funding bodies who are increasingly focused on research ‘grand challenges’; universities who are seeking to expand their remits in increasingly resource constrained environments; and individual academics for whom global networks are increasingly important to successful careers. International organisations, funding bodies, government departments, higher education associations and universities themselves are all grappling to understand and foster these new globalising geographies of research and higher education.

This WUN event will examine how, why and in what forms global research and higher education projects are emerging. It will analyse a strategically selected set of projects from the perspectives of funders, formal university networks, research development and higher education professionals, and academics themselves. The projects will range from big science initiatives based on shared research infrastructure to the bilateral projects and informal networks more often found in the social sciences and humanities. The aim is to identify the emerging research and higher education geographies, their infrastructure, the forms they take, how this new research knowledge circulates, and the new connections being made. This will generate a better understanding of the diverse rationales, incentives and consequences of collaborations driven by global aspirations.

Format

The two day event will involve four half-day interconnected thematic workshops on the following topics:

1) Globalising Academics
2) Globalising Infrastructure
3) Globalising Learning
4) Globalising Institutions

Each workshop will be based on three short cross-sectoral 'provocations' followed by interactive group-based activities that engage all attendees. There will also be a conference dinner at which we expect conversations to continue.

Goals

To help WUN identify and shape a specific and niche portfolio of research activity to address the ‘Globalisation of Higher Education and Research’ WUN Global Challenge. The broader aim is to build this Global Challenge iteratively through a series of interconnected events. The conference will include reports from the Zhejiang session on Trade in Higher Education (May 2011) and the Hong Kong conference on the Changing Roles of Academics, Students and Administrators (November 2011).
To demonstrate to policy makers and funders that the WUN consortium is uniquely placed to deliver to this emerging and increasingly significant research agenda.
To develop a consensus statement/viewpoint piece on the globalisation of higher education and research for possible publication in a high impact publication.
To identify a number of specific projects to be worked up for submission either directly to a relevant external funder, or to next year's WUN RDF as a first step.

Participation

Participants will be limited to an invited group of around 50/60 (identified by consultation with member institutions' WUN AAG representatives) and including diverse academics, research and higher education professionals, funders, and sector stakeholders from multiple countries. We are hoping to host a very high calibre, cross-sectoral forum which may include Vice Chancellors from Southampton, Bristol and Auckland amongst others.

Speakers and delegates will be drawn from as many WUN member institutions as possible and from across discipline groups. It is expected that all delegates will be senior research faculty or professionals with clear capacity to contribute to the conference as fully as possible.