GHEAR

WUN recently held the first set networking workshops as part of its special program for early career researcher (ECR) entitled “Developing the next generation of research leaders for sustainable development.” The first two, of which there will be 17 in total, focused on SDG 13: Climate Action, and SDG 4: Quality Education, respectively. Click through for a summary and videos of the keynote talks.

What 21st Century challenges for higher education should inform GHEAR’s research agenda?

A unique book that captures the diverse experiences of first generation higher education students and explores ways universities might better serve them was launched on May 24 at the WUN AGM. 

A team from the Faculty of Medicine at CUHK has developed a Chinese medicine MOOC in English and Asia’s first Chinese medicine clinical evidence online portal which gathers studies from around the world.

CUHK announces the launch of the world’s first Child Heritage Chinese Language Corpus and the establishment of the University of Cambridge–CUHK Joint Laboratory for Bilingualism.

WUN Project the DREAMS Network organised second workshop. 

Professor Dr Martin Paul reflects on the consequences of Brexit for higher education.

Professor Dr Martin Paul reflects on the consequences of Brexit for higher education.

On 2-7 April, close to 400 academics and university leaders from around the world will descend on Maastricht for the WUN Conference & AGM 2016, hosted by Maastricht University.

Much like the printing press, the invention of the world wide web has afforded us unprecedented opportunities for spreading information. Not only do we now have the capacity to share rich data sets online, we also have vast amounts of data about our online activity. However, without a proper framework in place, it is difficult to take full advantage of this rich information resource. There are currently multiple barriers to using this resource effectively, including accessibility of datasets, lack of comprehensive and shareable metadata, dataset identification and searching, access control and privileges, and analytics.

The higher education sector is rapidly evolving as a result of new technologies and globalisation. WUN universities continue to innovate, using these new technologies to expand their offerings and global reach. The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is one such technology, allowing students from around the world to access world-class expertise from anywhere at any time. Below are ten free MOOCs, offered by WUN universities through FutureLearn, beginning over the coming months.

Professor John Hearn, Executive Director of WUN, today announced the appointment of Professor Joe Berger as the new Chair of the Global Higher Education & Research Global Challenge (GHEAR) to take effect from 1 October 2015.

Today’s higher education landscape is changing rapidly as a direct result of globalisation and technological advancement. Key issues include access and affordability, public/private collaboration, technology’s impact on research, and the evolving roles of academics, students and administrators in light of increased internationalisation. 

It is a time of turbulence for higher education and research around the world. The effects of the global financial crisis continue, with reductions in resources from all sides. In contrast, the demand for higher education increases, with international student mobility likely to double according to the OECD. For research intensive universities, there are great challenges in maintaining quality and competitiveness, the cost of which increases constantly. In teaching and learning, new methods and technologies are also more costly. There is also a shortage of talent and availability of senior, experienced academics and research leaders, while conversely there is unemployment among new graduates as the generational transition is postponed along with retirement.