- Universities’ contribution to place
- Place’s impact on universities
- Has the digital classroom replaced the campus?
- How do global networks complement local success?
- Be the first to know the results of the THE World University Rankings 2022 which will be revealed at the summit
- Connect with your peers and develop a global network of leaders, experts and decision-makers
- Gain exclusive analysis and understand the data behind our rankings, and learn how your institution can improve
- Hear from thought leaders from across the world, engage in debates, and share ideas
- Help set the agenda for how the higher education sector may be transformed by this period of crisis
- Is the shift to a more digital world changing the value of 'place'?
- Does this create a new opportunity for institutions in the global south to re-define their public value and research impact?
- Has the pandemic accelerated trends of have we moved into uncharted territory?
- Redefining talent
- Closing the skills gap
- Who, what, where?
- The role of research universities in creating new impact
- Research-based entrepreneurship as a driver of growth
- Research universities partnering with industries and governments for economic growth
- Research and the rise of Asian universities
- Modern graduates: Citizens of the world or citizens of nowhere?
- International partnerships for international stability
- How do research-intensive universities embrace inclusion?
- University-business interactions
- Encouraging philanthropy
- Teaching for the 21st century
- Uses and misuses of university rankings
- The vital role that world-class universities and industry collaboration play in fuelling the knowledge economy
- Addressing world challenges like sustainability and health through global research collaborations
- The role of the public and private sectors in supporting and delivering world-class research
- How universities ought to respond to the global marketplace for higher education
ABOUT THE SUMMIT
1–3 SEPTEMBER 2021
Join us online for the THE World Academic Summit 2021, in partnership with the University of Toronto, to focus on the interrelationship between universities and the places in which they are located.
The connections between our digital and physical worlds are rapidly evolving. The power of place in those dimensions is facing re-evaluation. Consequently, the modern university’s status and mission are evolving.
Wherever you are in the world, you are invited to join us as we examine the complex interrelation between university and place, alongside university presidents, world-class researchers, political leaders and senior executives from transnational businesses from across the globe.
Agenda themes:
The summit will also feature the exclusive live reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2022, accompanied by a detailed masterclass examining the latest data.
AGENDA THEMES
A combination of keynote speeches, participatory debates, industry visits, case studies and panel discussions will support delegates as they consider these agenda themes:
Universities’ contribution to place
Universities serve as long-term economic and civic anchors in their local communities. How can host regions best draw on their universities for reinvention and resiliency? Or, to take a contrarian view, do higher education institutions serve to entrench or perpetuate local inequalities?
Cities and urban regions are fertile sites for innovation and entrepreneurship. How can these regions harness the advantages of the universities they host?
Are there implications for the growing megacities in the global south and elsewhere?
What kind of tertiary education institutions do those places really need?
Place's impact on universities
A university’s host region plays a critical role in attracting and retaining students, staff and faculty. Local prosperity, co-location with industry and government, and the engagement of citizens and corporate partners all contribute to a university’s success. At the same time, the pandemic cast the relationship between a university and its host region into a stark light in virtually every jurisdiction.
How can universities build (or rebuild) and develop their regional partnerships?
More generally, how are 21st-century universities shaped by the politics and policies of their host countries and regions?
How can universities better address challenges of indigeneity, colonialism, and the role of peoples who have not historically benefited from universities?
Has the digital classroom replaced the campus?
The pandemic made online classrooms a necessity. Has this diminished the value of traditional, “bricks and mortar” universities?
In many places today, the opposite seems true. Online tools have grown in importance and influence, while paradoxically emphasizing the value of physical place.
How can universities, regardless of resources or geographic location, harness the power of online tools?
How does the digital place complement physical place?
The pandemic underscored the depth and breadth of the digital divide. The opportunity to increase access with remote learning also revealed new challenges. What have universities learned about access?
How do global networks complement local success?
What is the relationship between the local and the global? As many national borders reify, and as immigration, migration, and transnational global challenges emerge, this question is assuming ever-greater importance.
Are research universities beacons of internationalisation?
Or are they playing an unintended role in perpetuating tensions in our globalised world?
Does a university’s location contribute to international partnerships and networks? How did such partnerships and networks flourish or flounder during the pandemic?
Many speculated that an enforced retreat to the digital world would expand international collaboration by reducing or removing barriers. Did that happen? What are the implications for collaboration in the future?
Accompanying the summit, the Festival of Data is led by the data and insights team behind THE ’s prestigious suite of university rankings – the World University Rankings, Impact Rankings and World Reputation Rankings – to explore the current and future opportunities for the use of data and analytics in higher education. This will include an exclusive consultative preview of our future plans for a new methodology for the flagship THE World University Rankings.
Join us for a full day of expert speakers and workshops on 3 September, after the summit. All summit ticket holders will have full access to the Festival of Data. There is also an option to purchase a standalone ticket for this event.
Why attend?
OUR EVENTS IN 2020
24,861
DELEGATES REGISTERED
4,624
ORGANISATIONS PARTICIPATED
147
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
PREVIOUS SUMMITS
1-2 September 2020
A new dawn for higher education?
The THE World Academic Summit 2020 took place online, where we welcomed more than 900 global leaders from 84 countries to share new ideas and reflect together on the challenges created and accelerated by the pandemic. The summit also saw the official live launch of the THE World University Rankings 2021.
Agenda themes:
10-12 September 2019
How talent thrives
The THE World Academic Summit 2019 took place in Zurich, Switzerland, in partnership with ETH Zurich. Going further than a series of talks, the summit united a top-tier delegation of senior managers and expert thinkers across industry, policy, academia and higher education management for three days of engaging and participatory discussions.
We redefined the key questions impacting higher education globally, tackled the opportunities and challenges being felt in meeting these, and explored the issues of lifelong learning, industry partnerships, skills gaps, research consortiums, and talent recruitment and management.
The summit also featured the reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2020. This coincided with the inaugural THE Festival of Data, a fringe event where delegates discovered the latest innovations in university performance analysis and evaluation, and helped us shape the future of our rankings.
Agenda themes:
25-27 September 2018
The transformative power of research: advancing knowledge, driving economies, building nations
The THE World Academic Summit 2018 took place in Singapore, in partnership with the National University of Singapore. We were honoured to welcome 521 delegates from 53 countries across the world for three days of stimulating discussions and thought-provoking conversations towards a better future for higher education. Leaders from the top research universities gathered to explore teaching, lifelong learning, engagement with society and the rise of Asian universities to better prepare for the future.
The summit also featured the reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2019.
Agenda themes:
3-5 September 2017
Collaborating for a better world: new models for research universities
The THE World Academic Summit 2017 took place in London, UK, in partnership with King's College London. It was attended by 459 leaders, experts and decision-makers from 237 organisations spanning 51 countries to set the agenda for how higher education meets the key challenges of our age.
The summit explored how institutions and industry can best collaborate to empower research and become beacons of internationalisation, how creating new models of partnerships can enhance value, how cities and higher education institutions can work together to create global impact, the role research universities have in solving global problems, and how higher education can fuel the knowledge economy towards sustainable long-term growth.
The summit also featured the reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2018.
Agenda themes:
26-28 September 2016
World-class universities and the public good
The THE World Academic Summit 2016 took place in California, US, in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley. Leaders of the world’s finest universities gathered to share new ideas, learn from each other’s good practices, debate the way forward, and forge new alliances. We celebrated the unassailable role of universities in making the world a better place.
Sessions covered philanthropy, university-business interactions, uses and misuses of university rankings, and teaching for the 21st century. Together we explored how institutions with limited state support can best maintain excellence, the role that universities play in generating start-ups, and whether academic freedom, institutional autonomy and democracy are essential ingredients for creating a world-class university.
The summit also featured the reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2017.
Agenda themes:
30 September - 2 October 2015
The best way to predict the future is to be part of it
The THE World Academic Summit 2017 took place in Melbourne, Australia, in partnership with The University of Melbourne. More than 250 delegates from 34 countries explored the fundamental role that world-class universities play in pushing the boundaries of our collective understanding and fuelling the future knowledge economy. It was an opportunity to consider global issues in higher education and research, and forge or renew partnerships with leading institutions.
Topics discussed included changing trends in international student mobility, the civic role of globally-focused universities, international research collaboration, the development of metrics of research success, and the teaching innovations required to nurture the future generation of global leaders.
The summit also saw the reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2016.
2-4 October 2013
The inaugural THE World Academic Summit took place in 2013 in Singapore, in partnership with Nanyang Technological University. At a time when the world is engaged in a fierce race for global innovation, the summit gathered over 200 leaders and experts from 32 countries from across academia, government, business and industry.
The summit also featured the reveal of the THE World University Rankings 2014.
Topics discussed included: