Young Universities Summit programme details released

The agenda for the inaugural Times Higher Education Young Universities Summit has been confirmed – featuring key speakers from nine countries across five continents.

The free, one-day Miami summit, hosted in partnership with Plymouth University in the UK, is the world’s first global gathering dedicated to the specific challenges and opportunities facing young universities. It takes place in Miami Beach in the US on 28 April 2014 ahead of the 30 April publication of the Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 rankings 2014.

“We are bringing together, for the first time ever, the leaders of some of the most exciting, dynamic, agile and bold universities in the world – institutions that may not have had centuries to build reputation and accumulate wealth, but have already made a big impact on the world stage,” said Phil Baty, editor of the THE’s global rankings portfolio and co-chair of the summit.

“We have an amazing line up of highly distinguished speakers, but as ever our delegates, who will be active participants in open forums, are essential to the success of the event. It is all networking and sharing experience, expertise and good practice, and I’m delighted to see that registrations are coming in from university leaders and policymakers from all over the world – 20 countries at the last count.”

The latest addition to the programme is Jamil Salmi, author of the landmark book, The Challenge of Establishing World Class Universities, and the former head of tertiary education at the World Bank. He will draw on his experience examining the world’s leading institutions to ask in the opening keynote speech: “Can Young Universities Compete on the Global Higher Education Scene?”.

Mr Baty will provide an exclusive preview of the THE 100 Under 50 rankings 2014, ahead of their launch at the British Council’s Going Global conference, also taking place in Miami, and will examine the strategies of some of the fastest rising young universities. Sung-Mo “Steve” Kang, the president of one of the world’s leading young institutions, the 43-year-old Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), will continue the theme with his take on “How can younger universities compete on the world stage with those that have had a head start of many centuries?”

Other keynote speakers are: Koen Lamberts, vice-chancellor, University of York, the UK’s top ranked young university in 2013, who will speak about the development of the university’s research strategy; Umran S. Ä°nan the president of Koç University in Turkey, who will address the issue of “funding, freedom and the pursuit of excellence”; David E. Daniel the president of the University of Texas at Dallas in the US, who will speak about “leadership challenges for young universities”; and Wendy Purcell, vice chancellor of Plymouth University in the UK, who will examine the need for younger institutions to develop a clear niche in a competitive global market.

Professor Purcell, who is the co-chair of the Young University Summit, is a Non-Executive Director of the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and acted as a Special Adviser to BIS on Sir Andrew Witty’s Review of Universities and Economic Growth (2013) and Sir Adrian Smith’s Postgraduate Review (2010).

Professor Purcell said: “While the reinforced walls of the traditional elite help them to weather the tides of change, there’s a new wave of universities whose focus on innovation and agility is seeing them emerge strongly against the disruptive forces being experienced in the higher education sector. As a proud member of this cohort, we believe distinctiveness is the key, in terms of the real world student experience alongside world-class research seeking solutions to the grand challenges of our day and into the future.

“Plymouth University is delighted to play a key role in partnering with THE to host the inaugural Young Universities Summit and share best practice from across the globe to further the phenomenon of the new ‘modern global elite’.”