THE Young Universities Summit 2015: stellar line-up of speakers confirmed

January 1, 1990

Times Higher Education has confirmed programme details for the second annual THE Young Universities Summit, to be held in partnership with Dublin City University on 29-30 April 2015.

Bertil Andersson, president of the world’s fastest-rising university, Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), will share the secrets of his institution’s phenomenal success in one of several keynote speeches at the summit.

NTU has risen to joint 61st place in the THE World University Rankings 2014-2015, up from 169th in 2011, not only because of strong government investment but also as a result of Andersson’s bold strategic vision and commitment to international research partnerships and business links.

Andersson leads the Global Alliance of Technological Universities, is a former chief executive of the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg, France and was chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry in 1997.

Another key speaker is Patrick Aebischer, president of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, which was ranked number two in the world in the THE 100 Under 50 Rankings 2014, and joint 34th in the world overall.

He will be discussing his institution’s rapid transformation and growth since its foundation as an independent federal institution in 1969, into one of the most international academic organisations in the world, with close to 70 per cent of its faculty hailing from outside Switzerland.

Lord David Puttnam, the multiple Oscar-winning film producer, the Republic of Ireland’s digital champion, and the UK prime minister’s trade envoy to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma, will give a keynote speech on the disruptive power of technology in higher education.

Atul Chauhan, the president of India’s Amity University, will discuss the rapid development of his not-for-profit private education foundation, which now caters for more than 120,000 students in seven universities and 15 schools in India, London, Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius.

Renee Hindmarsh, the chief executive of the Australian Technology Network of universities, will lead a panel debate on the development of new metrics to measure the social and economic impact of universities.

Phil Baty, editor of the THE World University Rankings, will launch the THE 100 Under 50 Rankings 2015 at the summit, and provide a detailed masterclass on the results.

“We have gathered together an outstanding group of speakers, all with exciting stories to tell about their dynamic, successful institutions,” said Baty. “But the real success of the summit, as with all in this brilliant series, will come from the delegates – the sessions are highly interactive and we have built plenty of time into the programme for debate, networking and social interaction.”