DIES Forum 2023: Unversity Alliances and Networks
This year's DIES Forum was successfully completed on December 12th. Focusing on University Alliances and Networks, the Forum in 2023 strove to share good practices on cooperation and collaboration among higher education institutions and their impacts on the development of the higher education landscape.
The three-day Forum is a true online event with more than 100 participants from around the globe. Opening on November 28 with a keynote from Prof. Philipp Polenz on "The Merits and Challenges of University Networks for Higher Education", the Forum provided opportunities to discuss how cooperation and collaboration led to the development of higher education institutions with panellists from various university networks, such as European University Association (EUA), Association of Colombian Universities (ASCUN), Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA), ASEAN-QA Association.
Further, the Forum offered a good platform for presenting good practices such as building regional networks: a case study of Asia Technological University Network, developing an international joint master’s degree between India Institute of Technology Roorkee and two Taiwan HEIs, or international cooperation among DIES alumni to offer training on internationalisation, etc. In addition, alumni from around the globe discussed the up-to-date issues in higher education management such as Artificial Intelligence in teaching, higher education leadership in conflict-affected areas, and how to build a resilient, equitable, and sustainable higher education system in the post-pandemic era.
The DIES Forum is meant to bring together DIES and NMT Alumni to share views and perspectives on recent developments in higher education, exchange practices, and discuss pressing issues in the dynamic field of higher education management and its capacity building from an inter-regional perspective. The Forum was hosted by the University of Potsdam in Germany and carried out in cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), and the German partner institutions who are implementing training courses in the DIES Programme, i.e. Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Leibniz University Hannover, Saarland University, University of Applied Science Osnabrück, and University of Cologne.
