The University of Bologna (Bologna, Italy) has hosted a conference IREG –2019, the theme of which was “Rankings: A Challenge to Higher Education?”.
The conference was attended by representatives of rating agencies such as QS, U.S. News & World Report, CWTS Leiden Ranking, U-Multirank, educational organizations and associations, foreign media, as well as leading universities from many countries, including: the USA, Russia, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Brazil, Ireland, Poland, Qatar, India, Belgium, etc.
In the first session on the impact of rankings on higher education and public policy, the rector of MEPhI M.N. Strikhanov gave a report on “Ratings and their impact on the competitiveness of universities”. In his report, the rector spoke about global Academic Excellence Projects in general and about the implementation of the Russian Project 5-100 and its impact on the Russian system of higher education in particular, and then moved to the topic of national projects “Education”, “Science” and “Digital economy”. In addition, new approaches in education were considered, including the digital transformation of the educational space, the role of online education and artificial intelligence. The first session also included presentations by a Senior Counsellor on education and qualifications at OECD Dirk Van Damme, Professor Emeritus at the Technological University Dublin Ellen Hazelkorn and European Commission policy officer on education, youth, sports and culture Sumathi Subramaniam.
The IREG–2019 conference also discussed trends and new tendencies in global and national rankings, the use of ratings in the development of University’s strategy, how rating indicators will change in the future, the impact of the media on rankings, etc.
Reference:
IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence is an international association, uniting rating organizations, experts in the field of higher education and representatives of universities. The main purpose of the IREG Observatory is the analysis and audit of global and national rankings of universities, the study of their role and impact on the quality of higher education, the study of best international practices for the transformation of universities aimed at increasing their global competitiveness.
