Education and Training News High Level Meeting on Modernising Europe's Universities High Level Meeting on Modernising Europe's Universities
- 28/10/2007
The High Level Meeting on Modernising Europe’s Universities will be held on 6th November 2007 at the vice-chancellor’s office of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU.
The meeting continues with the political objectives that have been laid down since the March 2000 Lisbon Council and are based around political commitments made at European level, namely at the Informal Summit of Heads of State and Government at Hampton Court, United Kingdom, in October 2005, where the relevance of further education, research and innovation to the EU’s competitiveness was pointed out.
This meeting shall consider the main trends in university reform with a view to clarifying the different challenges and opportunities facing universities, especially on how to attract and keep new talent in Europe and how to meet the global challenges of research and international competition through highly qualified human resources.
Portugal’s Minister and Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education shall take part in the meeting, along with the European Commissioners for Science and Research and Education, Training, Culture and Youth. Also present will be vice-chancellors and other high-ranking members of top European universities, such as: Karlsruhe University, RWTH Aachen University, Technical University of Darmstadt and Technical University of Munich from Germany, Paris Tech de Paris and University Cergy-Pontoise from France, Delft University of Technology from the Netherlands, Politecnico di Milano from Italy, Imperial College London, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford from the United Kingdom, Chalmers University of Technology and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) from Sweden, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and ETH Zürich from Switzerland.
PROGRAMME:
09:30: Plenary 1 – A vision for the modernisation of universities in Europe
Welcome Remarks:
António Rendas, Rector, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
Chairman:
José Mariano Gago, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal
Janez Potocnik, EU Commissioner for Science and Research
Ján Figel, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth
Horst Hippler, Rector, University of Karlsruhe, Germany
Ralph Eichler, President, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Switzerland
Ewan McKendrick, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Axel Horstmann, Volkswagen Stiftung , Germany
Diogo Lucena, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal
11:15: Coffee Break – Press Conference
11:45: Plenary 2 – Funding and Steering
How to modernise funding mechanisms and ensure a better balance between institutional and competitive funding for universities to meet the global challenges of research and international competition?
Chairmen:
Manuel Heitor, Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal
Fernando Seabra Santos, President of the Portuguese Council of Rectors (CRUP), Portugal
Invited Speaker:
Paul David, University of Oxford, UK, and University of Stanford, United States of America
Discussion:
Ian Leslie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Rolf Rossaint, Deputy Rector and Chairperson of the Presidency Committee of the Board for Finances, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Cyrille Van Effenterre, President, Paris Tech, France
Gunnar Landgren, Vice-President, Royal Institute of Technology, (KTH), Sweden
Debate
13:00: Lunch
14:30: Parallel Session 3A – Autonomy and Accountability
Promoting dynamic and responsive universities: How best to widen the scope of institutional autonomy while ensuring effective accountability?
Chairmen:
Jose Encarnação, Technical University of Darmstadt & INI Graphics net Foundation, Germany
Alberto Amaral, Director - Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies (CIPES), and University of Porto, Portugal
Invited Speakers:
Paulo Santiago OECD Education Department
António Camara, CEO- Y-DREAMS, and Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
Discussion:
Karin Markides, President, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Thierry Coulhon, President, University Cergy-Pontoise, Paris, France
Hannemor Keidel, Vice President, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Winfried Heinzel, Director for International & External Affairs, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany
Jean François Ricci, Advisor to the President, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL),
Switzerland
Debate
14:30: Parallel Session 3B – Research and Internationalisation
Fostering the internationalisation of universities: How to promote European university networks able to foster attractive and competitive research and learning environments and to attract and train highly qualified human resources?
Chairmen:
Jean-Pierre Contzen, Chairman, Von Karman Institute, Belgium
João Sentieiro, President, Science and Technology Foundation, Portugal
Invited Speakers:
Dagmar Meyer, Irish Universities Association (former President, Marie Curie Fellowship Association)
Francisco Veloso, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America
Discussion:
Mary Ritter, Pro-Rector, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Martin Vetterli, Vice-President for International Relations, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
Giancarlo Spinelli , Rector’s Delegate for International Relations, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Hans Beunderman, Director, Strategic & Management Support, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Inge Knudsen, Director, Coimbra Group Office
Debate
16:00: Coffee Break
16:30: Plenary 4 – Closing Session
António Morão Dias, Director General for Higher Education, Portugal
Koen Geven, President, European Student´s Union (ESU)
Georg Winckler, President, European University Association (EUA)
Ian Halliday, President, European Science Foundation (ESF)
Conference Overview:
Abrar Hasan (UNESCO)
Closing Remarks:
Manuel Heitor, Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Portugal