We are pleased to announce the upcoming seminar "Academic Star Wars: Excellence Initiatives in Global Perspective", which is a CHERA/CHER initiative.

Date: 5th February, 2024 (Monday)

Time: 8:00 p.m. (GMT+8)

Mode: Online (via ZOOM)

Speakers: Professor Philip Altbach, Professor Jamil Salmi, Professor Maria Yudkevich (Center for International Higher Education)

Chair: Dr. Hugo Horta (The University of Hong Kong)

Abstract

Academic excellence initiatives (AEIs)—special government-sponsored programs to improve research universities—have provided billions of dollars to top universities and represent perhaps the most significant effort in the past half-century to jump-start academic research. Academic Star Wars analyzes AEIs in nine European and Asian countries, including China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Denmark, France, Germany, and Russia, offering insights into the successes and problems of these initiatives, as well as into the broader system of higher education itself.

In this webinar, the three editors will share some of the main findings of the book and engage participants in a discussion of some of the implications.

About the Speakers

Philip G. Altbach is Emeritus Professor and Distinguished Fellow at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, where from 1994 to 2015 he was the Monan University Professor. He was the 2004-2006 Distinguished Scholar Leader for the New Century Scholars initiative of the Fulbright program, was given the Houlihan award for distinguished contributions to international education by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the Bowen distinguished career award by the Association for the Study of Higher Education, and has been a senior associate of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He has taught at Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is author of Global Perspectives on Higher Education, Turmoil and Transition, Student Politics in America, among other books. He also co-edited (with Jamil Salmi) The Road to Academic Excellence, (with Michael Bastedo and Patricia Gumport) American Higher Education in the 21st Century, and other books. Dr. Altbach holds the B.A., M.A. and Ph.D degrees from the University of Chicago.

Jamil Salmi is a global tertiary education expert providing policy advice to governments, universities, and development agencies, with experience working in more than 105 countries all over the world. Until January 2012, he was the World Bank’s tertiary education coordinator. Dr. Salmi is Emeritus Professor of higher education policy at Diego Portales University in Chile and Research Fellow at Boston College’s Center for Higher Education. His 2017 book focused on Tertiary Education and the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2020, he wrote a report on the impact of Covid on higher education through the equity lens for the Lumina Foundation. His latest book documents innovative equity promotion initiatives at the institutional level across the world. His next book, coedited with Phil Altbach and Maria Yudkevich and to be published shortly by MIT Press, is entitled Academic Star Wars: Excellence Initiatives in Global Perspectives.

Maria Yudkevich is a research fellow at the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College and a leading expert in the field of higher education. Her research interests are in the academic profession and university governance in comparative multi-country perspective. She is an author of numerous publications in leading academic journals in higher education and related disciplines (including Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Scientometrics, PLOS One, Journal of Informetrics, Higher Education Quarterly and others) and a coauthor of many books including “Higher Education in Russia” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022) and recently published “Academic Star Wars. Excellence Initiatives in Global Perspective” (MIT Press, 2023).

Registration Form: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqceqgqT4sHtFRkaw9raqgXS2IOD_x96Rk

We would like to invite you to the upcoming public lecture organized by the Institute for Higher Education Management!

Title: Beyond the Ivory Tower: Navigating Diverse Career Paths for Emerging Research and Innovation Talent

Date: Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 4pm CET

Speaker: Cláudia S. Sarrico, policy analyst at the OECD Science, Technology, and Innovation Directorate

Location: WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Institute for Higher Education
Management, Building D5, 6th Floor, Room D5.6.029 Department Lounge (http://campus.wu.ac.at/)

The event location has barrier free access
For those who cannot attend in person, can join us online via MS Teams livestream
Please express your interest by registering at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract:
The presentation focuses on the career options of early-career researchers at the stage of doctoral education and postdoctoral work. It identifies policies and practices to promote diverse career options for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, flexible career trajectories and ultimately better-quality research and innovation across different economic and social sectors. It offers recommendations and a set of policy options to: promote engagement and interaction with employers outside academia; provide doctoral and postdoctoral researchers with experience and skills for diverse careers within and beyond academia; render more visible and encourage valorisation of diverse career options; support career development and guidance on career options for researchers; promote inter-sectoral mobility with business, government and private not-for-profit sectors; and reconfigure and support careers in academia.


About the speaker

Cláudia S. Sarrico is a policy analyst at the OECD Science, Technology, and Innovation Directorate. She is the project manager of the Research and Innovation Careers Observatory project. Previously she was the project manager of the OECD Global Science Forum projects on Reducing the Precarity of Academic Research Careers and Promoting Diverse Career Pathways of Doctoral and Postdoctoral Researchers.
Before joining the OECD, she was a Professor at the School of Economics and Management of the University of Minho, and a senior researcher at the Centre for Research on Higher Education Policies, Portugal. She holds a PhD in Industrial and Business Studies from Warwick Business School.