How does the university of the future look like?
Dr. Nikhil Deshpande
Location: Italy
“To my mind, the university of the future would be borderless… in every sense of the word!”
Borderless because it would allow students to attend from wherever they are in the world, or to go to particular places because particular courses are offered best there;
Borderless because it would allow students to design their own curriculum, instead of curricula structures being set for them;
Borderless because it would allow people to seamlessly choose between online, on-campus, and hybrid curricula; Borderless because it would allow faculty to design and teach courses however they like, from wherever they deem necessary; … and I can go on!
Do you have any recommendations or tips for us?
Tip for UTN as the new journey begins – keep the students at the heart of your decision-making process! Be empathetic to the students’ concerns and put yourself in their shoes as often as possible to see whether and how your vision is being translated into reality.
Priv.-Doz. Dr. Martin Ebner
Location: Austria
The university of the future is a place where creativity, inspiration, exchange and therefore education in any possible way can take place.
Prof. Dr. Johan Lundin
Location: Sweden
Increasingly universities are oriented towards personally meaningful learning, rather than learning oriented towards career productivity. Digital activities are carefully combined with local face-to-face interactions.
Do you have any recommendations or tips for us?
Go beyond producing teaching – and towards supporting being a student.
Dr. Sandra Schön
Location: Austria
A university should be a big “makerspace” to invent solutions for our future – addressing urgent needs and sustainability development goals, combining our knowledge from philosophy to computer science, from sociology to engineering, from diverse people and perspectives. A place for not only vivid discussion and intellectual discourse, but a research-based and inspiring, relevant and creative workshop innovating the world and while this, developing relevant values and competences. And of course: All ideas and results should and have to be shared openly and with the world. Am I a dreamer?
Jan Veira
Location: Germany
- Hybrid with extensive use of digital tools for delivering knowledge and collaboration but also in-person for the social & collaboration aspect
- More focus on learning success & high service level to students (like some Icy League US unis) and less on pure academic (like I have experienced it sometimes in Germany)
- Much more modular study offering (micro building blocks of learning combined into curricular and personal end-results not year-long mater programs)
Oksana M. Myronets
Location: Ukraine
I strongly believe that an online university with the use of modern technologies and artificial intelligence will be a wise and reasonable response to differently-directed challenges of the new world’s order. It may be the only efficient and comfortable option to train a solution-oriented future professional and grow up a morally-cultured personality as a member of modern civil society.
Dr. Janine Hacker
Location: Liechtenstein
The university of the future trains students to become critical and out-of-the-box thinkers and equips them with the necessary skills to address societal and economic challenges. The university of the future demands and promotes research that has a positive impact on society.
Prof. Dr. Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho
Location: United Kingdom
The university of the future needs to be an inclusive environment, where ideas will be challenged and innovation will be cultivated, with eyes on the demands of the societies. In the university of the future, the rigueur of science must dialogue with creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit, in order to become an space of transformation and promotion of social justice.
Do you have any recommendations or tips for us?
Keep innovating, including and challenging the world around, but never forgetting the human values that are the basis of knowledge.
John Partridge
Location: United Kingdom
I would hope that the university of the future will be something which is a memorable, positive, productive and enjoyable life experience which widens enthusiasm for and knowledge of the chosen subject, not an intellectual sausage machine. At the same time, it should expand direct personal contact and friendship on an equal basis with other students and with staff. It will expose the student to various ways of looking at the subject and the world and encourage free exchange of ideas without being dogmatic.
Do you have any recommendations or tips for us?
Treat students as human beings with feelings and needs, rather than statistics, commercial material or “bums on seats”.
Aulaya Dos Santos
Location: United Kingdom
The university of the future is a modern and transformational place, where everyone is included
Do you have any recommendations or tips for us?
Be open, be bold, be eccentric and listen to the student’s feedback
Antonia Yanxi Wu
Location: United Kingdom
I imagine the university of the future to be an open space for discussion, free to all, where different voices — however small — are respected.
Do you have any recommendations or tips for us?
Break down any walls.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Wendt
Location: Iceland
To study internationally means to experience the world. University education is not only about theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and competences – it is also about learning about ourselves. The future of university education lies within opening new opportunities at all stages in life – hard and soft skills are equally important. There is no limit to how much we can learn.