Organizers

Sponsor

IREG 2023 Conference

Rankings and University International Exposure

26-28 April, 2023

Organizers
IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence
Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan
TIIAME National Research University
Tashkent State University of Economics
Tashkent State Dental Institute
Samarkand State University

Venue
TIIAME National Research University
Addres: Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 39 Kori Niyazov str.
https://tiiame.uz/en

PROGRAM
(as of 17.04.2023)

program with presentations

26 April 2023 (Wednesday)

All day – Arrival of IREG Conference participants

IREG Pre-conference events
Venue: Tashkent State University of Economics, Tashkent, 49 Islam Karimov str.

16:00 – 17:00 IREG Executive Committee meeting

16:20 - 17:00 Elsevier Workshop “Local challenges, international impact”

• Marat Fatkhullin, Vice-President, Elsevier
• Kirill Ivanow, Research Intelligence CC, Turkey, Western & Central Asia

18:00 – 20:30 IREG Welcome reception
Venue: Campus of the Tashkent State University of Economics

27 April (Thursday)

Venue: TIIAME National Research University,
Tashkent, 39 Kori Niyazov str.

9.30 – 10.00 OPENING Session

• Bahadir Mirzaev, Rector, TIIAME National Research University, Uzbekistan
• Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Uzbekistan
• Waldemar Siwinski, President of IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence

10.00 – 10:20 Special guest

• Komiljon Karimov, First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan: – Reforms in Higher Education System of the Republic of Uzbekistan

10.20 – 11.00 Academic keynote address

Introduction: Gero Federkeil, Vice-president of IREG, Managing Director, U-Multirank, Germany

Keynote speaker:

• Seeram Ramakrishna, National University of Singapore, Singapore: Where is science heading? The main challenges before today’s scientists.

11.00 – 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 – 12.30 FIRSTH SESSION
University and Rankings – A difficult neighborhood?

The session will be devoted to the presentation by rectors from four countries (Poland, Romania, Turkey and Uzbekistan) of their approach to including rankings in the university development strategy. The areas in which the rankings have the greatest impact on improving the quality of research, popularity among candidates for studies and the international visibility of the university will be indicated.

Chair: Thomas Parker, Senior Associate, Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington DC, United States

Invited speakers:

• Mustafa Versan KÖK, President, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
• Bogumila Kaniewska, Rector, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland
• Bahadir Mirzaev, Rector, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers

12:30 – 12.50 Sponsor Presentation

• M’hamed Aisati, Vice President, Data and Analytical Services, Elsevier (Netherlands)

12:50 – 13:00 Photo session

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.00 – SECOND SESSION
Rankings – competition and social responsibility

Rankings are an instrument of competition. The high attention global rankings receive, is an expression of growing international competition in higher education. At the same time, they reinforce this competition by their own results. Yet, recently the social role of universities and issues co-operation have been put more in the foreground. This session discusses those issues on two levels: On a meta level, a cooperative project of German universities to monitor their performance in competitive global rankings will be presented. In the second part, the development of indicators on social inclusion by U-Multirank, and the student perspective on the social role of universities and rankings will be presented.

Chair: Vice President of IREG Observatory, Head of U-Multirank, Germany

Invited speakers: Gero Federkeil

• Sarah Spiegel, German Rectors Conference (HRK), Germany
• Wim Gabriels, Director of Erasmus Student Network (ESN), Brussels: – The social role of universities. What students expect from rankings
• Frans Kaiser, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente, Netherlands: – New indicators on social responsibility and inclusion – the U-Multirank perspective

15:00 – 16:30 THIRD SESSION
The World of Rankings in difficult times

Chair of the session: Alex Usher, President, Higher Education Strategy Associates, Canada

Invited speakers:

• Ying Cheng, President & CEO, Shanghai Ranking Consultancy (Shanghai Ranking)
• Sergei Khristoliubov, Regional Director, Central Asia, QS (QS Rankings)
• Bob Morse, Chief of Data, (USN Global University Rankings) (online)
• Isidro Aguillo, Director of Webometrics, Head of Cybermetric Lab – Scimago Group, IPP-CSIC, Spain

16:30 – 16:45 Coffee break

16:45 – 18:00 FOURTH SESSION
Will ranking catch up with changing social expectations and geopolitical shifts?

Rankings entered the higher education with a bang – first at the national level (US News 1983) and then internationally (Shanghai 2003). Its have become such a powerful instrument for evaluating the quality, or prestige, of academic institutions that more and more is expected of them. But since 1983 a lot has changed in the world – from the emergence of the Internet to the rapid spread of Artificial Intelligence. Whether the rankings can capture the changes and trends, and then properly address them by including these new phenomena in methodologies? The invited speakers will tell how are they looking for a ranking answer to the ongoing changes.

Chair of the session: Piotr Stepnowski, Rector, University of Gdansk, Poland:

Invited speakers:

• Riri Fitri Sari, professor of Computer Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Chairperson of UI GreenMetric, Indonesia
• M’hamed Aisati, Vice President, Data and Analytical Services, Elsevier (Netherlands)
• Paweł Poszytek, director, National Agency of Erasmus+, Poland
• Miłosz Rojek, Head of EngiRank analytical team, Perspektywy Education Foundation, Poland
• Mahdi Amini, International Affairs Executive at Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation, Iran

19.30 – 22:00 Conference Gala Dinner
Venue: Restaurant in Tashkent (tbc)

28 April (Friday)

09.30 – 10:00 – Second Day Keynote Speaker

• Alex Usher, President, Higher Education Strategy Associates, Canada: – Breakthrough changes in global higher education and a place for modernized rankings

10:00 – 11:00 FIFTH SESSION – Regional
Uzbek universities – focus on excellent and international visibility

During the session, the latest academic achievements of leading Uzbek universities will be presented – in the context of the country development strategy.

Chair: Kongratbay Sharipov, Rector, Tashkent State University of Economics

Invited speakers:

• Alisher Usmankulov, Rector, Jizzakh Polytechnic Institute, Uzbekistan
• Abdulaziz Gulamov, Vice-Rector, Tashkent State Transport University, Uzbekistan
• Ilkhom Tukhtasinov, Rector, Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages, Uzbekistan

11.00 – 11:30 Coffee break

11:30 – 11:50 Special lecture

• Marian Preda, Rector, University of Bucharest, Romania: – The role of university networks and the EU initiative “European Universities” in strengthening international academic cooperation

11:50 – 13:00 SIXTH SESSION
The role of research in rankings

Chair: Habib Fardoun, Professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Invited speakers:

• Ghassan Aouad, Chancellor, Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates 
• Bassam Badran, President, Lebanese University, Lebanon
• Gyorgy Fabri, former Vice-rector, ELTE University, Hungary
• Abdolbast Greede, Head, National Program for Enhancing the International Competitiveness of Libyan Universities, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Libya: – A Global University Ranking that Prioritizes Regional Issues

13:00 – 13.10 CLOSING Session

Chair: Bahadir Mirzaev, Rector, TIIAME National Research University, Uzbekistan

• Komiljon Karimov, First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan
• Waldemar Siwinski, President of IREG Observatory, Poland

13:15-14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:00 IREG General Assembly

Afternoon Transfer to Samarkand
Hotel in Samarkand (tbc)

20:30 – 22.30 Reception by Rectors of Samarkand

29 April (Saturday)

Culture and history program at Samarkand (optional)
Transfer to Tashkent

IREG 2023 Conference

Rankings and University International Exposure

26-28 April, 2023

Organizers
IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence
Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan
TIIAME National Research University
Tashkent State University of Economics
Tashkent State Dental Institute
Samarkand State University

Venue
TIIAME National Research University
Addres: Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 39 Kori Niyazov str.
https://tiiame.uz/en

PROGRAM
(as of 17.04.2023)

26 April 2023 (Wednesday)

All day – Arrival of IREG Conference participants

IREG Pre-conference events
Venue: Tashkent State University of Economics, Tashkent, 49 Islam Karimov str.

16:00 – 17:00 IREG Executive Committee meeting

16:20 - 17:00 Elsevier Workshop “Local challenges, international impact”

• Marat Fatkhullin, Vice-President, Elsevier
• Kirill Ivanow, Research Intelligence CC, Turkey, Western & Central Asia

18:00 – 20:30 IREG Welcome reception
Venue: Campus of the Tashkent State University of Economics

27 April (Thursday)

Venue: TIIAME National Research University,
Tashkent, 39 Kori Niyazov str.

9.30 – 10.00 OPENING Session

• Bahadir Mirzaev, Rector, TIIAME National Research University, Uzbekistan
• Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Uzbekistan
• Waldemar Siwinski, President of IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence

10.00 – 10:20 Special guest

• Komiljon Karimov, First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan: – Reforms in Higher Education System of the Republic of Uzbekistan

10.20 – 11.00 Academic keynote address

Introduction: Gero Federkeil, Vice-president of IREG, Managing Director, U-Multirank, Germany

Keynote speaker:

• Seeram Ramakrishna, National University of Singapore, Singapore: Where is science heading? The main challenges before today’s scientists.

11.00 – 11.30 Coffee break

11.30 – 12.30 FIRSTH SESSION
University and Rankings – A difficult neighborhood?

The session will be devoted to the presentation by rectors from four countries (Poland, Romania, Turkey and Uzbekistan) of their approach to including rankings in the university development strategy. The areas in which the rankings have the greatest impact on improving the quality of research, popularity among candidates for studies and the international visibility of the university will be indicated.

Chair: Thomas Parker, Senior Associate, Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington DC, United States / presentation

Invited speakers:

• Mustafa Versan KÖK, President, Middle East Technical University, Turkey/ presentation
• Bogumila Kaniewska, Rector, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland/ presentation
• Bahadir Mirzaev, Rector, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers/ presentation

12:30 – 12.50 Sponsor Presentation

• M’hamed Aisati, Vice President, Data and Analytical Services, Elsevier (Netherlands)/ presentation

12:50 – 13:00 Photo session

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.00 – SECOND SESSION
Rankings – competition and social responsibility

Rankings are an instrument of competition. The high attention global rankings receive, is an expression of growing international competition in higher education. At the same time, they reinforce this competition by their own results. Yet, recently the social role of universities and issues co-operation have been put more in the foreground. This session discusses those issues on two levels: On a meta level, a cooperative project of German universities to monitor their performance in competitive global rankings will be presented. In the second part, the development of indicators on social inclusion by U-Multirank, and the student perspective on the social role of universities and rankings will be presented.

Chair: Vice President of IREG Observatory, Head of U-Multirank, Germany

Invited speakers: Gero Federkeil

• Sarah Spiegel, German Rectors Conference (HRK), Germany/ presentation
• Wim Gabriels, Director of Erasmus Student Network (ESN), Brussels: – The social role of universities. What students expect from rankings
• Frans Kaiser, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), University of Twente, Netherlands: – New indicators on social responsibility and inclusion – the U-Multirank perspective

15:00 – 16:30 THIRD SESSION
The World of Rankings in difficult times

Chair of the session: Alex Usher, President, Higher Education Strategy Associates, Canada

Invited speakers:

• Ying Cheng, President & CEO, Shanghai Ranking Consultancy (Shanghai Ranking) / presentation
• Sergei Khristoliubov, Regional Director, Central Asia, QS (QS Rankings)/ presentation
• Bob Morse, Chief of Data, (USN Global University Rankings) (online)/ online
• Isidro Aguillo, Director of Webometrics, Head of Cybermetric Lab – Scimago Group, IPP-CSIC, Spain/ presentation

16:30 – 16:45 Coffee break

16:45 – 18:00 FOURTH SESSION
Will ranking catch up with changing social expectations and geopolitical shifts?

Rankings entered the higher education with a bang – first at the national level (US News 1983) and then internationally (Shanghai 2003). Its have become such a powerful instrument for evaluating the quality, or prestige, of academic institutions that more and more is expected of them. But since 1983 a lot has changed in the world – from the emergence of the Internet to the rapid spread of Artificial Intelligence. Whether the rankings can capture the changes and trends, and then properly address them by including these new phenomena in methodologies? The invited speakers will tell how are they looking for a ranking answer to the ongoing changes.

Chair of the session: Piotr Stepnowski, Rector, University of Gdansk, Poland:

Invited speakers:

• Riri Fitri Sari, professor of Computer Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Chairperson of UI GreenMetric, Indonesia/ presentation
• M’hamed Aisati, Vice President, Data and Analytical Services, Elsevier (Netherlands)
• Paweł Poszytek, director, National Agency of Erasmus+, Poland
• Miłosz Rojek, Head of EngiRank analytical team, Perspektywy Education Foundation, Poland/ presentation
• Mahdi Amini, International Affairs Executive at Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation, Iran/ presentation

19.30 – 22:00 Conference Gala Dinner
Venue: Restaurant in Tashkent (tbc)

28 April (Friday)

09.30 – 10:00 – Second Day Keynote Speaker

• Alex Usher, President, Higher Education Strategy Associates, Canada: – Breakthrough changes in global higher education and a place for modernized rankings

10:00 – 11:00 FIFTH SESSION – Regional
Uzbek universities – focus on excellent and international visibility

During the session, the latest academic achievements of leading Uzbek universities will be presented – in the context of the country development strategy.

Chair: Kongratbay Sharipov, Rector, Tashkent State University of Economics

Invited speakers:

• Alisher Usmankulov, Rector, Jizzakh Polytechnic Institute, Uzbekistan/ presentation
• Abdulaziz Gulamov, Vice-Rector, Tashkent State Transport University, Uzbekistan/ presentation
• Ilkhom Tukhtasinov, Rector, Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages, Uzbekistan/ presentation

11.00 – 11:30 Coffee break

11:30 – 11:50 Special lecture

• Marian Preda, Rector, University of Bucharest, Romania: – The role of university networks and the EU initiative “European Universities” in strengthening international academic cooperation

11:50 – 13:00 SIXTH SESSION
The role of research in rankings

Chair: Habib Fardoun, Professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Invited speakers:

• Ghassan Aouad, Chancellor, Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates / presentation
• Bassam Badran, President, Lebanese University, Lebanon
• Gyorgy Fabri, former Vice-rector, ELTE University, Hungary/ presentation
• Abdolbast Greede, Head, National Program for Enhancing the International Competitiveness of Libyan Universities, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Libya: – A Global University Ranking that Prioritizes Regional Issues

13:00 – 13.10 CLOSING Session

Chair: Bahadir Mirzaev, Rector, TIIAME National Research University, Uzbekistan

• Komiljon Karimov, First Deputy Minister, Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan
• Waldemar Siwinski, President of IREG Observatory, Poland

13:15-14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:00 IREG General Assembly

Afternoon Transfer to Samarkand
Hotel in Samarkand (tbc)

20:30 – 22.30 Reception by Rectors of Samarkand

29 April (Saturday)

Culture and history program at Samarkand (optional)
Transfer to Tashkent

The word “breakthrough” characterized discussion at IREG 2023 Conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (27-28 April), leading to the conclusion that nothing in the world of rankings will be the same in the coming years: “I often participate in various conferences and seminars, but I have not met such a substantive and engaged discussion for many years” observed Komiljon Karimov, first deputy minister of higher education, science and innovation of Uzbekistan.

Alex Usher of Higher Education Strategy Associates, Canada added: “One of the most interesting ranking discussions I’ve heard in years. The difference in discourse around rankings after leaving a rich country is huge – here there is much less about marketing and much more about system control/benchmarking.”

This proves again that the annual IREG conferences are the only neutral place in the world where rankers, experts & analysts of higher education and universities, often represented by rectors, can meet and engage in debate under the IREG banner. These discussions have a direct impact on the standards of world rankings.

I want to thank Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov, minister of higher education, science, and innovations of Uzbekistan and Komiljon Karimov, first vice-minister of higher education, science, and innovation for inviting IREG Conference to Uzbekistan and creating excellent conditions for the meaningful debate.

The IREG 2023 Conference with close to 200 participants from 28 countries was hosted by the TIIAME National Research University. Much appreciation to our host, Bakhadir Mirzaev, rector of TIIAME and his excellent team.

I also want to thank the rectors: Kongratbay Sharipov of Tashkent State University of Economics, Alisher Shadmanov of Tashkent Medical Academy, Nodir Khaydarov of Tashkent State Dental Institute and Jasur Rizaev of Samarkand State Medical Academy for their generous help with the conference.

The success of the IREG 2023 was determined by keynote speakers: Prof Seeram Ramakrishna, FREng, Everest Chair, National University of Singapore, and Alex Usher, HESA, Canada; and excellent speakers: Isidro F. Aguillo, Webometrics, Spain; Ying Cheng, ShanghaiRanking, China; Bogumila Kaniewska, Rector, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland; Tom Parker, US; Gero Federkeil, CHE, Germany; Piotr Stepnowski, Rector, University of Gdansk; Marian Preda, Rector, University of Bucharest, Romania; Frans Kaiser, CHEPS, Netherlands; Mustafa Kok, Rector, METU University, Turkey; Gyorgy Fabri, ELTE University, Hungary; Ghassan Aouad, Chancellor of Abu Dhabi University, Habib M. Fardoun; Sergei Khristoliubov, QS; Riri Fitri Sari, GreenMetrics, Indonesia, Abdolbast Greede, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Libya and others.

A significant contribution to our debate was made by the team of Elsevier, a partner of the conference, headed by M’hamed el Aisati.

I want to assure you that we will continue the debate initiated at IREG 2023 in Tashkent – universities and rankers expect, and deserve it!

Waldemar Siwinski
President of IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence