IREG 2019 Conference in Bologna, ITALY

Rankings: A Challange to Higher Education

The growth of university rankings have not been neutral to the way higher education functions both on the national and the global scale. Some governments have been pouring billions of dollars into the “excellence initiatives” to elevate international position of their universities; universities themselves, rankings in mind, have been implementing policies hoping to increase their competitiveness and international visibility. Rankings have become more sophisticated and statistically robust. Many institutions seem to have figured out that there is something to learn from them even if they disapprove of the methodology or dislike the results.

Several previous IREG conferences concentrated on a specific aspect of rankings such as: rankings by subject, ranking methodology, employability or excellence. At this conference, we will take a deeper look at the rankings in general and will be asking questions fundamental for university rankings:

  • Is there any evidence that rankings are helping universities?
  • Are rankings helping students and other stakeholders?
  • What will be the impact of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data on rankings?
  • How to include online distance teaching into rankings?
  • What needs to be done to make rankings better?

Since IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence is an organization where both ranking organizations and universities are represented, it is in a unique position to take stock of university rankings from an expert but neutral stand point.

The IREG 2019 Conference 8-10 May 2019 will take place in a very special place, the University of Bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum Universita di Bologna), the oldest university in Europe, located in the beautiful, historic city of Bologna, the capital of the Emilia – Romagna region of Italy.

All who want an inside look into the world of university rankings, meet the top people of the global rankings, and learn how rankings and universities influence each other, are cordially invited.