Symposium on Higher Education Research
Research
Education and learning
The Higher Education Hub and EDUCERE NORDIC Network invite you to a two-day symposium on Higher Education Research
The Higher Education Hub and EDUCERE NORDIC Network invite you to a two-day symposium on Higher Education Research
Theme: Building research connections in higher education
Venue: Room BE036
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Welcome and short information about the HE Hub
13:15 Keynote
14:15 Short presentations (details to be announced)
15:00 Coffee break
15:15 Workshop - way forward & thematic groups
16:30 End of the day
18:30 Dinner (venue TBA)
Mari Elken, Associate Professor, Department of Education, University of Oslo, Norway: https://www.uv.uio.no/iped/english/people/aca/marielk/
Fault Lines: Nordic Higher Education in an Age of Uncertainty
Nordic universities have long been regarded as models of well-funded, open, and democratically governed higher education. Yet beneath this stable surface, fault lines are forming — structural tensions that, left unaddressed, risk reshaping the foundations of the system.
Public budgets are tightening, and demographic decline means reduced age cohorts of students in the future. Technological developments, in particular AI, are raising fundamental questions about the purpose, form, and value of higher education. Academic freedom is eroding across Europe. Academic self-governance is weakening. The shifting geopolitical landscape has challenged long-held assumptions about open, collaborative, and internationally connected research and higher education systems. These challenges are not isolated — they are interconnected fault lines running through the same institutional terrain. This keynote maps these key challenges and reflects on what they might mean in practice — for governing and organising higher education institutions, and for processes of education and research within.
Higher Education Hub represents a strategic initiative at the University of Gothenburg to gather research expertise in the field of research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. The networking day brings together colleagues for shared inspiration and concrete next steps for collaboration.
Linda Bradley, Associate Professor, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, linda.bradley@gu.se
Mona Lundin, Professor, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, mona.lundin@ped.gu.se
Sylvana Sofkova Hashemi, Professor, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, sylvana.sofkova.hashemi@gu.se
Theme: Digital Transformation and AI in Higher Education - A cross-Nordic perspective
Venue: Room BE036 or online
9:00 Welcome and presentation of the Learnings from the Network
9:30 Country briefings
10:30 Coffee break
10:45 Presentations cross-Nordic findings (details to be announced)
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Presentations cross-Nordic findings (details to be announced)
15:00 Coffee break
15:15 Discussion (details to be announced)
16:30 End of the day
The network brings together scholars in Nordic higher education providing an arena for cross-Nordic and cross-disciplinary reflection around digital transformation and AI, reshaping higher education and challenging long-standing educational traditions grounded in equity, trust, participation, and democratic values. Through a series of presentations, the symposium offers insights into current research and emerging directions in the Nordic region, inviting participants to engage in this critical dialogue.
Sylvana Sofkova Hashemi (PI), Professor, University of Gothenburg & Halmstad university, Sweden sylvana.sofkova.hashemi@gu.se , sylvana_sofkova.hashemi@hh.se
Nataliya Berbyuk Lindström, Ass. Professor, Univ. of Gothenburg, nataliya.berbyuk.lindstrom@ait.gu.se
Eva Brooks, Professor, Aalborg University, Denmark, eb@ikl.aau.dk
Judit Háhn, Senior Lecturer, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, judit.hahn@jyu.fi
Jeanette Sjöberg, Ass. Professor, Halmstad University, Sweden, jeanette.sjoberg@hh.se
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Read more about the EDUCERE NORDIC Network here www.hh.se/educere