Keynote Speakers
Anna L. Ahlers
Anna L. Ahlers is the founder and head of the Lise Meitner Research Group at the MPIWG which explores the many facets of China’s rapid and extensive ascent in the global system of science. In her current research projects, she analyzes authoritarianism and democracy as environmental factors for science and academia, the evolution of science policy in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and science-policy interactions in China’s (local) governance. She does so with a general interest in the global structures of science and their local varieties in the twenty-first century.
Christopher Morphew
Christopher Morphew, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Education since August 2017, concentrates his research on issues of institutional diversity in higher education, including those related to state higher education policy and the ways in which colleges and universities communicate to constituent groups.
Peter Maassen
Peter Maassen is professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo (UiO), Norway, and extraordinary professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His main research interests are higher education and science governance and policy, academic freedom, and global science collaboration. He has extensive experience in national and international expert committees and evaluation panels and has had various leadership positions in higher education. He is currently, amongst other things, member of the executive board of the Barratt Due Music Academy, Oslo; the academic coordinator of the studies undertaken for the European Parliament Academic Freedom Monitor; member of the Working Group established by the Council of Europe for implementing the 4-year project “Democratic mission of higher education” (2024-2027;, and is leading the team of experts supporting the implementation of the University Excellence Programme of the Polish Government. He has produced over 250 international publications.
Institutional greetings
Sebastiano Mazzù
Head of Deparment of Economics and Business
Venera Tomaselli
Rectoral Delegate for Institutional Statistics
Agata Matarazzo
Rectoral Delegate for Incubators, Start-Ups, and Spin-Offs
Organizing secretariat
