Call for Contributions

Themes | General information
Submitting a proposal | Presentations  

The IMHE General Conference is a biennial international event for policy makers, institutional leaders and academic experts in higher education.

Higher education institutions are expected to provide education and training relevant to the demands of working life, conduct research activities that yield benefits for the development of a knowledge-based economy, as well as contribute to social cohesion, regional development and global well-being. They are constantly challenged to fulfil their multiple missions, improve the quality of their provision of education, to increase their efficiency, and demonstrate their contribution to society. The 2010 Conference will focus on the impact of crisis – financial, economic and social – on the higher education sector and on how governments, institutions and individuals can lead the way to sustainable recovery. Grounded in OECD’s highly-respected evidence base and drawing on analysis and opinion from some of the world’s leading experts, the conference will identify ways of achieving high quality outcomes at a time of increased demand and constrained resources. Innovative approaches to meeting the challenges of equity and efficiency will be examined. The conference will seek to identify longer-term trends and will include analyses of national policy, institutional case studies and the latest research from OECD and elsewhere. 

Submitting a proposal for this Conference represents a valuable opportunity to become part of a showcase to a high level audience in the prestigious setting of the OECD headquarters in Paris. The best proposals will be considered for presentations in plenary sessions. A selection of papers will also be published in the IMHE journal, which is distributed through OECD’s worldwide dissemination channels.

Themes

This call for contributions invites proposals from policy makers and institutional leaders and managers, as well as from researchers on topics relevant to the conference. Proposals may consider issues at the international, national, institutional or sub-institutional level.

Topics relevant to the conference:

• Access and equity
• Efficiency and productivity
• Funding and financing
• Governance
• Institutional strategy
• Management and leadership
• Regional development
• Sustainability
• Teaching quality
• Technology

General Information 

• The General Conference will comprise plenary sessions – including keynote speeches and round tables – parallel sessions and a research forum.
• Proposals will be reviewed by the General Conference organising committee.
• Selected papers will be presented during plenary panel sessions, parallel group sessions or the research forum.
• The Conference can accommodate up to 500 participants. Registration fees are, per person, 350€ for IMHE members and 900€ for IMHE non-members and they include lunches, refreshments and all materials.
  Whether successful or not, we would like to award all delegates that have submitted an abstract the IMHE member rate as specified above.
• All those wishing to take part in the Conference must register. .

Submitting a proposal

• An abstract (150-250 words) and the submission form should be completed for review by the Organising Committee by 4 January 2010.  
• Entries should be accompanied by a short bio.
• Abstracts and papers must be submitted in English or in French.
• The General Conference Organising Committee is responsible for selecting papers for presentation and for allocating them to a programme session.
• Authors will receive notification of acceptance of their abstracts by 1 February 2010.
• Completed papers must be submitted to the IMHE Secretariat by 29 March 2010 to imhe@oecd.org.

I want to submit a proposal

Presentations

• Completed papers should not exceed 5 000 words and be reviewed by a native speaker prior to submission.
• Authors of papers selected should send a recent photo to imhe@oecd.org
• Authors of papers selected for plenary sessions will be expected to make a presentation of their findings not exceeding 10 minutes. Following all presentations have been made there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.
• Authors of papers selected for group sessions or the research forum will be expected to make a presentation of their findings not exceeding 15 minutes. Following all presentations there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.
• Further information will be sent to those authors whose proposals are selected.
• All selected papers where the author has agreed to the OECD Conditions for Acceptance will be considered for publication in the IMHE Journal Higher Education Management and Policy. Authors whose papers are chosen for publication will be contacted by the Journal’s editor following a peer-review process. Those who have not been contacted within six months following the General Conference can assume their papers will not be published.