June 28 to 30
Agenda Overview
This year's programme of PS 2022 has been designed to be varied and informative, but also to leave time for social events and to get to know Darmstadt - the “City of Science”.
The Summit will open on Tuesday, June 28th, 2022 with the Opening Reception by h_da President Arnd Steinmetz. This will be followed by the Welcome Speech by Themis Christophidou, Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, of the European Commission.
Afterwards a Roundtable Dialogue between Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot Director for Youth, Education and Erasmus+, of the European Commission, and Prof. Dr. Arnd Steinmetz, President h_da with the title "Shaping the University of Future" (working title) will take place. Preceding with paper sessions, which will end with a Coffee Break.
Next will be sessions on "Coils" by Phillip Lewis & Alex Hoque, Coventry University, and "Transnational Education and Partnerships" by Diana Hintea of Coventry University. The first day of the Summit will conclude with a paper sessions and closes with a social dinner at Schöffers.
Wednesday, June 29 starts with a keynote by Ulrike Tippe, President of TH Wildau and Vice-President of the German Rectors' Conference entitled "Future perspectives of teaching and learning at Universities of Applied Sciences”. She will be followed by another keynote by Klaus-Michael Ahrend, Executive Board HEAG Holding AG Investment Management of City of Darmstadt with the title "Bridging the Research-Practice Gap: A Practitioner's Views on University Education".
After a brief coffee break, the GPEA Leaders Roundtable will feature Prof. Dr. Arnd Steinmetz, President h_da; Glendali Rodriguez, Provost and Vice-Chancellor Academic Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Stout; Mike Murphy, Director, TU Dublin; Stephen Wittkopf, Head of International Relations of the Lucerne School of Engineering and Architecture, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Elisabeth Barajas, Director of Globalization, Purdue Polytechnic Institute. This event will be followed by a paper session.
The conclusion of the second day will be a social event with a guided tour through Darmstadt. In this 60-min-long tour, you will get to know Mathildenhöhe which is a UNESCO World Heritage as well as other famous sights of the vibrant student city. Moreover, you will learn about the history of the city and get to know some hidden corners.
The final day of the Summit will commence with a keynote address by Michael Lacourse, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Utah Tech University entitled "Designing an Open Polytechnic University". This will be preceded by paper sessions. A brief coffee break will be followed by a poster presentation from the International Summer University entitled “In Transition to a Pure Green Energy Economy”.
Niccole Saenger, Vice President of Research and Sustainable Development, h_da will then address a Closing Reception.
The Summit will end with the possibility of a social event, the Darmstadt City Festival "Heinerfest". This is one of the biggest street festivals in Germany, featuring 700,000 visitors. Besides live-music and rides, there are exhibitions and theaters and many culinary specialties.
Recent conferences
The Global Partners European Alliance (GPEA) international collaboration has been held annually since 2017. Six universities have joined forces to share their research and strengthen international ties. Last year, TU Dublin held the Summit virtually on topics including design, pedagogy, and innovation in curriculum. Previous summits were hosted by the University of Wisconsin and Purdue, focusing on topics like industrial and higher education collaborations, general education at polytechnic institutions, and UN sustainable development goals. In this year's conference, these topics will be taken up in part and supplemented by other topics such as applied research. See below some short movies about the Summits, that have been held.