The IAU is pleased to announce the release of the new IAU Position Paper: Universities, Open Science, and the Free Flow of Knowledge. The IAU adopted this position paper at the IAU 17th General Conference on 4 November 2026.

In this edition of IAU Horizons, the In Focus section is devoted to the theme of the IAU 17th General Conference: The Value of Universities in an Era of Artificial Intelligence. While countries around the world and societies at every level are grappling with how this technology will shape the future of our societies and, ultimately, the human condition, we, too, are compelled to contemplate the impact this will have on higher education and beyond.

The International Association of Universities (IAU) is pleased to present its second Global Survey Report on Digital Transformation, offering a global perspective on how higher education institutions are navigating an evolving digital landscape.

The IAU took part in the 2026 Anniversary Conference of the Magna Charta Universitatum (MCU), held from 14 to 16 October 2026 at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) in Vilnius, Lithuania. The event was hosted by IAU Member MRU and organised by IAU partner the Magna Charta Observatory (MCO).

The IAU is pleased to announce that the next Institutional Site Visit will take place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA, USA, from 15-16 June 2027.

The International Association of Universities is proud to announce the Global Engagement and Internationalisation of Higher Education Master of Public Administration and IAU certificate co-developed with Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania.  

The International Association of Universities (IAU) is pleased to announce the opening of applications for the third in a series of four OpenEU Study Visits, organised by the IAU in its role as an Associative partner of OpenEU. This Study Visit will take place at Bifröst University in Reykjavík, Iceland.

From 21–23 September 2026, Isabel Toman, Senior Programme Officer for Sustainable Development, represented the IAU at the Sustainability in Higher Education: Between Transformation and Vibe Shifts conference, hosted by Freie Universität Berlin in collaboration with the European University Alliance Una Europa

University World News (UWN) and the International Association of Universities (IAU) are launching a new 12-month commentary series exploring the evolution of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the role of higher education in the post-2030 sustainable development agenda.

On 16-17 September 2026, Dr Hilligje van’t Land, Secretary General, and Giorgio Marinoni, Manager of Higher Education and Internationalization, represented the International Association of Universities (IAU) at the 6th Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers’ Conference (FOHE-BPRC) in Bucharest, Romania.

The IAU is pleased to announce that on 17 September 2026, UNESCO launched 3 new guidance tools for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) during an online event.

On 8 September 2026, Scotland, the IAU and the European Association for International Education (EAIE) co-orangised the second edition of the high-level IAU-EAIE International Leadership Dialogue, hosted at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

From 8-11 September 2026, the IAU attended the UNESCO Digital Learning Week 2026 in its Headquarters in Paris. Under the theme Education in the age of AI: Facts | Frictions | Frontiers, this year’s programme focused on three key dimensions of the impact of this revolutionary technology on the education sector. It examined what counts as fact in an age of synthetic knowledge, how to navigate the friction that AI is generating across education systems, and, finally, what new frontiers are emerging.

From 8 to 11 September 2026, the European Association for International Education (EAIE) held its 36th Annual Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, bringing together over 7300 international educational leaders and practitioners from 107 countries. Representing the International Association of Universities (IAU), Dr Hilligje van’t Land, Secretary General, and Giorgio Marinoni, Manager of Higher Education and Internationalization, contributed to 3 pivotal sessions addressing the evolving challenges facing higher education globally.

In 2026, the 7th ASEF Higher Education Innovation Laboratory (ASEFInnoLab7) brought together university leaders, policy researchers, and innovators from across Asia and Europe under the banner of “The Role of Universities in Advancing AI for Good.”

A Personal Invitation to the IAU 17th General Conference. The International Association of Universities' 17th General Conference comes at an important moment for higher education.

From 26-28 August, Isabel Toman, IAU Senior Programme Officer for Higher Education and Sustainable Development (HESD) attended and presented a paper at the 2026 Higher Education Summit.

From 18 to 20 August, the International Association of Universities (IAU) participated in the Global Smart Education Conference 2026 (GSE 2026) held at Beijing Normal University (BNU), China.

The IAU is excited to announce that Maldives National University (MNU) has received the annual IAU Responsible Futures International Fee Waiver to participate in the RFI 2026-2027 cohort, starting in October.

In July 2026, the IAU actively participated in two pivotal UNESCO events this July: the Transforming Education Summit +4 (TES+4) and the 2026 Global Conference on the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (IDSSD 2024–2033).

The IAU is pleased to announce that the article Navigating forcibly displaced learners’ pathways to higher education and beyond: Ukrainian students in French higher education has recently been published. This publication, written by Yasar Kondakci, Sevgi Kaya Kasikci, Giorgio Marinoni, and Kateryna Nakvatska, was born on the initiative of Kateryna during her internship at the IAU in 2024.

The IAU is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) under the CAPES-Global.edu project, a major Brazilian government initiative for the internationalization of post-graduate higher education.

The IAU was pleased to participate in the 5th edition of the Université Côte d'Azur International Digital Week, contributing expert insights and facilitating critical discussions on the intersection of digital transformation, internationalisation, and the future of higher education.

In the three decades since the adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel (1997), the global higher education landscape has undergone profound transformation.

From 15–17 June 2026, IAU Secretary General Hilligje van’t Land joined 150 university leaders from Lusophone countries and China at the 35th Meeting of the Association of Portuguese Language Universities (AULP), marking the organisation’s 40th anniversary.

On 10 June 2026, the European Women Rectors Association (EWORA) convened its annual conference in Brussels, bringing together women academic leaders from Europe and beyond under the theme: “Women’s Leadership in Academia in Times of Rising Geopolitical Tensions”. The event provided a critical space to reflect on the role of universities in upholding democracy, academic freedom, and international cooperation—values under pressure in an era of fragmentation and uncertainty.

IAU Manager of Higher Education and Internationalization, Giorgio Marinoni, recently contributed to the 2026 Annual Meeting of the garagErasmus Foundation. GaragErasmus is the Erasmus Generation Professional Network and aims t be a creative hub for mobile talents to support the shaping of a new Europe.

IAU Secretary General Hilligje van’t Land participated in the Science|Business roundtable "Pillars of Freedom: Safeguarding knowledge, building institutional resilience" in Brussels.