A PhD Symposium will take place on 12 July 2017 as part of the annual University of the Future Network (UFN) meeting at FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany, 11‐13 July 2017. The seminar has been designed to foster the exchange of experiences and knowledge among doctoral students doing research in the area of the digitalization of universities, while providing a discussion forum for the advancement of PhD research. The topic of the meeting and of the PhD Symposium is “The digitalisation of the University of the Future”. The themes related to this topic are:

  • Teaching and learning in the digital age: challenges and opportunities
  • Redefining knowledge in the digital age: Internet and social media
  • Towards a policy of access: digitalisation for all
  • Open Educational Resources (OER) and the digitalisation of materials
  • Digital technologies, learning and cultural diversity
  • Organisational challenges for the digital university
  • Virtual networks for the digital university: research and partnerships

Objectives of the PhD Symposium

The aims of the PhD Symposium are to:

  1. Create a community for intellectual exchange and support among e-learning doctoral students researching in the area of digitalization of universities.
  2. Give and receive practical feedback on research topics or specific problems or concerns about their research among their peers.
  3. Receive feedback on research topics, problems and concerns from international experts in e-learning research who are experienced supervisors.

Call for Presentations

Current doctoral students in the fields of open education, educational technology, education and equity, or other areas related to e-Learning are encouraged to submit short abstracts to present an overview of their research at the PhD Symposium. Each proposal must align to one of the research themes above. PhD students must be current PhD students, i.e. have had their research proposals approved, but not yet defended their theses. Preference will be given to students who have collected data to analyse. The abstract should be in English, and contain a 300 – 350 word description of the state of their research and a problem they would like to address in the symposium. It should include the research title, research objectives / questions and methodology.

Submit your abstract before 18th of April 2017 (now 12 June 2017) using the form. The panel of international experts will review the abstracts and select 7 or 8 students to participate. Students will be notified by 12 June 2017. Students will then need to prepare a short presentation (between 5-10 slides) before the symposium.

Structure of the PhD Symposium

The selected students will have to give a brief presentation (between 5-10 slides), which they can do face-to-face or through videoconference and can include one or two questions to the expert panel and/or other students connected via a video conference system. This presentation must be designed to last a maximum of 10 minutes. At the end of each presentation, there will be a group discussion, approximately 5-10 minutes per presentation, to answer the questions asked by each participant or offer research advice. The seminar will be live streamed for online participants.

Panel of Experts

The seminar will be led by a panel of international experts on e-learning and the digitalisation of universities:

Intended Participants

The PhD Symposium is an open invitation event to all PhD students and their supervisors, in fields of open education, educational technology, education and equity, or other areas related to e-Learning. It is aimed at current doctoral students enrolled in any university, both full-time and part-time. We encourage you to take this opportunity to network with fellow researchers, discuss your research, and receive feedback from international experts and peers from around the world. If you want to participate in the forum, but not present, register to join us online.

Important Dates

  • Open call for proposals: 6 March 2017 – 12 June 2017
  • Notification of acceptance: 12 June 2017
  • Confirmation by presenters: 19 June 2017
  • Publication of PhD Symposium programme: 21 June 2017
  • Submission of participant presentations: 5 July 2017
  • PhD Symposium: 12 July 2017

Submission of Proposals

All proposals must be sent via this form by the 12th of June deadline. The list of successful applicants and the final programme will be made public after 21 June 2017.

 Contact Details

If you have any queries, or for further information, download the call for presentations document or email Greig Krull at gkrull@uoc.edu.