Times Higher Education¡¯s fourth Emerging Economies Summit will be held in partnership with Mohammed V University of Rabat from 8 to 10 May 2018.

Alan Ruby, senior scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, will deliver the opening keynote on new approaches to widening participation at the event, which will focus on empowering the next generation of universities, while Dong-sung Cho, president of Incheon National University, will explore how public research universities can encourage further private sector investment in tertiary education.

This latter topic will also be debated in a panel, which will include Hamid Bouabid, professor at Mohammed V University at Agdal; Hassan Al-Derham, president at Qatar University; Mukti Mishra, president at Centurion University of Technology and Management; Danson Musyoki Kimeu, acting vice-chancellor at the University of Kigali; and Mills Soko, director of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town.

Andrei Volkov, deputy chairman of 5-100 Russian Academic Excellence Initiative Council, will also deliver a speech on how higher education can prove the returns on national investment, while Mamdouh Shoukri, president emeritus at York University, will offer suggestions on how the next generation of talent can be produced and retained.

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The conference was founded in 2014 with the Russian Academic Excellence Project (Project 5-100), which aims to see five Russian universities enter the top 100 in global university rankings by 2020.

This year¡¯s event will also include a panel discussion on how universities can address inequality of opportunity to support employers, and will hear from Driss Ouaouicha, president of Al Akhawayn University; Sam Fongwa, researcher at the Centre for Higher Education and Development at the University of the Free State; Huey-Jen Jenny Su, president of National Cheng Kung University; and Ahmed S. Yamani, rector of Prince Sultan University.

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Meanwhile, Wail Benjelloun, president at UNIMED; Mostapha Bousmina, president at Euromed University of Fes; Aini Ideris, vice-chancellor at Univerisiti Putra Malaysia; Rwekaza Mukandala, vice-chancellor emeritus at University of Dar es Salaam; and ?hsan Sabuncuo?lu, rector of Abdullah G¨¹l University, will discuss whether research universities are a 21st-century training hub.

The summit will also host the launch of the THE Emerging Economies University Rankings 2018 and include a data masterclass from Phil Baty, THE¡¯s editorial director of global rankings; Duncan Ross, THE¡¯s director of data and analytics; and M¡¯hamed El Aisati, vice-president of project management funding and content analytics at Elsevier.

Daria Kozlova, vice-rector at ITMO; Tod Laursen, president of Khalifa Univerisity; Jaroslav Miller, rector of Palack? University; and Abel Idowu Olayinka, vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan, will discuss securing stable investment for responsible higher education development.

Another panel will explore how academic research can compete for talent and hear from Amine Bensaid, president of Mundiapolis University; Mohamed Albaili, vice-chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University; Abdulrahman Obaid AI-Youbi, president of King Abdulaziz University; Essam Elkordi, president of Alexandria University; Ioannis Karakassis, deputy rector of academic affairs at the University of Crete; and Mikhail Strikhanov, rector of the National Research Nuclear University (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute).

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Mr Baty said:?¡°Our Emerging Economies Summit is one of our most vibrant and diverse ¨C with 42 different countries considered in our analysis for the?THE?Emerging Economies Rankings.

¡°After successful summits in Moscow, Delhi and Johannesburg, I am delighted to be taking this event to North Africa. This will be the first event in?THE¡¯s World Summit Series to be held in Morocco and we¡¯re looking forward to sharing some new data-driven insights into the region, addressing some big challenges facing universities in the emerging economies, but above all championing the rise of a new generation of universities and celebrating the role that they are playing in nation-building.¡±

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com