ACA Annual Conference will be held on 10-12 June 2012 in Helsinki, Finland.

The theme of the conference is "Tying it all together. Internationalisation, excellence, funding and the social dimension in higher education".

There are conferences galore focused on the internationalisation of higher education and on international mobility. There is no shortage of events dedicated to world-class universities or “excellence”, to use a trendy expression. Gatherings to address questions of funding for higher education and on social issues at the tertiary level are likewise not in short supply. But these issues are usually only addressed separately and with little to no reference to one another. Rarely are the various relevant higher education themes discussed together. This leads to a reduction of perspectives, to a “single issue view” of higher education.

The 2012 ACA Annual Conference tries to avoid this mistake. It attempts to take a “holistic” view, by tying all these themes together and thus exploring their relevance to one another. For example, what is the relationship between social commitment and “excellence”? Or, to put it differently, can a university both cater to disadvantaged groups in society and be world-class? Does it perhaps even boost academic performance to provide wide access and be socially inclusive? These are just a few of the many questions (and “synergies”) which the ACA Annual Conference will explore.

The conference will be organised in four thematic streams, dedicated to internationalisation and mobility, excellence, funding and the social dimension.

For more information please visit ACA website