In an open society, academic freedom is fundamental to the flourishing of science. Recent years have brought threats to that academic freedom, but also new perspectives for academia. How can civic engagement, legislation and university leadership contribute to counter challenges to academic freedom and help harness the full potential of the digital age to ensure that science prospers?

PROGRAMME

18:00
Welcome Address
Heinz W. Engl, Rector of the University of Vienna
Michael G. Ignatieff, President and Rector of the Central European University (CEU)

18:15
Keynote
Robert J. Zimmer, President of the University of Chicago

18:45
Panel Discussion

Éva Fodor
Pro-Rector for Social Sciences and Humanities (Central European University)

Liviu Matei
Provost (Central European University)

Katharine Sarikakis
Director of the Media Governance and Industries Research Lab (University of Vienna)

Jean-Robert Tyran
Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs (University of Vienna)

Robert J. Zimmer
President of the University of Chicago

Moderation:
Marlene Nowotny, Ö1/ORF

19:30
Q & A

19:45
Informal Closing
Drinks & Sandwiches

Programme (PDF)

PANEL AND SPEAKERS

Heinz W. Engl
Rector of the University of Vienna, mathematician, member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Academia Europaea, Fellow of the American Mathematical Society

Éva Fodor
Pro-Rector for Social Sciences and Humanities and Associate Professor of Gender Studies at the CEU

Michael G. Ignatieff
President and Rector of the CEU after serving at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; award-winning writer, teacher, former politician and historian

Liviu Matei
Provost and Professor of Higher Education Policy at the School of Public Policy of CEU

Katharine Sarikakis
Professor of Communication Science, leads the Media Governance and Industries Research Lab and holds a Jean Monnet Chair of European Media Governance and Integration

Jean-Robert Tyran
Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs, Director of the Vienna Center for Experimental Economics and Professor of Economics of the University of Vienna

Robert J. Zimmer
President of the University of Chicago, mathematician