The second series of LEAD2 workshops took place at Vienna, 28-29 October 2019

Within the framework of the Erasmus+ Capacity Building, LEAD2 project and Silesian University of Technology (SUT), University of Vienna, Vrije University Brussels, have successfully organised the second series of LEAD2 workshops on University Governance and Academic Leadership. Following the successful conference hosted by SUT from 24-26 October 2019, the Vienna LEAD2 event took place at University of Vienna from 28-29 October 2019. The workshops attracted about 40 university leaders from across Europe and China, including university presidents/rectors, and vice presidents/vice-rectors from top European and Chinese universities. 

The Opening ceremony was chaired by Prof. Lucas Zinner, Head of Research Services and Career Development, University of Vienna. Prof. Anthony Antoine, Executive Director of the Institute for European Studies at VUB, welcomed all participants to the workshops and thanked the University of Vienna for hosting the conference. Participants were warmly welcomed by Dr. Marcin Gorski, SUT. 

During the two days of workshops, seven keynote speeches focusing on academic rankings and governance of doctoral education were delivered by professors from five European and Chinese universities. Consistent with the keynote speeches, two parallel workshops on academic rankings and university governance were organised. In the first seminar, participants exchanged views on the importance of rankings, meaning, limitation and impact of rankings. In the later workshop, several questions relating to the governance of doctoral education such as what the main duty of the head of doctoral school is, should the head of a school be also a leader or what skills and knowledge are necessary to successfully lead and manage a doctoral school was tackled. Apart from keynote speeches and workshops, the consortium meeting for partner universities on 29 October was dedicated to discussions on the LEAD2 potential output, results, and deliverables by Prof. Chang Zhu from VUB. 

The next LEAD2 event will be the third series of LEAD2 workshops that will take place at Guangxi Normal University in Guilin and Tongji University in Shanghai, June 2020.