The World Universities Forum examines the current state and future prospects of the university given the challenges of tremendous economic, cultural, social and technological change. It welcomes proposals from researchers, administrators, policy makers and others interested in the university and its future.

Proposals may be submitted on any topic relevant to the Forum, including this year's special theme, "Asia Rising and the Changing Architecture of Global Higher Education." This special theme highlights the importance of the location of 2011 World Universities Forum, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, and the tremendous role Asia is playing in higher education developments.

The Forum will feature distinguished plenary speakers, including:
• Anthony B.L. Cheung, President, Hong Kong Institute of Education
• S. Gopinathan, Professorial Fellow, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• George Haddad, Director, Division of Higher Education, UNESCO, Paris, France
• Shi Jinghuan, Professor & Executive Dean, Institute of Education, Tsinghua University, China
• Hugh Lauder, Professor of Education & Political Economy, University of Bath, UK
• William G. Tierney, Professor of Higher Education & Director, Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, University of Southern California, USA
• Tapio Varis, Professor of Professional Education, University of Tampere, Finland
• Xu Xiaozhou, Dean and Professor, College of Education, Zhejiang University, China

For more information on the plenary speakers, and the World Universities Forum in general, please visit the conference website: www.UniversitiesForum.com.