Hong Kong Baptist University to host QS APPLE 2021 Conference to explore emerging trends in higher education in the Asia Pacific

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 26 October 2021 – Hong Kong
Baptist University (HKBU) will host the QS Asia-Pacific Professional Leaders in Education (QS APPLE) 2021
Conference with the theme “Future Rebalance: Emerging trends and workforce in the Asia Pacific“
from 1 to 3 November.

HKBU will host the QS APPLE 2021 Conference with the theme “Future
Rebalance: Emerging trends and workforce in the Asia Pacific” from 1 to 3
November.

Organised by Quacquarelli
Symonds (QS), an international
higher education network specialising in the analysis of higher education
institutions around the world, and with the Prince
of Songkla University in Thailand as the co-host, the conference will gather renowned
leaders and experts from the higher education sector, and they will exchange their thoughts and shed light on
the upcoming development trends for higher education and the strategies for
nurturing talent in the region.

Professor Alexander Wai, President and
Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, said that it
is an important time for higher education in the region, as the COVID-19
pandemic has clearly demonstrated the importance of transdisciplinary
collaboration to address many of the world’s grand challenges.

“HKBU is proud to host the QS APPLE 2021
Conference, as the theme and topics resonate strongly with our focus on the
importance of cultivating transdisciplinary education and research to meet the
needs of tomorrow,” he said.

Mr
Anton John Crace, Editor & Programme Designer of QS,
commented: “As we continue to face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, it
is vital that we champion the crucial role which higher education institutions
play in enabling the knowledge exchange which is needed to enact change on a
global scale. In the Asia Pacific region, perhaps more than anywhere else in
the world, there is already a huge momentum for growth and development in
higher education. We have already seen rapid change in research output,
collaboration and impact over the past decade.”

“QS are proud partners to the higher
education sector – working together with world-class universities and employers
to understand and navigate future trends and what they mean for individual
institutions. I look forward to hearing the range of experiences and
perspectives from the incredible panel of experts who we are proud to have
brought together for this year’s QS APPLE Conference,” he said.

The three-day virtual conference will feature
keynotes, debates, panel discussions, and case studies spread across five tracks:
(1) Crossing disciplinary divides (research
innovation), (2) Thriving through
collaborations (partnerships), (3) Cultivating
great minds (innovation in pedagogy), (4) Finding the next big thing (strategic planning) and (5) Student flows during a pandemic
(student insights).

A Presidents Panel on the theme “Building resilient universities for tomorrow: An Asian perspective”
will be held on 1 November, with Professor
Alexander Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU; Professor Lily Kong, President of the Singapore Management
University; Professor Joonki Paik, Provost and Executive
Vice President of Research of the Chung-Ang University in Korea; Professor Yang Bin, Vice President and
Provost of Tsinghua University in mainland China; and Professor T.G. Sitharam, Director of the Indian Institute of
Technology, Guwahati, as the panellists; and Mr Anton John Crace as the moderator.

The conference will also present roundtable and panel discussions
on specific topics including art-tech, wellness, as well as artificial
intelligence and ethics, university partnerships, and innovative pedagogies.

Please visit
the official website of the conference (https://qsapple.org/) for the full agenda and other information about the
event.

Media representatives who would like to join
the virtual conference can register free of charge via QS APPLE 2021’s designated
webpage (https://qsapple.org/registration?promo=PRESS). The
quota for free media registrations is limited and applications
will be entertained on a first-come-first-served basis.