Universities give hope that we can overcome the world's grand challenges - but only with a multi-lateral, multicultural and multidisciplinary approach
It has perhaps never been more clear how much universities are an extraordinary force for good in the world.
The pandemic -- not only a global health crisis but also a global social and economic crisis -- has of course been a tragedy. The cost to human lives, the cost to livelihoods, and the deep scars in society it will leave for years to come, are all horrendous.
But it has been a huge source of optimism to me – a source of real hope – to witness the extraordinary achievements, the extraordinary resilience and dynamism of the world’s universities throughout this crisis.
Universities have in many ways led the response to the crisis. I am sure their work will be the key to the eventual defeat of the pandemic, and that they will also be the beacons that lead the way on the long road to recovery, and help ensure a bright future.
Everyone in global higher education - everyone – has, and will have, a key role to play.
It will not just be the administrators and the professional services and support staff working tirelessly under huge pressure, to keep the lights on and the wheels turning at universities – ensuring our students continue to gain an education, and our researchers can continue to strive for new knowledge.
It will not just be the students – the armies of student volunteers – playing their part in supporting communities.
It is not just be the university-trained doctors and nurses selflessly and heroically treating patients and saving lives.
It will not just be the virologists and immunologists who raced against time to develop and deliver the tests and the successful vaccines in an unprecedented show of global collaboration and global unity - and who will remain ever vigilant against new mutations and variants of the virus.
The recovery will not just be delivered by academics working in health and in the hard sciences.
It will be the social scientists too.
It will be the epidemiologists developing the models from the rapidly emerging data to inform public policy.
It will be the sociologists, anthropologists and psychologists helping us to understand and predict people’s behaviour and responses to the crisis to help us mitigate its worst effects.
It will be the economists who will monitor the profound socio-economic fall-out of the crisis and help us find a way to build back better.
And it will be arts and humanities scholars too: drawing lessons from history, understanding our culture, our humanity, bringing vital critical thinking and communications skills and helping us all to re-imagine a different, better future.
In short, this global health, social and economic crisis will be beaten by universities working across sectors, with governments and industry. It will be beaten by universities working across borders to take-on a truly global phenomenon, and vitally, it will be beaten by universities working across the academic disciplines, breaking down silos and uniting disparate strands of knowledge across different fields of study.
And be in no doubt – humanity’s next grand challenges – the climate crisis, poverty, food security, conflict -- will all need to be tackled with a similar multi-lateral, multicultural and multidisciplinary approach.
* These comments were from the opening remarks at the Times Higher Education Mena Universities Summit in April 2021 with NYU Abu Dhabi. Join Times Higher Education's World Summit Series Network.