Mastermind Europe Conference – Admissions for an international classroom

On July 5-7 2017, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam hosts an international conference on Master’s admission for a diverse international classroom. The conference brings together a large variety of professionals; academics, researchers and practitioners. The main focus will be on how Master’s admissions need to evolve in the context of globalisation and the ongoing Bologna process.

Who should attend?

The Mastermind Europe Conference is relevant for deans of faculties and schools, coordinators of Master’s programmes, policy makers and university administrators at faculty, university and national level.

What can I learn?

The conference offers knowledge, expertise and understanding of current practice, trends and debates on the recruitment, selection, and admission of applicants to their programmes. Furthermore, you will be introduced to the Mastermind Europe Tools, which allow to create a diverse (international) Master’s classroom in the post-Bologna era in European Higher Education– and a platform to exchange experience with colleagues in similar positions. Topics will include alternative approaches to traditional diploma recognition, to the paradigm shift this entails, to development of an internal and external coherent admission framework – and many other issues that provide food for thought on matters of validity, transparency and efficiency.

Read more about the programme or sign up for the conference here

Background information

To respond to the need for more graduate mobility both within and towards Europe, Master’s coordinators need the relevant tools and expertise to match diverse applicants with the right study programmes. This is where Mastermind Europe steps in! Mastermind Europe is a project funded by the European Union as part of the ERASMUS+ Key Action Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices. The project addresses an important and urgent aspect of the BOLOGNA transformation which has received little attention thus far – the pertinent problem of diverse admission.

To support Master’s coordinators, a package of tools will be developed. This will include recognition instruments, suggestions on how to adapt admission criteria and other university admission procedures to accommodate more diverse students. This will help Master’s coordinators to decide on relevant admission criteria for various study programmes and applicants, how to assess applicants on those criteria and how to ensure transparency.

The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam leads the project and works together with a consortium of universities and higher education organisations including:

• Stichting VU-VUMC
• Academic Cooperation Association
• Associació Catalana d’Universitats Públiques
• Helsingin Yliopisto
• Vilniaus Universitetas
• Univerza V Ljubljani
• Ziggurat BV
• Studyportals BV
• Politecnico di Milano
• Hochschulrektorenkonferenz
• Universität Graz

Hope to see you there!