Professor Rajani Naidoo (School of Management) recently attended the fourth annual Times Higher Education BRICS and Emerging Economies Summit in Johannesburg, whose theme this year was 'Reimagining the world-class university'.

She was invited to lead a panel of vice-chancellors and senior leaders in higher education representing Russia, South Africa, the USA and the private sector.

The panel explored the distinct challenges and opportunities for leading universities in emerging economies.

Key issues that emerged included:

• the importance of alternative, contextualised conceptions of the world class university
• the relationship between local relevance and global standing
• ethical public-private partnerships
• the desire for a global academic commons to respond to the issues threatening humanity

For more information on The World Summit Series, recently please visit their website.