We invite students from a balanced range of countries/regions, disciplines and academic levels (Bachelor’s / Master’s / PhD) to participate in ICED 2020. We welcome diversity of gender, sexual orientation and religion.

For students: Would you like to take advantage of a unique opportunity to make your voices heard at the most important international academic development conference in the world? Would you like to gain valuable experience by attending it and networking with a dedicated, international network of academic developers? Would you (as a student ambassador) like to get a publication under your belt? And most important: would you like to speak your mind on the topic of “the future-ready graduate” and move us all forward? If so, we cordially invite you to contribute to ICED 2020, in one of the following ways:

  • Take part in ICED 2020, with travel, accommodation and conference fees paid, as a student ambassador (subject to a nomination and selection process). See details below.
  • Submit a short video statement on the subject of “the future-ready graduate” to be presented at the conference (any motivated student may submit; contributions subject to a selection process). See details below.
  • Attend ICED 2020 at the special student rate: see https://iced2020.ch/

For ICED networks: See the email “ICED 2020: Involving students” sent to you by the ICED office. May we ask for your help in recruiting?

We wish to recruit students in the below areas:

(1) As “Student ambassadors”

Duties of the student ambassadors:

  • Participation in the ICED 2020 conference in Zurich, Switzerland, on 15-18 June 2020: The student ambassadors will participate fully in the conference, from the opening event on Monday 15 June 2020 to conference wrap-up on Thursday 18 June 2020. They will also attend extra preparatory meetings with the student panel moderator and other students.
  • Daily reports: The student ambassadors will attend the conference sessions, confer with other students, and briefly record their impressions of the conference each day (perhaps in video form). They will use the daily reports to prepare the conference wrap-up.
  • Panel discussion: Together with an ETH moderator the student ambassadors will plan and take part in a 90-minute student panel discussion (plenary session) on Day 2 of the conference (Wednesday 17 June 2020).
  • Wrap-up: At the close of the conference on 18 June the student ambassadors will briefly present the daily reports and deliver their verdicts on the conference, with outlook, also with reference to the opening video statements (see below).
  • Conference proceedings: The student ambassadors will be asked to co-author a contribution to the ICED 2020 conference proceedings, with guaranteed publication in the ETHZ Learning and Teaching Journal or possible publication in ICED’s International Journal for Academic Development (IJAD).

Nomination and acceptance procedure for the student ambassadors:

  • Student ambassador candidates may be nominated by any institutional member of a local association affiliated with the ICED network. Candidates should be qualified, highly motivated, and able to travel to Zurich and remain for the whole conference period (15-18 June 2020).
  • Nominations should be submitted by email to katherine.hahn@let.ethz.ch. Each nomination should include:
  • A short biography of the student, including contact details
  • Reasons for nominating this particular student: why the student would be a good ambassador; what the student could contribute to ICED 2020 o An abstract written by the student of no longer than 300 words presenting his/her thoughts on “the future-ready graduate”
  • Nomination deadline: The deadline for nominations is 30 November 2019.
  • Selection process: The 4-6 successful candidates will have something to say on the conference topic; speak excellent English; have good communication and presentation skills; and thrive in front of an audience.
  • Acceptance/rejection: Candidates will be informed of acceptance/rejection by 31 December 2019.

Costs covered:

We will be in touch with the confirmed student ambassadors regarding travel, accommodation, any visa requirements etc. The costs we will cover are:

  • Round-trip economy class travel to Zurich o Hotel accommodation and public transport in Zurich during the conference period (15-18 June 2020) plus 1 day on either side if required for travel o Conference registration fee (includes several meals during the conference, but not all)
  • To contribute video statements

We will kick off the conference with short video statements from students around the world with something to say on the theme of “the future-ready graduate”. Any motivated student with good spoken English or the willingness to provide an English translation (we will convert it to subtitles) may contribute a video statement. We welcome contributing students to attend the conference, but this is not a requirement.

Procedure and format:

  • Students ask themselves the question: “For me, who is the future-ready graduate at my university / in my country / in today’s world?” They may want to take some time on this, and discuss with their peers.
  • Students make an individual selfie video on their phones, in English or (if not in English) accompanied by an English translation. The video must be no longer than 20 seconds. If the statement is in a language other than English that language must be identified. First, students should introduce themselves with name, university and country. Second, they should give their answer to the question. There are no rules, but they might start by saying “For me / At my university / In my country, the future-ready graduate is …”
  • Procedure: Students simply upload this video to https://tinyurl.com/ICEDstudentvoices and then send an email to katherine.hahn@let.ethz.ch informing us that they have submitted. If the video is not in English this email should also identify the language of the statement and include a translation. Privacy issues: By sending the video statement students agree to have it considered for, and perhaps presented at, the conference. Deadline for submissions: 29 February 2020. We will inform students of acceptance/rejection of their video statements by 31 March 2020.
  • We will select several videos and present them on Day 1 of the ICED 2020 conference (16 June 2020) – even before the first keynote speaker. Any student may submit a video statement. Good image and in particular audio quality will be factors in the choice we make, but our main aim is to have a range of student voices which is as international and diverse as possible.
  • The contributor of every video selected will be named in the conference programme, and will receive an online voucher of individual choice worth CHF 50.00.