WSU27 · World Summit on Universities 2027
Re-Imagine University
The World Summit on Universities 2027 meets from Sunday 7 to Friday 12 November 2027 at the NEST Convention Center in Belek, Antalya, Türkiye.
One week, one theme, one founding assembly
| Name | World Summit on Universities 2027, WSU27 |
|---|---|
| Dates | Sunday 7 to Friday 12 November 2027 |
| Place | NEST Convention Center, Belek, Antalya, Türkiye |
| Theme | Re-Imagine University |
| Delegates | 1,000+ Founding Delegates from every region |
| Adopts | The International Day of Universities on 7 November; the Antalya University Declaration on 11 November |
| Convened by | World Summit on Universities - WSU LLC |
| Strategic partner | World Universities Foundation |
| Join | W-S-U.org/WSU27-Join |
| Contact | WSU27@W-S-U.org |
The future of the university, and the university of the future
Two questions stand behind the theme. The first asks what will become of the institution itself: its purpose, its place in society, its relation to the state, to the economy and to the communities it serves. The second asks what a university must be to serve the decades ahead: how it teaches, researches, governs and earns the trust of the public.
Re-Imagine University has been the theme of the World Summit on Universities since 2024. In 2027 it is the thread of the whole year: the Founders' Council of the World Universities Foundation opens the work in January, and WSU27 adopts it in November.
The purpose
What a graduate must carry into a world not yet visible. Which knowledge must be kept, advanced and shared.
The practice
Teaching, research and service in the age of intelligent machines. Governance, finance and trust.
The place
The university in its city and its nation. Its role in the questions that cross borders.
The future of the university, and the university of the future.
Four gatherings, one destination
- FC2726 to 29 January 2027The Founders' Council
- CAN-2714 to 17 March 2027The twin summit on climate action
- SUF2725 to 28 April 2027The Smart University Forum
- WSU277 to 12 November 2027The Summit adopts
The year opens with the Founders' Council, FC27, from 26 to 29 January 2027. Its four tracks form the Founding Boards of four initiatives of the World Universities Foundation, and each board adopts its road to November. CAN-27 follows from 14 to 17 March, and the Smart University Forum, SUF27, from 25 to 28 April; both are held in collaboration with the World Summit on Universities.
Through the months between, the boards consult universities in every region. In November they bring their results to WSU27, where the Founding Delegates examine them and adopt them together.
FC27 and SUF27 are convened by the World Universities Foundation, the strategic partner of WSU.
Four initiatives, presented and adopted in this order
Each initiative reaches the Summit through its Founding Board, formed at FC27 in January. The board presents its year of work, and the Founding Delegates examine it and decide. WSU27 is the place where these initiatives become the shared work of the universities of the world.
The International Day of Universities
One day each year, on 7 November, when universities everywhere celebrate what they give to humanity.
International days exist for many causes, professions and ideas. None is given to the university. The International Day of Universities, IDU, sets one fixed date in every country, so that a small college and a great university celebrate at the same moment, as equals. Each university chooses how it celebrates, from one public lecture to a whole open day.
WSU27 opens on that date. On Sunday 7 November 2027, the Founding Delegates adopt the day together, and the first International Day of Universities is celebrated on campuses around the world on 7 November 2028, then every year after that.
- Announce7 November 2026: the worldwide call is renewed
- Adopt7 November 2027: adopted at WSU27, on the date itself
- Celebrate7 November 2028: the first celebration, every year after
Thank you, professor. Three words that every university should hear once a year.
The Antalya University Declaration
The future of the university, declared by the universities of the world.
The Antalya University Declaration, AUD, is a universal declaration of principles and commitments for the university, drafted through an open global consultation. It is a declaration of principle, not a treaty: a preamble and ten articles, brief enough to be read in minutes and cited for generations. It answers to no government, market or ranking, and it sets a shared direction, never a single model.
The questions before the delegates:
- Graduates. What knowledge, capacities and values must a graduate carry into a world not yet visible?
- Knowledge. Which forms of knowledge must be preserved, advanced and shared responsibly, and how?
- Boundaries. Which ethical boundaries must remain firm in an age of powerful technologies?
On Thursday 11 November 2027, the Founding Delegates adopt the Declaration together. From that day it is open for signature to every university in the world, and it remains open.
The State of Universities Annual Report
The Summit decides with evidence in hand.
SUAR is the global reference on where the university stands and where it must go, read through five lenses: challenges, aspirations, ideas, concepts and trajectories. It does not rank the university; it reads the state of the whole, across the fourteen domains of university life. Its founding edition, SUAR27, is presented to the Founding Delegates in Antalya.
The Authors' Corner
The best thinking on the university, within reach.
The Authors' Corner connects the authors, publishers and university presses whose work shapes higher education with the leaders who run the world's universities. At WSU27 its selected books sit on a curated shelf, and its authors meet delegates in conversations, signings and small roundtables.
The four are initiatives of the World Universities Foundation, presented and adopted at WSU27.
Take your seat at WSU27
Request your place among the Founding Delegates, 7 to 12 November 2027. Every request receives a personal reply.
or contact WSU27@W-S-U.org