The central theme of the Forum in 2025 will be “New Realities, New Roles: Higher Education Management in Challenging Times”. In today’s rapidly changing world, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are being called to respond to an expanding set of responsibilities. While their core missions of teaching and research remain essential, HEIs are increasingly expected to contribute to solving complex global challenges—such as climate change, social inequality, public health, and the ethical implications of digital technologies. At the same time, many institutions must navigate complex environments that may place pressure on core educational values such as academic freedom, institutional autonomy, principles of equity and inclusion. The DIES Forum 2025 aims to explore the new roles of higher education institutions in facing the challenges of today’s world through the lens of strategic leadership, academic quality and innovation, equity and inclusion, and community and global engagement.

The DIES Forum aims to bring together DIES alumni and NMT alumni to share views and perspectives on recent developments in higher education, as well as to exchange practices and discuss pressing issues in the dynamic field of higher education management and its capacity building from an inter-regional perspective. The Forum is hosted by the University of Potsdam from Germany and carried out in cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), and the German partner institutions which are implementing training courses in the DIES Programme, i.e. Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Leibniz University Hannover, University of Applied Science Osnabrück, and Saarland University.