From Sweden to Scotland: Europe’s largest higher education conference, EAIE
Joseph works as Strategic Partnerships and Networks Coordinator at the Global Office. He has just returned from EAIE 2025, Europe’s largest higher education conference, and has shared some of his insights.
The European Association for International Education (EAIE) conference is Europe’s biggest higher education conference, and it is always a privilege to be asked to represent the University of St Andrews Global Office at this event. The conference allows many people working at universities, representative bodies, higher education companies and international organisations to discuss ongoing partnerships, explore new opportunities and share best practice. Everybody’s schedule seemingly runs from 9am until at least 9pm, as business and conversations flow through meetings, training sessions, lunches, discussions, dinners and receptions.
I only had two days at the conference, and sadly missed the opening reception, which was held in the Liseberg theme park. Still, after spending much of EAIE 2024 on the Ferris Wheel, it was good to be back at sea level. Despite having just two days, I had meetings with around 30 partners and potential partner universities; and informal chats with many more. I went to two training sessions that were relevant to my work: Professional Staff Weeks and Joint Funding Programmes. I also attended four receptions and dinners, hosted by the UK and Norway; Czechia, Hong Kong and the UArctic’s North2North exchange network. The Scottish on-stand afternoon reception, organised by Connected Scotland, was very busy as usual.
If I have to pick a highlight, it would be the Hong Kong Reception. Firstly, one of the hosting academics spoke warmly of teaching the late Ian Taylor, Professor in International Relations and African Political Economy at St Andrews. In international education, we are always standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. Secondly, the whole evening was wonderful. I enjoyed a good chat in French with colleagues from France and Switzerland, the food was excellent and also managed to win first prize in the raffle – an iconic Camel vacuum flask, made in Hong Kong. Finally, I went on a late-night supermarket trip with colleagues from the Hong Kong universities, searching for the very best in Swedish biscuits, chocolate and fish paste.
St Andrews is coordinating the Scottish Arctic Network and has recently joined UArctic‘s North2North exchange programme. So, it was fitting that I met a good number of people from UArctic universities. They were a pleasant group and enthusiastic about the network. At St Andrews, we regularly advertise UArctic opportunities, in both Memos and our Arctic Special Interest Group on Microsoft Teams (please email to join), so it was good to meet people from the universities I knew of through the network. It was also interesting to meet people from regions I haven’t met previously, such as Quebec. Fortunately, the French side of my brain was working surprisingly well!
It sounds bizarre to say that one can feel ‘at home’ in a group of 7,000 people from more than 100 countries, but this is the unusual nature of EAIE. After you have done the conference for a few years, you do actually recognise and remember a large number of the people there, even if you had a conversation 5 years ago and are quickly saying hello. Remarkably, almost all of the participants bring a certain spirit of open-ness and helpfulness to others, which is quite infectious. It is one of the most pleasant parts of my working year. My special thanks go to Kathrin, Leonora, Anke and Bianka from Goethe University Frankfurt, who rescued me from very low caffeine and sugar levels on Thursday afternoon.
In September 2026, the EAIE conference will be held in Glasgow. St Andrews will play an important role in coordinating the conference, sharing its expertise and, of course, welcoming participants to St Andrews.
Thank you to Joseph for sharing his insights and experiences from EAIE 2025. If you would like to know more, contact us at [email protected]