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From Panic to Practice: Governing AI in Higher Education

Thu 17 Sep 2026 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM King's College London, Bush House 8th floor, WC2R 2LS
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From Panic to Practice: Governing AI in Higher Education

Thu 17 Sep 2026 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM King's College London, Bush House 8th floor, WC2R 2LS
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As AI is rapidly reshaping higher education—transforming teaching, research, and administration – universities are grappling with questions around leadership, ethics, capability-building, and institutional strategy. But AI is prompting not only new governance challenges but also a reconsideration of the university’s societal mission, its relationship to technological development, and, as a site for critical inquiry, its responsibilities in shaping democratic and sustainable futures.

Please join us for this one-day conference organised by Circle U., the Coimbra Group, and King's College London. The event brings together scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and sector leaders to critically examine how higher education institutions are — and ought to be —governing AI. 


Draft agenda is below. 

Time

Session

Speakers

9.00 – 9.30

Registration and coffee

9.30 – 9.45

Introductions and welcome

9.45 – 10.45

Governing through capacity building
  • Dr Asmaa Abusamra, Visiting Researcher, Østfold University of Applied Science
  • Professor Mirjam Hauck, Open University, Academic Lead for AI in Learning, Teaching and Assessment
  • Professor Thibault Philippette, President of the Louvain Learning Lab, UCLouvain

10.45-12.00

3 Years On – Where do the principles take us? Perspectives of London-based Russell Group Universities: positionality, policy and practice
  • Professor Chie Adachi, Dean for Digital Education, QMUL
  • Professor Sophie Rutschmann, Associate Provost (Digitally Enhanced Learning and Teaching), Imperial College London
  • Professor Parama Chaudhury, Pro Vice Provost (Education: Student Academic Experience), UCL
  • Dr Claire Gordon, Director, Eden Centre for Education Enhancement, LSE
  • Dr Fiona Strawbridge, Director of Digital Education, King's College London

12.00 – 13.00

Lunch

13.00 – 14.00

The people behind the policy: AI Leads
  • Coco Nijhoff, Imperial College London, Senior Teaching Fellow and Lead AI Futurist
  • Dr David Jiří Šlosar, Charles University, AI Methodologist
  • Dr Jelena Dzakula-Fuller, Senior Lecturer, King's College London

14.00 – 15.15

Decolonizing AI Governance in Higher Education
  •  Dr Zahra Rizvi, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Bergen
  • Elise Marie Strand Hagen, Researcher, University of Bergen
  • Dr Ashraf Pullikamath, Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics
  • Dr Steven George, Postdoctoral Researcher, King's College London

15.15 – 15.45

Coffee break


15.45 – 17.00

Beyond Compliance: Rethinking AI Governance
  • Iain Cross, AI Lead, King's College London and Dr Alina Congreve, Vitae Associate
  •  Iain MacLaren, Director, Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching, University of Galway
  • Dr Joanna Ślaga, Assistant Professor, Jagiellonian University Museum; Deputy Director for Strategic and Scientific Affairs
  • Dr Silvia Gallagher, Research Fellow, Trinity College Dublin

17.00– 18.15

Keynote panel
  • Dr Kate Hoskins, Reader in Public Policy, Deputy Director of the School for Government, King's College London
  • Tbc
  • Tbc


Location

King's College London, Bush House 8th floor, WC2R 2LS