India Higher Education Research Conference 2025

India Higher Education Research Network’s (IHERN) flagship research conference, Indian Higher Education Research Conference (IHERC) will be taking place on 21-22 November, 2025 at R&I Park, IIT Delhi.

The conference will serve as a platform for presenting high-quality research of relevance to Indian higher education, and also for discussing practice and policy issues relating to Indian higher education.

IHERC 2025 will be at the intersection of various scholarly fields, including but not limited to higher education studies, the empirical context of higher education in India, and the practice and policy of higher education in India. The conference expects to have participation from the global scholarly community, with interests in Indian higher education.

It will feature keynote speakers:

  • Professor V. Ramgopal Rao, Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani, India
  • Professor Fazal Rizvi, University of Melbourne, Australia

Key dates:

  • Deadline for abstract submission: 24 July 2025
  • Acceptance decision by: 21 August, 2025
  • Registration to open: 1 September, 2025
  • Deadline for full draft paper submission: 22 October 2025
  • Conference dates: 21-22 November, 2025

Find out more here.

 

Research Awards 2025 now open

Applications are now open for the 2025 Research & Scoping Awards.

The Society is offering:

  • £10,000 member awards for research focused on any aspect of higher education submitted under three overarching themes: Higher Education Policy, Higher Education and Society, and Higher Education Practice.
  • Scoping awards of £5,000 each for the exploration of any new or emerging area of higher education research leading to the development of a plan for further research.

Further information and details on how to apply available here.

Deadline 1 September 2025. 

In Memoriam: Professor Claire Callender

The Society is very sad to report the death Professor Claire Callender OBE on 15 April 2025. 

Claire held joint professorships at UCL Institute of Education and Birkbeck, University of London and her outstanding academic career was well described in Simon Marginson’s splendid obituary for HEPI on 18 April 2025. Claire’s research gave her an unrivalled understanding of the consequences for students of higher education funding methods, and she had a rare ability to communicate clearly with both the academic community and with policymakers, reflecting her experience of working in government as well as in academe. Her work showed her consistent concern for the fortunes of part-time students.

As Simon Marginson wrote: “Her heart might have been with Birkbeck, and there her policy focus on part-time, adult and evening students had its natural home.” As Deputy Director in the ESRC Centre for Global Higher Education she played a major part in promoting research into higher education worldwide, being recognised and respected not only for her exceptional research expertise but also for her kind consideration and warm support for colleagues in many countries.

Claire was an active member of SRHE as a member of the Research and Development Committee, serving on the Editorial Board of Studies in Higher Education, giving wise advice to Council on policy issues, and elected as an SRHE Fellow in 2011.

In the words of Simon’s obituary: “She touched the lives of many as a scholar, colleague and mentor; played a central role in policy and public discussion for three decades; and had much respect and friendship in the sector.”

Our thanks to Professor Rob Cuthbert, SRHE News Editor for the above tribute. 

Former SRHE Trustee Professor Emily F. Henderson has also written a personal reflection on the Conference Inference blogspace entitled Fleeting encounters with a formidable scholar – remembering Claire Callender