Heads of University Management & Administration Network in Europe

HUMANE Study Visit Southeast Asia

Driving Success: Strategic Innovation through transformative leadership in Southeast Asian Universities

Hosted by University of Nottingham, Malaysia; The St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI), Singapore, November 9-14, 2025

The HUMANE 2025 Southeast Asia Study Visit is a unique opportunity for senior university leaders to understand what makes Southeast Asia such a strong powerhouse of innovation and economic success and what it means for institutions located in the region.  Participants will engage in high level conversations with those who have driven large scale educational developments, seeing first-hand what this means in practice and what has driven such significant success.

The visit to the campuses of several universities will also be the opportunity to get a sense of the university life, innovative teaching approaches, student engagement and the startup ecosystem: The University of Malaysia Nottingham, the The St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI) in Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU).   

ASEAN is the world’s fifth-largest economy only just behind the US, China, Japan, and Germany.  It has a growing population of 660 million inhabitants; there is strong appetite for higher education and a growing research production with leading areas of research excellence.

How are Malaysia and Singapore transforming their higher education system, building significant capacity for higher education and research excellence, and by doing so contributing to major societal and economic growth?  What can be learnt from national policy and from the strategies adopted by different types of universities in these two countries? What are the approaches, the lessons learnt, the opportunities and the good practices?   

Malaysia is a highly multicultural society and one of the world’s major hubs for Transnational Education (TNE).  It offers a wide provision of higher education with some 100 public and private higher education institutions.  Malaysia was one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to support the development of International Branch Campuses.  The country is now a mature TNE market for regional and international students.  It has a strong strategic location in the dynamic Southeast Asia region, is praised for the ease of doing business and its political stability.  The 2015-2025 national Higher Education Blueprint ambitions to attract 250 000 international students by 2025. 

The EU and Malaysia have a close cooperation built on mutual interest in trade and investment, sustainable development and connectivity, climate, energy and the environment, security and human rights.  All are at the heart of the first bilateral EU-Malaysia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed in 2022 which is underpinned by the EU Global Gateway Strategy.

Singapore is a dynamic economic powerhouse in Asia and in the world.  Its universities are among the most highly ranked. The country is a leading industrial centre for aerospace, information technology, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, the creative industry, and professional services.  It is home to numerous multinational companies and is a thriving startup environment.  Lifelong Learning and digitalisation are at the heart of Singapore’s success, supported by national policy and significant investment in Higher Education, Research & Innovation.  Universities play a key role in delivering the national agenda with future-oriented programmes for the dynamic labour market. 

The EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement was signed in July 2024 for commerce by electronic means in goods and services, aiming to stimulate green growth and remove trade obstacles for green technology.  In April 2024 the EU and Singapore also opened exploratory talks on association to Horizon Europe. See EU-Singapore in Horizon Europe.

Hosts 

The University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) is one of the two main hosts for the 2025 HUMANE Southeast Asia Study Visit.  It opened in September 2000 and was the first branch campus of a British University established outside the UK.  UNM has some 5 000 students (undergraduate and postgraduate levels) and 280 academic staff. The main campus is located on a 48-hectare newly built campus; the University also has a Teaching centre in the business district in Kuala Lumpur.   The university was given a five-star rating in the Malaysia Research Assessment (MyRAs) for research excellence in 2020, the only foreign university in Malaysia to be awarded two consecutive MyRAs.

Our other main host is the Swiss University of St.Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI) in Singapore since 2011.  The Institute serves as a platform for Asia-related teaching, research, and services for the University, fostering wide exchanges between Asia and Europe and enabling deeper mutual understanding of cultures, regions, and economies between Singapore and Switzerland. It helps the University of St. Gallen develop strategic collaborations with leading national partner universities in Singapore for education and research.

Themes

The Study Visit will among others focus on:

  • University strategic positioning in the region
  • University approaches to contribute to national talent strategies: universities skilling, upskilling and reskilling for the labour market
  • Delivering research and innovation for economic and societal growth 
  • Driving transformations in university professional services   
  • Delivering Transnational education for capacity building, innovation and economic growth 
  • Sustaining global and local partnerships  

Programme delivery 

The Study Visit will include strategic conversations with highly experienced leaders and managers in higher education from multiple leading universities.

The Study Visit will start on Sunday afternoon 9 November and will end on Friday 14 November 2025 (16:00). The full programme will be available very soon.