IAFOR > The European Conference on Education (ECE)

The 13th European Conference on Education (ECE2025)

Partner Logos, Birkbeck, University of London, UCL, ECPD, OSIPP, IAFOR Research Centre

July 10-14, 2025 | SOAS and University College London (UCL), United Kingdom

Welcome to The 13th European Conference on Education (ECE2025), held in partnership with Birkbeck, University of London, the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, and in affiliation with University College London (UCL).

ECE encourages academics and scholars to meet and exchange ideas and views in an international forum stimulating respectful dialogue. This event will afford an exceptional opportunity for renewing old acquaintances, making new contacts, networking, and facilitating partnerships across national and disciplinary borders.

Since its founding in 2009, IAFOR has brought people and ideas together in a variety of events and platforms to promote and celebrate interdisciplinary study, and underline its importance. IAFOR continues to engage in many cross-sectoral projects across the world, including those engaging leading universities (Virginia Tech, University College London (UCL), Singapore Management University (SMU), University of Belgrade, Lingnan University, University of Barcelona, and the University of Hawai’i), think tanks, research organisations and agencies (the East-West Center, The Center for Higher Education Research, The World Intellectual Property Organization), and collaborative projects with governments, and international governmental organisations (Government of Japan through the Prime Minister’s Office, the United Nations in New York), media agencies (The Wall Street Journal, JWT, HarperCollins).

With the IAFOR Research Centre at Osaka University, we have engaged in a number of interdisciplinary initiatives we believe will have an important impact on domestic and international public policy conversations and outcomes.

IAFOR's unique global platform facilitates discussion around specific subject areas, with the goal of generating new knowledge and understanding, forging and expanding new international, intercultural and interdisciplinary research networks and partnerships. We have no doubt that ECE2024 will offer a remarkable opportunity for the sharing of research and best practice and for the meeting of people and ideas.

The 13th European Conference on Education (ECE2025) is an interdisciplinary conference held alongside The 13th European Conference on Arts & Humanities (ECAH2025) and The 5th European Conference on Aging & Gerontology (EGen2025). Registration for any of these conferences will allow delegates to attend sessions in the others. In keeping with our mission, we open the plenary sessions to all delegates across the conferences. We do this as every individual delegate has their own different overlapping interests.

We look forward to seeing you in London and online!

– The Conference Programme Committee

Key Information
  • Location & Venues: SOAS & University College London, UK
  • Dates: Thursday, July 10, 2025 ​to Monday, July 14, 2025
  • Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: February 14, 2025*
  • Final Abstract Submission Deadline: April 18, 2025
  • Registration Deadline for Presenters: May 23, 2025

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

Submit an Abstract
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Speakers

  • Jun Arima
    Jun Arima
    University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Anne Boddington
    Anne Boddington
    IAFOR, Japan
  • Francesco Ciriello
    Francesco Ciriello
    King's College London, United Kingdom
  • Evangelia Chrysikou
    Evangelia Chrysikou
    University College London, UK
  • Joseph Haldane
    Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
  • Rana Khalife
    Rana Khalife
    University College London, United Kingdom
  • Melina Neophytou
    Melina Neophytou
    IAFOR, Japan
  • Anne Nortcliffe
    Anne Nortcliffe
    Wrexham University, United Kingdom
  • Tejendra Pherali
    Tejendra Pherali
    University College London, United Kingdom
  • Fiona Truscott
    Fiona Truscott
    University College London, United Kingdom

IAFOR's Conference Themes for 2025-2029

IAFOR Themes 2025-2029
Our selected themes for 2025-2029 bring together ideas and encourage research and synergies in the following areas:

  • Technology and Artificial Intelligence
  • Humanity and Human Intelligence
  • Global Citizenship and Education for Peace
  • Leadership

    • Our four themes can be seen as standalone themes, but they are also very much in conversation with each other. Themes may be seen as corollaries, complementary, or in opposition/juxtaposition with each other. The themes can be considered as widely as possible and are designed, in keeping with our mission, to encourage ideas across the disciplines.

    Read Last Year's Conference Report

    View the ECE/ECAH/EGen2024 Conference Photo Gallery

    Conference News

    Accepted Presentations

    As of April 9, 2025, ECE2025 has received over 730 submissions from 82 countries. The following submissions have been accepted for presentation at ECE2025. Interdisciplinary, Multidisciplinary & Transdisciplinary Education - Feminism, Dance and the Body: Moving Beyond Binaries Using Embodied ...
    The IAFOR Pub Quiz

    Networking Event: Classic British Pub Quiz

    Sit back, relax, and get a little competitive after the plenaries with IAFOR’s Classic British Pub Quiz event on Friday, July 11 ...

    About IAFOR’s Education Conferences

    IAFOR promotes and facilitates new multifaceted approaches to one of the core issues of our time, namely globalisation and its many forms of growth and expansion. Awareness of how it cuts across the world of education, and its subsequent impact on societies, institutions and individuals, is a driving force in educational policies and practices across the globe. IAFOR’s conferences on education have these issues at their core. The conferences present those taking part with three unique dimensions of experience, encouraging interdisciplinary discussion, facilitating heightened intercultural awareness and promoting international exchange. In short, IAFOR’s conferences on education are about change, transformation and social justice. As IAFOR’s previous conferences on education have shown, education has the power to transform and change whilst it is also continuously transformed and changed.

    Globalised education systems are becoming increasingly socially, ethnically and culturally diverse. However, education is often defined through discourses embedded in Western paradigms as globalised education systems become increasingly determined by dominant knowledge economies. Policies, practices and ideologies of education help define and determine ways in which social justice is perceived and acted out. What counts as "education" and as "knowledge" can appear uncontestable but is in fact both contestable and partial. Discourses of learning and teaching regulate and normalise gendered and classed, racialised and ethnicised understandings of what learning is and who counts as a learner.

    In many educational settings and contexts throughout the world, there remains an assumption that teachers are the possessors of knowledge which is to be imparted to students, and that this happens in neutral, impartial and objective ways. However, learning is about making meaning, and learners can experience the same teaching in very different ways. Students (as well as teachers) are part of complex social, cultural, political, ideological and personal circumstances, and current experiences of learning will depend in part on previous ones, as well as on age, gender, social class, culture, ethnicity, varying abilities and more.

    IAFOR has several annual conferences on education across the world, exploring common themes in different ways to develop a shared research agenda which develops interdisciplinary discussion, heightens intercultural awareness and promotes international exchange.

    Call for Papers

    The ECE Conference Programme Committee welcomes papers from a wide variety of interdisciplinary and theoretical perspectives, and submissions are organised into the following streams:

    • Teaching & Learning
    • Educational Structures
    • Community & Society
    • Language & Culture
    • Psychology, Mind & Brain
    • Innovation & Technology
    • Special Themes and Areas of Focus
    Submit an Abstract

    About IAFOR

    "Inspiring Global Collaborations"

    Founded in 2009, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) is a mission-driven politically independent non-partisan and non-profit organisation dedicated to encouraging interdisciplinary discussion, facilitating intercultural awareness and promoting international exchange, principally through educational interaction and academic research. Based in Japan, its main administrative office is in Nagoya, and its research centre is in the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), a graduate school of Osaka University. IAFOR runs research programs and events in partnership with universities, think tanks, and other associations. Through its international, intercultural and interdisciplinary conferences, research, and publications, IAFOR is a network hub for interdisciplinary discussion across Asia and beyond.
    Read more about IAFOR.

    Francesco Ciriello
    King's College London, United Kingdom

    Biography

    Dr Francesco Ciriello is a Senior Lecturer in Engineering Education at King’s College London, United Kingdom, where he teaches interdisciplinary design. He researches how students learn by working on engineering projects and how they use computational intelligence to improve design processes and outcomes. He is also Director of Undergraduate Student Experience, Departmental lead for Project-based Learning & Design for the General & Electrical Engineering programmes at the same institution, and King’s Academy Fellow in Project-based Learning.

    Dr Ciriello has broad expertise in Simulation and Engineering Design, with application to robotics and control systems, fluid dynamics, and manufacturing. He previously worked in the Education Group at MathWorks and provided consultancy services to educators and researchers on software development with MATLAB & Simulink. He also holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, for his work in experimental fluid dynamics and a MEng in Civil Engineering from Imperial College London, United Kingdom.

    Dr Ciriello is also a visiting lecturer for continued professional development courses at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, where he teaches short courses on Artificial Intelligence for Generative AI, Cloud & Edge, and Digital Twins: Enhancing Model-based design with Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality.

    Keynote Presentation (2025) | Technology and AI in Engineering/STEM Education: Preparing Engineering/STEM Graduates for Global Citizenship and Leadership
    Fiona Truscott
    University College London, United Kingdom

    Biography

    Dr Fiona Truscott is an Associate Professor (Teaching) with the Integrated Engineering Programme and Centre for Engineering Education in the Faculty of Engineering at University College London (UCL), United Kingdom. She earned a BA/MSc in Natural Science (Chemistry) from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Following her PhD, she conducted postdoctoral research on the interface of Biology and Chemistry at the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN), part of the CNRS Délégation Île-de-France Sud. She then went on to conduct postdoctoral research in the Department of Biochemical Engineering at UCL, working on the application of automation technology to Biochemical Engineering.

    Professor Truscott is the Engineering Challenges Module Lead, a cross faculty, large-scale team project module for first year undergraduates at UCL. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and co-chair of the SEFI DEI Special Interest Group. Her current research interests are interdisciplinary teaching, teamwork, and the embedding of social factors in Engineering Education.

    Keynote Presentation (2025) | Technology and AI in Engineering/STEM Education: Preparing Engineering/STEM Graduates for Global Citizenship and Leadership
    Rana Khalife
    University College London, United Kingdom

    Biography

    Dr Rana Khalife is a Lecturer in the Department of Biochemical Engineering at University College London (UCL), United Kingdom.. She primarily teaches the Regenerative Medicine minor, covering a broad range of topics including Manufacturing of Cell and Gene Therapy Products, Bioprocessing, Cost Analysis of Therapies, Advanced Materials, and Devices, such as Bioreactors and Microfluidics. Dr Khalife brings over 10 years of research experience in pluripotent stem cell research and cancer research. Her expertise lies in integrating her deep knowledge of biochemistry, metabolism, and molecular biology with advanced stem cell bioprocessing techniques.

    As the Regenerative Medicine Coordinator for the IEP minor within the department, Dr Khalife plays a pivotal role in designing and delivering content for this specialised programme. She also serves as the Programme Director and Admissions Tutor for the Manufacture and Commercialisation of Stem Cell and Gene Therapies MSc, where she oversees curriculum development, student recruitment, and programme management. Additionally, Dr. Khalife is the Chair of Recruitment within the Department of Biochemical Engineering, leading initiatives to attract applicants and promote departmental growth. Throughout her career, Dr Khalife has demonstrated a strong commitment to bridging fundamental research with practical applications, particularly within the rapidly evolving fields of regenerative medicine and bioprocessing.

    Panel Presentation (2025) | Technology and AI in Engineering/STEM Education: Preparing Engineering/STEM Graduates for Global Citizenship and Leadership
    Anne Nortcliffe
    Wrexham University, United Kingdom

    Biography

    Professor Anne Nortcliffe is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Computing and Engineering, Professor of Inclusive Engineering and Technology, and a member of the University Senior Leadership Team at Wrexham University, United Kingdom. Prior to her joining Wrexham University, Professor Nortcliffe was the Founding Head of Engineering, Technology and Design, a new equity, inclusive, and diverse engineering higher education provision at Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom. She has 30 years of experience in educating the next generation of engineering, technology, and design graduates for industry. Professor Nortcliffe is an experienced and internationally published researcher and developer of engineering and computing education. She passionately works with colleagues and students to develop good practice inclusive engineering and computing education. In 2022, she received the Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering Award in the Contribution to Gender Diversity category and was awarded Executive Leader of the Year at the Engineering Talent Awards in 2021.

    Keynote Presentation (2025) | Engineering Inclusivity, How?
    Melina Neophytou
    IAFOR, Japan

    Biography

    Dr Melina Neophytou is the Academic Operations Manager at IAFOR, where she works closely with academics, keynote speakers, and IAFOR partners to shape academic discussions within The Forum, bring conference programmes together, refine scholarship programmes, and build an interdisciplinary and international community. She is leading various projects within IAFOR, notably The Forum discussions and the authoring of Conference Reports and Intelligence Briefings, and she oversees the Global Fellows Programme.

    Born in Germany and raised in Cyprus, Dr Neophytou received her PhD in International Development from Nagoya University, Japan, in 2023, specialising in political sociology, the welfare state, and contentious politics. She received an MA in International Development from Nagoya University, with a focus on Governance & Law, and a BA in European Studies from the University of Cyprus, Cyprus.

    Forum Discussion (2025) | TBA
    Tejendra Pherali
    University College London, United Kingdom

    Biography

    Tejendra Pherali is a Professor of Education, Conflict and Peace at University College London (UCL), United Kingdom. He developed the pioneering MA programme in Conflict, Emergencies and Peace at UCL, which provides advanced academic training to postgraduate students from around the globe. Currently, he co-directs the university’s Education Research in Conflict and Crisis (ERICC), a global research and learning partnership that strives to transform education policy and practise in conflict and protracted crisis around the world, through building a global hub for rigorous, context-relevant, and actionable evidence base. Professor Pherali served as the Chair of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE), and the Chair of the Editorial Board of Compare Journal. He is also the founding Editor of Education and Conflict Review, an open access peer-reviewed journal, and the author of Conflict, Education and Peace in Nepal (Bloomsbury, 2022) and co-author of Laboratories of Learning: Social Movements, Education and Knowledge-Making in the Global South (Pluto Press, 2024). Professor Pherali is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the United Kingdom.

    Keynote Presentation (2025) | Politics of Education in Conflict and Protracted-Crisis Situations
    Jun Arima
    University of Tokyo, Japan

    Biography

    Professor Jun Arima is the President of IAFOR, and the senior academic officer of the organisation. In this role, Professor Arima is the Honorary Chair of the International Academic Advisory Board, as well as both the Academic Governing Board and its Executive Committee. He also sits on the IAFOR Board of Directors.

    Jun Arima was formerly Director General of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), UK from 2011 to 2015 and Special Advisor on Global Environmental Affairs for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan, from 2011 to 2015. He has previously held various international energy/environment-related positions, including: Head of Division, Country Studies, International Energy Agency (IEA); Director, International Affairs Division, Agency of Natural Resources and Energy, METI; and Deputy Director General for Environmental Affairs at METI’s Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau. In the COP (UN Convention on Climate Change) 14, 15 and 16, he was Japanese Chief Negotiator for AWG-KP.

    Since 2015 Jun Arima has been a Professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan, where he teaches Energy Security, International Energy Governance, and Environmental Policies in the Graduate School of Public Policy. (GraSPP). He is also currently a Consulting Fellow at the Japanese Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). He is also Executive Senior Fellow at the 21st Century Public Policy Institute, Principal Researcher at the International Environmental and Economic Institute (IEEI), Distinguished Senior Policy Fellow, at the Asia Pacific Institute of Research (APIR), Senior Policy Fellow on Energy and Environment, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), and was the Lead Author, the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC).

    Panel Discussion (2025) | TBA
    Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

    Biography

    Joseph Haldane is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s global business and academic operations.

    Dr Haldane’s research and teaching is on history, politics, international affairs and international education, as well as governance and decision making, and he is a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for Global Governance. Since 2015 he has been a Guest Professor at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, where he teaches on the postgraduate Global Governance Course, and, since 2017, Co-Director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre, an interdisciplinary think tank situated within the University.

    In 2020 Dr Haldane was appointed Honorary Professor of UCL (University College London), through the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. He holds Visiting Professorships in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade, and at the Doshisha Business School in Kyoto, where he teaches Ethics and Governance on the MBA, and is a member of the Value Research Center. He is also a Member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa.

    Professor Haldane has given invited lectures and presentations to universities and conferences globally, including at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and advised universities, NGOs and governments on issues relating to international education policy, public-private partnerships, and multi-stakeholder forums. He was the project lead on the 2019 Kansai Resilience Forum, held by the Japanese Government through the Prime Minister’s and Cabinet Office, and oversaw the 2021 Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned study on Infectious Diseases on Cruise Ships.

    Dr Haldane has a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has had full-time faculty positions at the Université Paris-Est Créteil, Sciences Po Paris, and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas, and the schools of Journalism at both Sciences Po Paris, and Moscow State University.

    From 2012-2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu), and since 2015 has been a Trustee of HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). He was elected Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2012 and the Royal Society of Arts in 2015. He lives in Japan and holds a black belt in Judo.

    Previous Presentations

    Featured Interview (2021) | A Life in Language: Lessons in Language and Language Learning
    Panel Presentation (2020) | Embracing Difference? Adaptive Lifelong Learning
    Panel Presentation (2020) | That's NOT Online Learning!: The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning
    Evangelia Chrysikou
    University College London, UK

    Biography

    Dr Evangelia Chrysikou is a registered architect and senior research fellow at UCL. She owns the award-winning SynThesis Architects (London – Athens), that specializes in medical facilities. Her work received prestigious awards (Singapore 2009, Kuala Lumpur 2012, Brisbane 2013, Birmingham 2014, London 2014). Parallel activities include teaching at medical and architectural schools, research (UK, France, Belgium, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Greece and the Middle East) and advisory. She advised the Hellenic Secretary of Health and is the author of the new national guidelines for mental health facilities. Dr Chrysikou is the author of the book ‘Architecture for Psychiatric Environments and Therapeutic Spaces’, healthcare architecture editor, reviewer, active member of several professional and scientific associations and a TED-MED speaker. She is a Trustee, Member of the Board and Director of Research at DIMHN (UK) and Member of the Board at the Scholar’s Association Onassis Foundation.

    Anne Boddington
    IAFOR, Japan

    Biography

    Professor Anne Boddington is Executive Vice-President and Provost of IAFOR, and oversees the academic programs, research and policies of the forum.

    Anne Boddington is Professor Emerita of Design Innovation and has held executive and senior leadership roles in Higher Education including as Dean of Arts & Humanities at the University of Brighton, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, Business & Innovation at Kingston and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at Middlesex University.

    In 2022 she concluded chairing the Sub Panel (32) for Art & Design: History, Practice & Theory as part of the Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) and has extensive experience in the governance and conduct of peer review, research evaluation and assessment in REF2014 (Sub Panel Deputy Chair and Equality Diversity Advisory Panel [EDAP]) and RAE2008. A former member of AHRC’s Advisory Board, she is the current Chair of the Advisory Board for the UKRI’s National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) programme (£30M), Deputy Chair and a Trustee of the Design Council, the government’s strategic advisor for design, and a member of both the InnoHK Scientific Committee (Hong Kong) and the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ).

    Since the 1990’s Anne has worked across the UK and internationally with a wide range of quality assurance, professional, statutory, and regulatory bodies in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Hong Kong, and India.

    As an independent consultant she now works as a strategic advisor and mentor and is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in practice, developing effective governance, supporting career development, reducing bureaucracy, and improving organisational design, integrity, and productivity in the changing workplace.

    Previous Presentations

    Plenary Panel (2020) | Embracing Difference? Adaptive Lifelong Learning
    Plenary Panel I (2017) | Think Like a System, Act Like an Entrepreneur