1. Background and Rationale

In response to the demand of education and challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Southeast Asian countries have continuously planned sustainable system, national-level policies and school-level practices to address the learning crisis.  Therefore, it is more critical than ever for policymakers and implementers to access reliable information and reflect on new valid evidence to improve the futures of education in accelerating efforts to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.  This has highlighted the increasing need of relevant and timely research to deliver policy messages for well-directed development, well-informed decision making, and evidence-based strategies to obtain expected outcomes and make systematic change.

Fueled by Priority 6: Promoting Harmonisation in Higher Education and Research as one of the 7 Priority Areas of the SEAMEO Education Agenda 2015 – 2030 with the acknowledgement of the abundant potential to combine and amplify the expertise of regional think tanks from SEAMEO Member Countries to leverage the holistic development of human resources in the region, the SEAMEO Secretariat establishes the SEAMEO Research University Network (SEA-RUN) to serve as a “Network of Research and Sharing for Development” platform.  The SEA-RUN expects to utilise the existing capabilities of the region to realign strategic direction of regional education stakeholders and to better serve the Southeast Asian community for a better quality of life through collaborative and strategic partnerships in undertaking research activities and providing research expertise.

In connection with this, the SEAMEO Secretariat organises the SEAMEO Research University Network (SEA-RUN) Inaugural Meeting to initiate the establishment of the Network and to bring Network Members/ research experts together to share experiences and exchange best practices as well as to explore the possibility of joint activities/ projects of the Network in areas of mutual interest for the years 2022 – 2023.

 

2. Objectives of the Network

The SEAMEO Research University Network (SEA-RUN) aims to:

  1. Provide the platform to proactively share reliable and valid research in education, science, and culture which aligns with or stays ahead of the development trend;
  2. Develop network and partnership among educational institutions and research experts in different fields in Southeast Asia to explore new possibilities for innovation and cooperation in undertaking joint research activities;
  3. Leverage capacity of educational leaders, educators, lecturers, researchers and students in the conduct and utilisation of timely and relevant research aligned to the needs of the region;
  4. Dialogue on emerging issues and common interests in education, science and culture, and identify relevant courses of action or advocacy for SEAMEO to pursue;
  5. Create a pool of research experts for the establishment of working committees or technical working groups for SEAMEO projects and programmes; and
  6. Enhance relevance and sharpen responsiveness of SEAMEO to the needs of education leaders for policy research to address regional human resources development issues in Southeast Asia.

 

3. Objectives of the Meeting

The SEAMEO Research University Network (SEA-RUN) Inaugural Meeting aims to:

  1. Present the overview of the SEA-RUN and introduction of Network Members;
  2. Provide a platform for research experts and educational stakeholders to discuss and share experiences, gains, challenges and lessons learned in undertaking research during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as research priorities and emerging areas of interest in the post-pandemic world;
  3. Identify possible collaborative research projects/ programmes /activities in areas of mutual interest among Network Members; and
  4. Expand and intensify network and partnership to mobilise and create synergies among educational institutions and research experts in the region.

 

4. Participating Institutions

The SEAMEO Research University Network (SEA-RUN) initially comprises 9 invited universities from different Southeast Asian countries which have strong proficiency in research and innovation. The university must be accredited by the government of its respective country.  The list of participating institutions is as follows:

No. University Country
1 Universiti Teknologi Brunei Brunei Darussalam
2 Royal University of Phnom Penh Cambodia
3 Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia
4 Souphanouvong University Lao PDR
5 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
(National University of Malaysia) 		Malaysia
6 University of Information Technology Myanmar
7 Philippine Normal University Philippines
8 Chiang Rai Rajabhat University Thailand
9 Duy Tan University Vietnam

 

5. Venue and Format
  • Host organisation: The SEAMEO Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Venue: Avani Sukhumvit Bangkok Hotel, 2089 Sukhumvit Road, Phra Khanong Nuea, Wattana, Bangkok 10260.
  • Mode of the meeting: Fully Face to Face

*Note: Participation is only for invited delegates

 

6. Tentative Programme

 

7. Contact