IARU Newsletter Issue 3

As Cambridge's tenure as Chair and Secretariat of IARU draws to a close, we are delighted to welcome Professor Daya Reddy of the University of Cape Town as the new Chair of IARU. The UCT Secretariat team will be led by Carolyn Newton, IARU Senior Officer for UCT, who has had a long association with the alliance. 

The IARU Presidents' had a productive and successful meeting in Zurich earlier this year, welcoming a number of new Vice-Chancellors and Presidents to the group. We look forward to the Senior Officers' Meeting which will be held at the Australian National University in September 2023.

We are always happy to receive any feedback, suggestions or content for future newsletters, so please do get in touch with the Secretariat on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

You can view the newsletter as a pdf or explore the content through the links below.

Presidents' Meeting 2023

The Presidents met in January and were pleased to welcome Professor Gong Qihuang (PKU), Professor Irene Tracey (Oxford) and Dr Anthony Freeling (Cambridge) to their first IARU meetings.

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Net zero in universities

At the Presidents' Meeting, Dr Claudia Zingerli (Head of Sustainability at ETH Zürich) outlined ETH's ambitious plans to achieve net zero by 2030.

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Chair and Secretariat transition

Professor Daya Reddy, interim Vice-Chancellor of UCT, will serve as the new IARU Chair, joined by the team at UCT who will lead on Secretariat duties.

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Global Transformations Borderlands field course

We are delighted to see the return of the Borderlands field course, a cornerstone of the IARU Global Transformations group. Based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, this course provides valuable experiences for IARU students.

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In the spotlight: Getting to know our IARU members

Dr Rui Brandao, Director of IT Services at ETH Zürich, has led the IARU Cybersecurity Forum since 2020. The work of this group focuses on the balance between academic freedom and the need for efficiency and security in IT, a challenge common to all IARU universities.

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Global Internships Program 2023

Another initiative that has benefitted from the return of international travel, is our Global Internship Program. Find out more about this year's opportunities for IARU students.

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CYBATHLON 2024

A flagship project of ETH Zürich, CYBATHLON is an initiative that brings together education, research, outreach and technology transfer in the field of assistive technology. IARU universities are especially encouraged to participate in the 2024 edition.

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IARU Contacts

See what's coming up in the IARU Calendar, contact the Secretariat or find the key contacts for your institution.

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Newsletter Survey 2021 Insights

In May 2021 the incoming Secretariat launched an online survey open to everyone currently involved in IARU. The survey aimed to engage the IARU membership on specific questions and to capture the ideas and current concerns of members. It was structured as a mixture of required and optional questions, and respondents were able to provide free text responses to almost every question.

It was striking to see how a few key themes emerged from the responses, with around half of the potential respondents putting forward their views. The survey received feedback from a broad cross-section of the IARU community, representing Senior Officers, Key Contacts, Group and Initiative Leads and Members.

The feedback from the survey has directly informed the Secretariat’s proposals at the Senior Officers’ Meeting in 2021 and IARU members can view the survey summary on the Senior Officers' Meetings page. 

‘The global nature of the network and the fact that most institutions are not competing against each other encourages the sharing of useful information and examples of best practice.’

 Survey response, May 2021

Survey feedback on Groups

How active is your group and what makes a group productive?

Many noted the difficulties of maintaining activities during the pandemic and remote working, but the majority described their groups as fairly or very active.

Group productivity was attributed to four factors:

• Clear planning about the work programme and goals
• Committed leadership in the group/initiative
• Engaged members
• Face-to-face meetings

Would it be helpful to have written guidance?

The feedback on this question indicated that members would welcome guidance on:

• Creating New Groups
• Rethinking / Retiring Groups
• Identifying and Prioritising Work

IARU-wide themes

Below are the themes that came up most frequently for the three questions that focussed on more general IARU matters.

What makes IARU different?

• Diverse, truly global membership
• Small number of members
• Shared perspectives and issues

What opportunities do we have?

• Best practice sharing
• Provide more support and encouragement for research collaborations
• Staff and student exchange

What challenges do we face?

• Securing funding within universities to support an individual’s participation in group work (esp. travel costs)
• Getting institutions and managers to incentivise members to be active in IARU

What should the Secretariat stop or start doing?

• The Secretariat’s activities should be more visible to those who are not group leaders
• The website to contain more information and up to date content.
• To have a clearer sense of IARU’s strategic priorities and direction to help inform their work, especially in a post-pandemic context.

Handbook for Groups

At the Senior Officers’ Meeting in 2021, the Secretariat made a proposal to create a Handbook for groups. In addition to capturing the knowledge and experience of our current groups, the Handbook will also offer advice on:

• How to set up a new group
• The practicalities of running a group
• The expectations for each kind of group (working group vs networking group etc.)
• How groups interact with the Secretariat and the support that would be offered.
• Evaluating the activities of a group to make decisions on current and future work.

The Handbook is not intended to be prescriptive but would be especially useful for anyone setting up a new group, or a current group which has experienced staff turnover.

The Secretariat will be contacting all group leads to draw on their experience, understand what has worked well for them and where they feel changes could be made. This feedback will be incorporated directly into the Handbook.

We would also be very happy to hear from any IARU group members that would like to contribute to the planning of the Handbook, so please feel free to get in touch on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

In the spotlight: Getting to know our IARU Group members

Zeba Salman

Director of Alumni Relations, Australian National University

IARU Alumni Associations Network Member

As Director of Alumni Relations at The Australian National University (ANU), Zeba is responsible for connecting the University's global network of over 126,000 ANU alumni.

Previously at the University of Newcastle NSW, Zeba’s relocation to Australia in 2017 follows extensive sector experience in London-based universities, including SOAS, University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies) and Imperial College London.

Zeba is a graduate of King’s College London, and her professional experience spans the development of international networks, membership and external engagement, higher education and related fundraising, marketing, communications, and recruitment activities.

IARU Alumni Associations Network

Zeba shared her thoughts with us on what the priorities for the IARU Alumni Associations Network are and the value it brings to its group members:

“Alumni are an important stakeholder group for IARU institutions, with Alumni Relations teams serving a broad University-wide remit, nurturing relationships between alumni and with students, academics and industry partners.

The IARU Alumni Associations Network is a key body connecting IARU alumni directors, providing a platform for an exchange of experiences and paving the way for best practice across partner institutions. Over an annual schedule of online and in-person summits, delegates discuss sector updates and developments, as well as opportunities to collaborate on joint programs and activities.

The Network has proven to be particularly supportive over the pandemic era, with international members connecting online and sharing ‘alumni engagement pivot plans’ in an uncertain environment. Having the opportunity to hear about localised challenges in this international framework first-hand has helped to add context to each member’s own strategic plans, with members being very much unified in their respective approaches. In navigating a COVID-influenced environment, IARU alumni leaders have met the moment with innovation and enterprising alumni programming.

In this way, the IARU Alumni Associations Network brings together the critical role alumni can have as influencers, advocates, and supporters in advancing the vision and reputational aims of IARU partners.”