WES-CIHE Summer Institute

WES-CIHE Summer Institute brings together graduate students and early career researchers in international and comparative higher education from all over the globe. Since the founding of the Institute, we have hosted over 300 participants from more than 40 countries

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About the WES-CIHE Summer Institute

The WES-CIHE Summer Institute supports the development of the next generation of international higher education leaders and scholars by connecting graduate students and early career researchers with seasoned professionals and senior scholars from around the world. 

What is it like to participate in the WES-CIHE Summer Institute?

Watch the video to learn more!

Summer Institute Info


June 8 and 9, 2027

What to Expect

At the Summer Institute, young scholars from around the world convene to share insights, challenge traditional paradigms, and propose innovative approaches to some of higher education’s thorniest problems. 

The theme of the 2027 Summer Institute is Internationalization in a New Geopolitical Era.

At the Summer Institute, participants can expect to:

  • engage in substantive discussions,
  • share their work, in a supportive environment, and receive both written and oral feedback from established scholars, 
  • network with other early-career researchers, and
  • participate in discussions about important developmental topics, such as innovative methods, disseminating your scholarship, and the international job search.

We alternate between an online and an in-person format, year on year, in order to ensure that a broad diversity of early career researchers has the opportunity to participate. The 2027 Summer Institute will be held in person at Boston College. 

Event Program

The Summer Institute combines individual paper presentations, panel discussions with expert speakers and opportunities for group discussion and networking for participants and presenters. Although the specific agenda for the 2027 Summer Institute is not yet confirmed, interested applicants can expect the event to follow a program similar to this indicative agenda.

Tuesday, June 8

8:45 amArrival, Coffee, & Registration
9:30 – 10:45 am      Program Welcome & Opening Panel Discussion
10:45 – 11:15 am                        Participant Introductions & Coffee Break
11:15 – 12:30 pmEarly Career Researcher Presentations
12:30 – 1:30 pmLunch Break
1:30 – 2:30 pmPanel Discussion: Publishing and Disseminating Your Work
2:30 – 2:45 pmTea Break
2:45 – 4:00 pmEarly Career Researcher Presentations
4:00 – 5:00 pmOptional Campus Tour
5:30 – 7:00 pmWine & Cheese Reception
7:00 pm Buses Depart for Dormitories

 

Wednesday, June 89

8:45 amCoffee, Light Breakfast & Networking
9:30 – 10:30 am      Panel Discussion: Building a Research Career in the Age of AI
10:30 – 10:45 am                        Break
10:45 – 12:00 pmEarly Career Researcher Presentations
12:00 – 1:00 pmLunch
1:00 – 2:00 pmProfessional Development Session: The Doctoral/Post-Doctoral Journey
2:00 – 2:15 pmBreak
2:15 – 3:15 pmPanel Discussion: Research Careers Beyond the Tenure Track
3:15 – 3:30 pmTea Break
3:30 – 4:45 pmEarly Career Researcher Presentations
4:45 – 5:00 pmBreak
5:00 – 6:00 pmClosing Discussion
6:30 pm
Buses Depart for Dormitories

 

Speakers

Our 2026 Summer Institute featured a fantastic line-up of expert speakers, including Yusuf Oldac, Samia Chasi, Damtew Teferra, Ariane de Gayardon, Chrystal George Mwangi, Daniela Craciun, Elspeth Jones, Hans de Wit, Miguel Lim, Jenna Mittelmeier, Amy Scott Metcalfe, Shanton Chang, and Christina Yao. 

Speakers for the 2027 Summer Institute will be available in early 2027. 

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Paper Submission

Any graduate student or early career professional* is invited to participate in the 2027 WES-CIHE Summer Institute. Participants who wish to participate should submit a 1,000-word paper representing original research relevant to the conference theme, as well as an up-to-date CV that includes at least one academic reference for us to contact during the application process. Guidance on the paper submission process is available in the video on this page. All applicants are also strongly encouraged to review the Summer Institute AI policy.

Selected participants will be invited to present their paper at the Summer Institute. Selected papers will also be considered for publication in the annual Summer Institute Proceedings; see the most recent publication below. 

The paper submission portal is now open! Papers must be submitted no later than December 30, 2026. Selected participants will be informed by the end of January. Limited travel funding and two nights' free accommodation will be offered to selected participants based outside the Boston area. CIHE will also provide visa invitation letters for all accepted participants; anybody likely to be in need of a visa to enter the United States is strongly encouraged to research their options (and to confirm the process, including timeline) well in advance. Boston College is not able to provide advice on specific visa eligibility for participants. 

* Early-career professionals are eligible if they completed their terminal degree within the past five years.

Have questions about the submission process? Watch the video above to learn more!

AI Policy

As the Summer Institute is fundamentally designed as a formative opportunity for early career researchers in the field of higher education studies, we are eager to understand who you are as a scholar through your application. It is therefore vital that all submitted materials reflect your own ideas and words. Your ability to communicate your own research articulately without the assistance of AI is central to our review, particularly because we will expect any applicants selected for inclusion in the Summer Institute program to both present their work publicly and engage in substantive discussion about their work with those in attendance. We have found that strong applicants stand out not because of polished English but because their scholarship has a unique trajectory and is clearly their own. Strong applicants also write with voices that are authentic and diverse. Applicants should be aware that any submission accepted for publication in the Summer Institute proceedings will go through an extensive copyediting process, designed to improve the fluency of the publication. Applicants should therefore not worry unnecessarily about applications being written in perfect English. Instead, applicants should focus on the authenticity and accuracy of their ideas.

This policy is meant to serve you. AI tools can make writing sound generic and can misrepresent what you hoped to deliver.

In support of this policy, all applicants to the Summer Institute must disclose any use of AI tools and/or large language models, both assistive and generative, in the development of their Summer Institute application. This should take the form of a written statement at the end of the submitted paper. The statement should specify exactly how artificial intelligence was used, if at all, in the development of either the submission or any source material on which the submission is based.

Registration Fees

No registration fees will be collected. All accepted participants can attend the event, free of charge. Space is limited.

There is no option to register/attend without submitting a paper.

Venue

The WES-CIHE Summer Institute is held on the campus of Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, MA, just 20 minutes from Boston’s Logan Airport.

Accommodations

Selected participants will receive two nights' free accomodation in the Boston University dormitories in downtown Boston for the nights of June 7 and 8. (A shuttle service will be provided to bring participants to Boston College from the BU dormitories.)

2025 Summer Institute Proceedings

Reimagining Boundaries: Decolonization and Internationalization in Higher Education. Proceedings of the 2025 WES-CIHE Summer Institute. Rebecca Schendel, Taryn Aldrich, and Siro Pina Cardona, Editors.

We are delighted to present the 2025 Proceedings of the WES-CIHE Summer Institute, a joint initiative of World Education Services (WES) and the Center for International Higher Education (CIHE) at Boston College. 

The theme of 2025’s Summer Institute was Reimagining Boundaries: Decolonization and Internationalization in Higher Education.

Read the Proceedings

Previous Summer Institute Proceedings

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