Conference “Building the AI-Ready University”, hosted by Queen’s University Belfast, 19-20 October 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping higher education at a pace that challenges universities’ traditional ways of teaching, conducting research, and organising their activities. The question facing universities is no longer whether AI will affect them, but how they should respond. This was a central theme of the UNICA Conference Building the AI-Ready University: Tools, Systems, and Strategies for the Future, hosted by Queen’s University College on 19-20 October 2026. The event brought together representatives from across universities of the network and partners to share perspectives and on their own institutions’ experience of the challenges and opportunities that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is presenting.
Over the course of two days, participants engaged in four different session, each focusing on a specific angle where AI is impacting universities:
- Session 1 | From Chalkboards to Chatbots: AI in Modern Higher Education, which set the scene by asking the more general questions on how universities should prepare for the growing impact of AI on teaching and learning, rethink traditional pedagogical approaches and assessment methods, and equip both students and staff with the skills needed to use AI critically, creatively, and responsibly.
- Session 2 | Beyond the Buzz: What AI Tools Really Offer Universities in 2026,which turned attention to the more concrete tools universities are already using and identification of the areas where AI could genuinely improve administrative processes and support student learning
- Session 3 | AI Accelerating Discovery in Academic Research, which shifted the focus to how researchers can best integrate AI into their workflows to accelerate scientific discovery while maintaining research integrity;
- Session 4 | AI for Scholarly Productivity: Publication and Grant-Writing, which focused on the best practices in guiding researchers in the use of tools that support grant writing, as questioned how publishers and grant agencies can protect against a deluge of productivity.
The discussions at the event showed that AI creates opportunities to transform education, accelerate research, improve accessibility, and strengthen collaboration. Yet these benefits are not automatic. They depend on universities making deliberate choices about how technologies are used, which capabilities are developed, and what values guide their implementation.
Ultimately, becoming AI-ready means creating an institution capable of learning and adapting alongside the technology, while preserving the human expertise and critical inquiry that make higher education valuable in the first place.
Presentations
- From Chalkboards to Chatbots: GenAI Adoption at NOVA Policy, Research & Faculty Development, by Manuela APARÍCIO, Pro-Rector for Pedagogical Innovation, NOVA University Lisbon
- Two AI applications for research and student wellbeing, by Simona Vasilica OPREA, Professor, and Adela BARA, Professor, Department of Economic Informatics and Cybernetics, University of Economic Studies, Bucharest University of Economic Studies
- Does History repeat itself?, by Richard GAULT, Lecturer, Academic Convenor for the Vision and Language, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen’s University, Belfast
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.