King’s College London to host Anniversary Conference of the Magna Charta Universitatum
15 September 2025 | From our Members
King’s College London is hosting the 2025 Anniversary Conference of the Magna Charta Universitatum, ate the Strand campus in London, next 11-13 November. This significant event will convene university leaders, scholars, policymakers, and students from around the globe to reflect upon and reaffirm the core values that underpin higher education: academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and the university’s responsibility to society.
Marking the 2020–2025 quinquennial of the updated Magna Charta Universitatum, the conference will delve into the theme: “What are universities for? Higher education principles, values and responsibilities in a fragmented world.”?
Over three days, participants will engage in keynote addresses, panel discussions, and interactive sessions exploring the evolving role of universities amidst global challenges. The programme will culminate in a formal ceremony on 13 November, where new signatories will endorse the MCU 2020, joining a global network committed to upholding these fundamental principles.
This anniversary offers a pivotal opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue, share best practices, and strengthen the collective commitment to the enduring values that define the academic community.
Registrations are open until the 28th of October 2025.
About the Magna Charta Universitatum
First adopted in 1998 and revised and restated in 2020, the Magna Charta Universitatum is a declaration of the core values that define universities worldwide – academic freedom, institutional autonomy, research, internationalisation, equality and serving society – which are key to addressing contemporary global challenges. Learn more
About the Conference
“What are universities for? Higher education principles, values and responsibilities in a fragmented world.”
The raison d’être of the university remains the production, transmission, curation, dissemination and use of knowledge. Universities pursue their mission in interaction with society and for the benefit of society. This interaction is governed by formal regulations, but also by an evolving social contract, which stipulate rights for the university communities and obligations they have towards the society as well as responsibilities of the public authorities vis-à-vis higher education.
Recognizing the variety of traditions and contemporary circumstances in higher education around the world, the Magna Charta Universitatum, has contributed significant elements for a global social contract. It outlines the centrality of values in the work of universities (such as academic freedom, integrity, institutional autonomy, public responsibility) and articulates value-based guidelines for the exercise of both rights and obligations, within institutional contexts and in the broader society. The Magna Charta was signed by higher education institutions from all continents, expressing their commitment to these fundamental values and the common understanding of key elements of a social contract applicable globally.
At present, however, in a highly fragmented world, what is this social contract? Is it changing? How are responsibilities of higher education and for higher education understood, codified, and practiced? Is there a balanced and productive understanding of both rights and responsibilities within the sector itself and in the interplay with the public authorities? Or maybe not quite?
The remarkable milestone of 1,000 signatories of the Magna Charta Universitatum is anticipated to be reached at this meeting. By raising these questions, this global anniversary gathering proposes to interrogate directly the uneasy, yet fundamental question of what are universities for in our contemporary world.
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.