Department researchers receive Best Paper Awards from Comparative and International Education Society 2026

The awards will be presented to the first authors at the CIES annual conference in San Francisco later this month.

The Europe and Central Asia SIG has honoured the paper ‘Obal and Budi Philosophies as Reparative Visions of Sustainability in Higher Education: A Creative Manifesto’, authored by Olga Mun, Gulzhanat Gafu and Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar. The paper explores alternative philosophical frameworks for sustainability in higher education, drawing on Indigenous and regional perspectives.

The Higher Education SIG has recognised the paper ‘International student mobility and poverty reduction: A qualitative study of the mechanisms of systemic change’, authored by Professor Maia Chankseliani, Joonghyun Kwak, Natalya Hanley, Dr Ahmad Akkad, Mercedes Crisostomo and Zhe Wang. This study examines how international student mobility can contribute to broader processes of poverty reduction and systemic change.

These awards highlight the breadth and impact of research within the Department’s Comparative and International Education group, spanning critical perspectives on sustainability as well as global higher education and development.