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Digitising classes was the first part – the next challenge is to make materials engaging and personalised, experts say at the THE Digital Transformation Forum.

Topics including strategising, the benefits of online learning, and international research will be explored in conversations across two virtual stages.

Universities have been told that the emphasis on tackling pandemic, climate change and digital transformation may require a ‘reshuffling of money’.

Covid-19 has elevated the already considerable cyber risks universities face from without and within, Australian consultants warn. Cost-cutting in universities has left institutions at risk of cyber-attacks from disgruntled staff.

‘HyFlex’ learning and cutting-edge virtual reality techniques set to help students and staff bridge physical and language barriers. An institution in China is using the leap into online learning as an opportunity to integrate simultaneous learning and virtual reality into its very fabric.

A survey by the Association of Commonwealth Universities shows the struggle that academics have in going digital compared with institutional leaders.

A few fundamental questions need to be answered before we look to a new dawn for higher education, says Singapore Management University president.

We’re all wondering what the future of higher education will look like. But I’ve glimpsed that future, and it’s bright. The pivot to online learning during the coronavirus pandemic has shown why university educators should embrace artificial intelligence, says Y. J. Yang.

Advocates for virtual labs finding chance to show cost and equity benefits of online experimentation. Covid-19 is spurring the adoption of online simulators that may make science teaching more equitable, efficient and effective.

The loss of international income makes the improvement of universities’ online offerings all the more urgent.

With Covid-19 likely to prolong the need for mass online learning for some time, we seek the experts’ advice on how to do it well – from designing courses and maintaining engagement to choosing applications and carrying out experiments remotely.

Some data suggest institutions are devoting little to their defences and, as attacks become routine, experts say that open, decentralised universities are vulnerable.

Sustainable changes in digital learning will result from best practice alongside bold experimentation, say Friedrich Hesse, Volker Meyer-Guckel, Bitange Ndemo, Alexandros Papaspyridis, Rahim Rajan and Suzanne Walsh.

The virtual reality technology market is booming thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Jack Grove asks whether it might finally catch on in higher education.

Networking has long been a mainstay of most academic careers. Striking up a conversation in the buffet line at a conference could lead to co-authoring a paper; an impromptu introduction after a lecture might result in groundbreaking collaboration.

Chemists at the University of Liverpool have created an AI-powered robot scientist that they say can conduct experiments 1,000 times faster than a human researcher.

Older universities have traditionally enjoyed the advantage of centuries-old reputations for academic prowess and impressive campus architecture when recruiting prospective students and staff. But the move to digital learning spaces during the coronavirus pandemic has diminished this edge.

Graduates’ common lack of deep understanding about how AI works is hindering industry take-up, says Min Wanli.

Many universities have begun to teach online amid concerns that traditional classes could spread the coronavirus. Yale-NUS lecturer Catherine Shea Sanger explains how it can be done quickly and effectively.

Universities must create joint cybersecurity teams to protect themselves against ever more sophisticated hacking attempts, according to the vice-president of a Dutch university hit by a ransomware attack over Christmas that forced the institution to pay the equivalent of about £175,000 to criminals.