Singapore, 25 June 2026 — Universities have built strong systems for generating knowledge. The harder question, and one that higher education is still learning to answer well, is whether that knowledge reaches and changes the world beyond the campus— whether it shapes policy, improves lives, strengthens communities, or helps solve problems that matter to society.
This question sits at the heart of SMU's Impact Agenda, a university-wide effort to strengthen how research, education and partnerships contribute to society. And it is what brought SMU to the attention of the Future Universities Alliance.
A global network for institutional innovation
SMU has been selected to join the inaugural Innovation Sandbox of the Future Universities Alliance, a global learning network incubated by Duke University.
The cohort brings together 49 institutions from 23 countries across five continents to explore new approaches to higher education’s most pressing challenge, such as how universities are structured and funded, to how they teach, credential, and demonstrate their contributions to society — and SMU is the only Singapore university among them.
SMU’s Impact Agenda in action
SMU joins under Pathway 2: New Initiatives in Existing Institutions, alongside other established universities pursuing institution-wide transformation. SMU’s focus is on its Impact Agenda through the Office of Impact (OIM) to make societal impact an intentional, measurable, and consistent practice across the university’s research, education, and partnerships.
At its core, that means strengthening the pathways between academic work and real-world change — supporting research that informs policy and practice with clearer evidence, building deeper partnerships to address complex challenges, and developing educational experiences that prepare future-ready graduates.
The initiative reflects a broader shift across higher education as universities seek new ways to understand, measure and strengthen the value they create beyond traditional indicators such as publications, rankings and graduate employment outcomes.
OIM works across SMU's eight schools and research institutes to strengthen impact capabilities across the university, build strategic partnerships, and demonstrate contributions through evidence and case studies.
Professor Scott Fritzen, Vice President, Office of Impact and SMU’s Executive Sponsor for the Innovation Sandbox, reflected on what that shift requires in practice.
“The Impact Agenda asks us to work differently — in closer partnership with the people and organisations we seek to engage, and with clearer evidence of what changes as a result. The Innovation Sandbox gives us a space for honest, comparative exchange with institutions facing similar challenges in very different contexts. At this stage of the initiative, that is exactly what we need.”
Learning from a global community of innovators
The Innovation Sandbox is designed as a peer-learning environment where institutions work through active challenges.
Participants meet monthly in small, facilitated peer groups to troubleshoot challenges, test ideas in real time, and learn from one another’s successes and setbacks. The format is deliberately practical: institutions come with unfinished work, not polished presentations.
For SMU, that means structured space to do three things: embed a shared impact framework across the university, develop a credible portfolio of impact case studies spanning research, education, and partnerships, and build stronger evidence of how the university contributes to Singapore and the region.
Dr Chew Han Ei, Associate Director, Impact, and Project Lead for SMU’s participation in the Innovation Sandbox, described what that means for the work ahead.
“The Innovation Sandbox gives us a structured way to learn from peers around the world who are working through a similar challenge: how to move impact from aspiration to practice, and from individual projects to institutional capacity. For SMU, the aim is to build the systems, evidence, and strategic partnerships that allow us to demonstrate the contributions we make to society, and show how we can do more of it.”
SMU’s participation is led by OIM, with Professor Fritzen serving as Executive Sponsor. The project team comprises Dr Chew Han Ei, Associate Director and Project Lead; Preeti Gaonkar, Associate Director, Impact; and Asha Choolani, Assistant Director, Impact.
A shared challenge for higher education
SMU is one of a diverse inaugural cohort, spanning start-up universities building new models, established institutions advancing early-stage initiatives, and universities with signature innovations exploring how their approaches can extend responsibly to other contexts.
Three milestone conversations over the year bring in executive sponsors to assess progress and sharpen strategy. SMU’s participation reflects growing international recognition that universities must not only generate knowledge but demonstrate that such knowledge creates meaningful impact for societies.
The cohort will convene virtually throughout the year and gather in person at the Global Summit at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, from 3 to 5 October 2026.
The full list of participating institutions is available at futureuniversities.org.