From April 2nd to 5th, the Director and the Managing Director of LEIZ, Prof. Josef Wieland and Dr Lennart Brand, were invited to take part in a conference for leaders in higher education which was held at the University of Buckingham, UK, and hosted by Buckingham’s Vice-Chancellor, Sir Anthony Seldon. The objective of the conference – besides discussing general developments in higher education world-wide – was to launch the first ever global alliance of independent (and independent-minded!) universities. Speakers at the event included the Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees, the former UN Deputy General Secretary, Lord Malloch-Brown, the Universities Minister, Jo Johnson, Lord Richard Layard from the London School of Economics, and the Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Mark Littlewood.