Sonipat, Aug 4 : Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will inaugurate a global two-day conference starting Thursday on transforming universities impacted by Covid-19, organisers of the conference O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) and International Institute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building (IIHEd) said on Tuesday. The virtual conference which will bring together over 80 thought leaders from 15 countries comes soon after the launch of the National Education Policy 2020 which aims to reimagine and transform the future of education and universities of India. There will be 15 thematic panel discussions, four keynote addresses, and two special dialogues including a special panel led by women leaders from universities during the conference on "Reimagining and Transforming the University: Confluence of Ideas during and beyond the COVID-19 Disruption". It will bring together on a single platform the Union Education Minister and Professor D.P. Singh, Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC); and Professor Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities (AIU). Eminent leaders of the Indian higher education landscape including Professor Virander Chauhan, Chairman, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC); Professor Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE); and Professor Bhushan Patwardhan, Vice Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC) will also attend the event, JGU said. "We are extremely excited to bring together 80+ thought leaders from 15 countries across two days to create some very thought-provoking dialogues to re-imagine and transform the idea of a university," C. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, said in a statement. "With the current Covid-19 pandemic, it is very important for leaders of higher education from across the globe, come together to re-define the future of universities, which will impact the life of students, academics and nations," he said. JGU has partnered with six global education networks -- Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Coimbra Group of Brazilian Universities, Laspau (A Harvard University affiliated network), the STAR Scholars Network and Qatar Foundation Â? for the conference on August 6-7. The conference will bring representation from over 55 universities and colleges across Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, the US, and Qatar. /IANS