Introduction

When, in the last months of 2018, we started conceiving this Special issue, we could never have guessed that it would have been published in the middle of a global pandemic. Nor could have we imagined that higher education would have been involved in such an unexpected, previously inconceivable and potent process. Universities around the world are at the forefront right now. They have radically transformed their way of ‘being academia’, since their activities had to be transposed to digital platforms for distance learning. Higher education institutions, which are most exposed to transformation processes, are currently undergoing changes that effect students, policies, security, and more. As shall we described in this Special issue, the pandemic is indeed transforming university life. Today, we can only see the most uncertain and dramatic part of it. Many practices shall undergo restructurings, as will the academic profession, the students’ experience, and research policies. On all these issues we will continue to research in order to understand our world and accompany its transformations.