Student fined for defending a refugee
GOTHENBURG (bbc) -- The Swedish university student, Elin Ersson, has been fined 3,000 krona (€290) for trying to stop the deportation of an Afghan migrant. In July 2018, the student boarded what she thought was the same flight as the Afghan, refusing to sit down unless he was taken off the plane, arguing that she did not agree with Sweden’s policy of sending back rejected asylum seekers ... read more | her video 18.02.2019
Hungary: “An attack on science”
BUDAPEST (the scientist) -- Thousands of scientists protested in Hungary last week against changes to government research funding. The demonstrations, which saw people hold books above their heads and form a human chain around Budapest’s Academy of Sciences building, are just the latest in a series of clashes between researchers and the country’s populist government over academic freedom. “This is an attack on science,” a researcher told AFP. “The government wants to reward loyalists with funding, rather than support research” ... read more 13.02.2019
SE Europe universities unite
ZAGREB (total croatia news) -- Rectors of 30 universities from Southeast Europe have agreed on more cooperation in research, higher education, and in improving links between higher education and the labour market ... read more 09.02.2019
‘Regionalist’ higher education policy in Wallonia
NAMUR (le soir) -- Jean-Claude Marcourt — Walloon vice-minister president for the last ten years and minister of higher education — is under fire. Critics such as writer and history professor Vincent Engel claim that Marcourt’s policies in the French-speaking community of Belgium hurt academic freedom and transparency in favour of regionalism and the neoliberal transformation of research and universities ... read more 16.2.19
France plans national strategy for research
PARIS (nature) -- France is set to introduce a national, multi-year research plan for the first time – a move welcomed by the heads of the country’s major research agencies. The government says that it will protect research funding, boost the recruitment of early-career scientists and help France to stand out in an increasingly competitive global research landscape ... read more 11.02.2019
Russia boosts academic appeal
MOSCOW (tass) -- The Kremlin plans to implement its Education National Project over the course of the next five years, thus doubling the number of foreigners studying in the country’s universities to 425,000 by late 2024 and pushing the country amongst the 10 leading world countries in terms of the quality of education ... read more 11.02.2019
Private universities lurk at the Greek border
ATHENS (greek reporter) -- Lifting the Article 16 ban on private universities in Greece is up for discussion in the Greek Parliament again. The SYRIZA administration is strongly against the move, but main opposition party New Democracy claims that it is needed to ensure a better quality of higher education in the country. The claim is old, as is the constitutional safeguard mechanism to prevent it ... read more | esna analysis14.02.2019
New minister plans overhaul of Swedish university funding
STOCKHOLM (uwn) -- An investigation into Swedish universities’ and university colleges’ governance and resource allocation has concluded, and the results have been showcased to the new higher education and research minister, Matilda Ernkrans. The aim is to develop “a form of governance that can put Sweden among the world’s most advanced research and innovation countries, where high quality research, higher education and innovation leads to further development of society and welfare” ... read more 15.02.2019
Floor of a university collapses in Russia
ST PETERSBURG (polit) -- Overlaps in the building of the St Petersburg National Research University ITMO collapsed from the fifth to the second floor on Saturday as classes were taking place. There were no casualties, but 81 people had to be evacuated ... read more | and here |14.02.2019
Lancaster and Leipzig join forces - and privatise
LEIPZIG (pie news) -- Lancaster University in the UK has signed an agreement with Australian private education firm Navitas to assist the installation and management of a branch campus in Leipzig, eastern Germany. Navitas Group CEO David Buckingham said the partnership is a continuation of its expansion into new European markets and opens up opportunities for domestic and international students in Germany to study at a globally renowned university ... read more 14.02.2019
Anti-Semitism at French universities
PARIS (le parisien) -- Last week, the Conference of Deans of Medical Schools denounced the increase of anti-Semitism in French universities – a rise of 74 percent in 2018. Jean Sibilia, the president of the Conference, said in a statement that the situation has been growing for a few months. “Whatever form these acts take, they cannot be tolerated,” he pointed out ... read more 12.02.2019
Russia and Turkey plan academic alliance
ISTANBUL (daily sabah) -- Turkey and Russia will discuss the idea of setting up a joint university in Istanbul or Antalya to boost academic exchanges between the two countries, during President Erdoğan’s upcoming visit to Russia in April. Relations between Turkey and Russia have gained new momentum in recent years, with unprecedented improvement in the military, political and economic cooperation. However, cooperation in education has not been high on the agenda as of yet ... read more 10.02.2019
Kiel University bans veils
KIEL (welt) -- Kiel Christian-Albrechts University has banned full veiling for lectures and examinations, triggering political dispute. The decision was made after a student wore a Niqab, a full facial veil, for a lecture at the end of last year. Her lecturer did not accept the full veiling and asked the university chief for clarification. CDU Minister of Education, Karin Prien, welcomes the decision, whilst the Green party strongly opposes the move ... read more 13.2.19
Lithuania: majority of scientists are women
VILNIUS (baltic course) -- Men were particularly overrepresented in high and medium-high technology manufacturing (83%), according to Eurostat. However, in five EU Member States, the majority of scientists and engineers were women: Lithuania (57% female), Bulgaria and Latvia (both 53%), Portugal (51%) and Denmark (just over 50%) ... read more 12.02.2019
French students protest against rising fees
NANTES (20 minutes) -- Students at the University of Nantes have gone to extreme measures to protest against rising tuition fees for non-European students. Blockades and demonstrations have now turned to hunger strikes for six of the students, who demand the abolition of the proposed measure. Last week, a procession of 150 students marched from the student union to the rectorate, and classes were also disrupted after a new blocking of the campus ... read more 13.2.19