Arm wrestling between Google and Spain over copyright fees

(worldbulletin) -- Google said it plans to close its news-linking service in Spain in response to legislation under which publishers will soon be able to force Internet sites to pay for re-publishing headlines or snippets of news.The move also means readers in Latin America and around the globe will no longer find links to articles from any Spanish news publishers on Google News ... read more 11.12.2014

Christmas present for federal science policy in Germany

BERLIN (zeit) -- The legal barrier for the federal government to invest and intervene directly in German universities is expected to fall tomorrow. Austerity and tax reduction have convinced the federal states that central control over this expensive sector is better ... read more 17.12.2014

Romanian PM gives up his PhD 2½ years later

BUCAREST (romania insider) -- Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced that he will give up his PhD in Law, two and a half years after being accused of having copied half of his doctoral thesis, without quoting the sources ... read more 16.12.2014

Putin divides and enrages scientists

MOSCOW (nature) -- “Do you have a vision for the future of science in this country?” — “Will we have a say?” Russian scientists ask education minister Andrei Fursenko. Instead of an answer, science policy is being decided behind closed doors ... read more 16.12.2014

UK government paving the way for university mergers?

LONDON (the) -- Is the British government encouraging more universities to merge? With the research excellence framework results coming up soon, former university minister David Willetts has suggested that research bodies should “ease up” on promoting competition in favour of encouraging collaboration between disciplines and institutions ... read more 11.12.2014

Time for universities to stand up against Big Oil

CAMBRIDGE, USA (switchboard) -- A group of Harvard students recently filed suit against the college’s president, fellows, and others, for “mismanagement of charitable funds.” The suit asks the court to compel the university —which boasts a $36 billion endowment, the largest of any university in the world— to divest from fossil fuels ... read more 03.12.2014

Universities ‘in ruins’ see thousands protest in France

PARIS (rt) -- Thousands of French university staff and students have marched to protest low education budgets and universities’ facilities that are “literally in ruins”. Budget amendments for 2015, approved by the National Assembly in November, reduce education by €136 million, including €70 million of higher education ... read more 12.12.2014

Half of UK university teachers on zero-hour contracts

LONDON (lff) -- Half of universities and 63 percent of FE colleges in the UK use zero-hours contracts, often in large numbers, a research of the college union UCU shows. They are twice as likely to use these kind of contracts with no guarantee of work than other workplaces ... read more 16.12.2014

More academics in Germany unemployed

BERLIN (bild) -- National statistics count 2.2 million standing in the dole queue in Germany. 209,000 of the unemployed have a higher education degree, nearly three percent more than last year ... read more 15.12.2014

Slovenian universities at the brink of bankrupcy

LJUBLJANA (sta) -- Slovenian universities are in a critical situation due to inadequate funding, Ivan Svetlik, rector of the Univesity of Ljubljana, has warned. Most of the budget goes to salaries and current costs with nothing left for development. The Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences is threatened by illiquidity ... read more 10.12.2014

Citations for sale

BERKELEY (dc) -- What a surprise — reputation can be bought with money! Q.e.d. in this year’s U.S. News and World Report rankings. The little-known King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Saudi Arabia ranked seventh in the world in mathematics — despite the fact that it didn’t have a doctorate program in math until two years ago ... read more 05.12.2014

Increasing recognition of foreign qualifications in Germany

BERLIN (bmbf) -- More and more foreign qualifications are being recognised in Germany. Statistics for 2012/2013 show an acceptance rate of nearly 80 percent, most of them in the medical sector. The majority of applicants come from Poland, Romania and Russia ... read more 15.12.2014

EU invests €410 million in a network for raw materials

BERLIN (ki) -- The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has commissioned an international consortium to build a Knowledge and Innovation Community in the sector of raw materials. 116 European universities, research centers and companies from 22 countries are participating with a budget of €410 million in the coming seven years ... read more 11.12.2014

Mexican protester crashes Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

OSLO (ketv) -- A flag waving Mexican protester crashed the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony as he rushed the stage begging the winner to bring attention to Mexico. Since September Mexico has been the topic of worldwide attention when a group of police officers, acting under orders of a town mayor, kidnapped a group of 43 students ... read more 10.12.2014

Madrid wants more police control over universities

MADRID (ccinf) -- Cristina Cifuentes, member of the conservative People’s Party and delegate of the City of Madrid, has proposed allowing police forces to access university campuses even before —as it is now the rule— a rector’s explicit request. Students and trade unions have denounced this as “preventive criminalisation” ... read more 15.12.2014

Netherlands: Student debt threatens prosperity

THE HAGUE (scienceguide) -- Student debts are a threat to the Dutch economy. The country report for the Netherlands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows how household debts such as student loans damage society on the short and on the long run. They diminish consumption, discourage young people from investing and from being entrepreneurs and hamper their social and economic activity in general ... read more 11.12.2014

Lithuanian universities to be allowed to rent property

Turkey to open mosques ‘in every university’

ISIS takeover in Iraq’s higher education

MOSUL (ibtimes) -- Six months since the Islamic State group shut down one of the Middle East’s biggest research and education centers, there's still no sign of relief in Iraq’s second-largest city. At the University of Mosul, in northern Iraq, classes remain cancelled and thousands of its students have left the area for nearby Kurdistan ... read more 02.12.2014

Estonia: steep fall in R&D expenditure

TALLINN (baltic course) -- The ratio of expenditure in research and development to the GDP in Estonia declined from 2.16 percent in 2012 to 1.74 percent in 2013. This was the biggest drop —19 percent— among the EU member states ... read more 03.12.2014

France counts on foreign students

Anti-TTIP petition draws one million signatures

BRUSSELS (dw) -- An online petition criticising the ongoing trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States surpassed one million signatures on Thursday. TTIP, but also CETA (free trade EU-Canada) and TiSA (50 countries on services only) would cause serious damage to education, the opponents fear ... read more 04.12.2014

Universities self-righteous and mediocre

BERLIN (spiegel) -- The philosopher Armen Avanessian from Berlin has written a book of reckoning on German universities. They are, he says, self-referential, reactionary, progress-resistant, anti-intellectual career factories adverse to change and real critical thinking ... read more 05.12.2014

Global brands dominate employability ranking

LONDON (the) -- In the Global Employability University Survey 2014, ‘global’ UK and US institutions are making the top 150 of the list; universities that are mainly regional players, tend to fare less well ... read more 08.12.2014

Recognition trouble of Czech and Slovak diplomas

PRAGUE (parl) -- Slovak degrees will be recognised at Czech universities and vice-versa, so will for school and high school diplomas. The Czech Parliament has ratified the decision today following several postponements. A controversial issue remains that no list of the recognised university degrees and of full and associate professors has been produced ... read more 11.12.2014

Greek minister sells out higher education

ATHENS (uwn) -- An amendment proposed by Education Secretary Andreas Loverdos would open Greek higher education for foreign private education providers. The change of the Constitution is intended to allow American colleges to operate in Greece without complicated franchise agreements. It is widely believed that this is the culmination of pressure on Loverdos and his predecessor by the American embassy which has a long history of intervention in Greek politics … read more 05.12.14

Austrian universities build academic community cloud

LINZ (standard) -- The universities of Linz, Salzburg and Innbruck have joined forces to build a academic cloud community, a connected IT system to make services like storage, servers, certain software etc. decentrally available. Further plans include a virtual marketplace for educational IT solutions ... read more 11.12.2014

Thousands of ‘fake’ students at UK’s private colleges

LONDON (guardian) -- The government was hoping “alternative providers” would lead ground-breaking market reforms in the higher education sector. Instead, thousands of state subsised students drop out ... read more 02.12.14

Paris-Saclay wants to compete with Harvard

PARIS (bbc) -- The French government is bringing together 19 institutions into a single structure and an initial funding of 7.5 billion euros for an endowment, buildings and transport links. The aim is a university of a size and scale that can compete with global giants like Harvard or the MIT ... read more 10.12.14

Irish universities accredit Indian e-learning provider

DUBLIN (independent) -- Senior officials of India’s biggest company Tata met with Irish government heads to seal the deal. Tata intends to sell online education courses based on Irish universities’ curriculum into the lucrative US market, where the concept is most advanced but a lead provider has not yet emerged. Ireland’s universities have been prepared for major commercial deals like this by years of austerity ... read more 301114

For a better European Research Area policy

BRUSSELS (euractiv) -- The European Research Area (ERA) policy is now undergoing a review, which will culminate in the adoption of an ‘ERA Roadmap’ in mid-2015. This is the right moment at which to re-think ERA policy, Miguel Seabra, president of Science Europe, argues in a recent opinion piece. It needs to refocus “on better targeted priorities, rather than spreading it thinly over a large number of ‘priorities’, and to make ERA about discussing real bottlenecks”, Seabra writes ... read more 08.12.2014

What has the EU ever done for education in the poorest part of Britain? Quite a lot, actually

CORNWALL (independent) -- “The EU contributed hugely towards the development of universities in Cornwall,” one of Europes poorest regeions. “In turn, this has generated approximately £500m of income for the Cornish economy in the past 10 years,” says Roger Auster, president of the student union FXU ... read more 03.12.2014

Santander Bank invests $1 billion in universities

New law on intellectual property in Spain

MADRID (el economista) -- Spanish universities will have to pay 7 million euros per year to the authors of works that they publish on their virtual platforms. The new law on intellectual property will enter into force in January 2015. An average Spanish university with 15.000 students will have to pay around 90.000 euros ... read more 03.12.2014

Macmillan’s ‘free access’ is far from open

LONDON (the conversation) -- Earlier this week the publisher Macmillan announced that subscribers to 49 of its Nature journals would be able to share links to the full text of articles. But the material is not available for anyone, nor is the archive material openly licensed ... read more 09.12.2014

Tits for science

MILAN (mirror) -- Selfies aren’t always selfish, some are used for a good cause. Such as Italian women showing their boobs alongside a scientific message in a new campaign that now has almost 19,000 likes on Facebook. The web marketer Lara Tait, who started the blog “tette per la scienza”, instists that every message has been verified and can be controlled with an additional link ... read more | video 29.11.2014

France forges scientific cooperation with Kazakhstan

BISHKEK (div) -- Rectors of some two dozen French universities were part of François Hollande’s delegation in Kazakhstan. On a joint university forum, the education ministries of both countries signed an agreement in the field of university cooperation, science and vocational training, as well as the mutual recognition of diplomas and university degrees ... read more 08.12.2014

Universities must be less prestige-oriented

ZURICH (der bund) -- Too many PhDs can hamper economic growth, recent studies show. A doctoral degree does not always lead to higher income, compared to a Masters, only in sciences and medicine it does. In social sciences and humanities its economic advantage is doubtable. In rich countries it is a kind of luxury good, people do it because they can afford it, not necessarily because they need it. For many universities it is partly nothing more than cheap scientific labour ... read more 08.12.2014
The lack of professorships leaves many 40 year old graduates with a PhD unemployed and unfit for the labour market. Universities should therefore, Swiss experts argue, stop being so prestige-oriented ... read more 04.12.2014

Telefonica engages in transatlantic university cooperation

MADRID (el dario) -- For the first time, the Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica has signed an agreement with a Latin American university. In cooperation with the University of Sao Paolo and the University of Madrid projects for intelligent cities are planned ... read more 04.12.2014

Swiss call for part-time Master’s

BERN (24 heures) -- Mauro Dell’Ambrogio, Swiss state secretary for education and research, has proposed the introduction of part-time Master degrees. Students with a Bachelor’s degree should be obliged to have worked in their field before being admitted to further studies, he said. His idea has been the subject of heated debate ... read more 30.11.2014

Crowd funded research at Italian university

PAVIA (prima pagina news) -- The University of Pavia has announced Universitiamo, a new crowd funding initiative for research projects. Pavia is the first Italian university to embrace this approach, which allows anyone to contribute to scientific research … read more 04.12.2014

UK: Universities harassed by ‘anti-terror’ policies

What’s a university to do about climate change?

BERKELEY (l.a.times) -- The movement to force university endowments to divest their holdings in fossil fuel companies —coal, oil and gas— has some obvious shortcomings. That’s why UC Berkeley energy expert Severin Borenstein proposed a new, broader, approach. His idea is for every campus to impose a carbon tax on itself ... read more 08.12.2014

German students attracted to Austria

VIENNA (oön) -- Most of the foreign students in Austria are German (followed by the Dutch). 32.000 came in 2012/13, almost 25 percent. Most of them study law, economics and social sciences ... read more 06.12.2014

Hackers from Iran allegedly attacked universities

INTERNATIONAL (reuters) -- Also universities have been among the targets of hackers from Iran, a US company claims. Aerospace firms, airports and airlines, universities, energy firms, hospitals, and telecommunications operators based in the United States, Israel, China, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, France, England have been hit by the campaign, the research firm said, without naming individual companies ... read more 02.12.2014

EU commission announces new scientific advisory body

BRUSSELS (div) -- EC President Jean-Claude Juncker appointed today Ann Mettler, as Head of the European Commission’s new in-house think-tank for policy analysis and planning, EPCS.

Mettler, 43, German-Swedish citizen, has been active in or related to market liberal organisations such as the World Economic Forum, the Lisbon Council or the OECD since 2000. The EPCS substitutes the former Commission’s bureau of policy advisors, BEPA, which has been scrapped this autumn for contoversial reasons ... read more 01.12.2014

Scottish students forced into loans

EDINBURGH (wsws) -- Student debt in Scotland has increased by two thirds in the last academic year, from £254m in 2013 to £430m in 2014, and the number of students resorting to loans rose five percent as financial support systems are slashed by austerity measures … read more 02.12.2014

Portuguese unions rally against evaluation test

LISBON (dn) -- Seven Portuguese education unions have announced strike action against the Proof of Knowledge and Capacity Assessment (PACC) mechanism. PACC is an evaluation test for teachering staff with less than five years service and required for access to the profession … read more 02.12.14

Dutch lecturers unite with new union

AMSTERDAM (scienceguide) -- The Lecturer Association (Lectorenvereniging) has been officially launched. The association, which has been welcomed by the government and emphasised as more than just a “union”, seeks to organise and unionise lecturers and has committed itself to increase the innovative power of the Netherlands by increasing the quality and significance of applied research … read more 04.12.2014

Careers not enhanced by journal publication?

MANCHESTER (um) -- Publishing in high impact journals may not enhance careers opportunities for economists, according to new research. Professor Dan Rigby, University of Manchester, found that “there is no connection between the journal’s scores based on the two alternative criteria of career progression and impact beyond academia” … read more 05.12.2014

New postgraduate loan system for UK

LONDON (bbc) -- Government backed student loans for postgraduates in the United Kingdom will be available for the first time for 40,000 students from 2016-17. The loans will be worth up to £10,000 and are expected to bring an extra 10,000 students into postgraduate study. George Osborne, UK Chancellor, said it would “revolutionise” access to postgraduate university courses … read more 03.12.2014

Glasgow university criticised for fossil fuel ban

GLASGOW (heraldscotland) -- The University of Glasgow has been attacked by its own academics for “vacuous posturing”. The university was the first institution in Europe to promise a ban on fossil fuel investments but five professors see the sanction as “deplorable”, as alternatives cannot currently meet demands … read more 05.12.2014

Switzerland joins Horizon 2020

BRUSSELS (italia2014.eu) -- Switzerland and the European Union are ready to cooperate in scientific and technological fields, with the signing of an agreement on Horizon 2020. The agreement allows Switzerland to participate in Horizon 2020, Euratom, the EU program for research and training, as well as activities on behalf of Fusion for Energy … read more 03.12.2014

German student coalition protests government cuts

HALLE (ND) -- Students in the southern German city of Halle have protested against planned cuts to university courses, culture, research and teaching. At the University of Halle, planned cancellations include courses in psychology, computer science and geosciences. The student coalition, Aktionsbündnis MLU, said “indispensable courses, numerous study courses and the quality of teaching and research are still severely threatened” … read more 03.12.2014

Swedish students convicted of defamation

STOCKHOLM (nt) -- Two students at Linköping University have been found guilty of defamation, after they falsely claimed in an exam that a man convicted of financial crimes was a criminal from an early age. The court judged that although the paper was only intended to be viewed by 20 fellow seminar students, the allegations of misrepresentation still stand. The students have been ordered to pay a fine ... read more 03.12.2014

Germany encourages grouping of innovative regions

BERLIN (bmbf) -- The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has announced a new funding initative in support of its High-Tech Strategy and the clustering of German excellence. The initiative funds the international cooperation and strategical exchange of German clusters and networks. Research minister Johanna Wanka said “the new funding approach … will deepen the global network of science and industry. This strengthens innovation in Germany” … read more 02.12.2014

Spanish inertia?

MADRID (universia) -- Although the economic crisis is often cited as being the main reason for Spain’s infamous mismatch between education and employment, a new survey has revealed that there may be other factors that lead to this reality. Included in the author's suggestions is an education system that is far too structured and rigid and that produces passive students with little emotional intelligence, a lack of initiative and an inability to undertake key tasks for companies … read more 02.12.2014 

Toulouse, 2018 European Capital of Science

TOULOUSE (francetv) -- For the first time ever, a French city has been chosen as the European Capital of Science. From 2018, Toulouse will hold the prestigious title and will host European science conferences, thanks to its wealth of university subjects and its notable research expenditure, which is second only to Paris … read more 02.14.2014

UK investigation reveals controversial loan claims

LONDON (telegraph) -- Almost 1,000 European students, from countries including Romania and Bulgaria, wrongly received £5.4m to study at private colleges in the United Kingdom, an investigation has revealed. The Coalition has encouraged private providers in England to expand … read more 2.14.14

Big brother for Greek universities?

ATHENS (ie fimerida) -- In a meeting on the future of Greek higher education held yesterday, a University of Bradford’s security officer insisted that Greece follow in the UK’s footsteps and enforce tighter security measures for universities including hiring private security personnel who are able to make arrests, extensive CCTV camera coverage, controlled access to buildings and penalising students who do not carry ID cards ... read more 02.12.2014

Spanish university ‘inbreeding’ threatens research

MADRID (gaceta) -- 41 percent of Spanish teachers choose to work where they completed their studies, a report by the European Foundation for Information Society has found. The Foundation argues that a higher degree of ‘inbreeding’ in teacher recruitment results in an inferior production of scientific research. There have now been calls to reduce inbreeding in Spanish universities … read more 2.12.14

Germany could miss digital revolution

BERLIN (die welt) -- German universities are lagging behind in the digitalisation of study courses, with the number of students engaged in online courses increasing by only 1.7 percentage points over five years. The German Rectors’ Conference estimates that, of the country’s 10,000 courses, only 400 are offered as distance-learning programmes … read more 29.11.2014

Juncker’s investment plan receives official backing

BERLIN/PARIS (ksta) -- Germany and France officially support Jean-Claude Juncker’s plan to revitalise the European economy, although not as far as the European Commission President would like. The French and German finance ministers stated that neither country is prepared to contribute their own money to the investment plan, which is designed to provide 315 billion euros for investments in infrastructure, research, education and industry … read more 02.12.2014

Rankings unsuitable for French universities

PARIS (l’etudiant) -- French universities score poorly in international rankings, despite their globally recognised research. Frank Pacard, director of education and research at l’École polytechnique, points out the Anglo-Saxon model is unsuitable for French institutions as they “do not play on equal terms with big American universities, who can afford to hire Nobel Prize winners” … read more 01.12.2014

Nature free to view

INTERNATIONAL (nature) -- The scientific journal nature has announced a read-only content-sharing policy that will allow all of its research papers to be viewed and annotated online, but not copied, printed or downloaded. Initial reaction has been mixed … read more 02.12.2014

Rectors battle to save the PhD

BRUSSELS (hrk) -- European university rectors have warned against the dilution of the PhD, the first phase in a research-based career. Member states of the Bologna framework suggested that it should become a “third cycle”, after the Bachelor’s and the Master’s, with defined learning goals and ECTS points. Rectors’ conferences from France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom made a joint declaration, which is supported by education unions … read more 26.11.2014

Bulgaria has no ‘one’ university

SOFIA (standart) -- In an attempt to improve quality in education, the Bulgarian government wants to reduce the high number of Bulgarian institutions labelled ‘universities’. Education minister Todor Tanev said that a clear definition of higher education institutions must be found and the state is not willing to fund universities of “one thing”, such as the University of Music … read more 27.11.2014

Is Belarus suitable for the Bologna Process?

MINSK (vb) -- The Belarusian Ministry of Education has reapplied for membership in the Bologna Process. Their previous request was rejected in 2012 and the ministry has still failed to comply with any of the three conditions for accession: academic freedom, university autonomy and student participation in university management … read more 28.11.2014

Norway rejects controversial tuition fees

OSLO (universitetsavisa) -- The Norwegian government has shelved proposals to introduce tuition fees for non-European students. This comes as part of a larger budget compromise that includes a boost of 54 million kroner (€6.2 million) to higher education funding … read more 21.11.2014

Diploma recognition between Russia and France

MOSCOW (ria) -- Russia and France are to sign an agreement on the mutual recognition of diplomas, said Jean-Maurice Ripert, the French ambassador, at a meeting with university officials. It is hoped that the agreement will promote mobility between the countries. At the meeting, the participants also discussed Russian-French cooperation in the fields of science and education, including the joint creation of “laboratoires-miroirs” ... read more 01.12.2014

EU research money to be diverted to investment fund

BRUSSELS (science mag) -- The new European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has sparked criticism in his proposal to divert €2.7 million from the Horizon 2020 budget into a new ‘Investment Plan for Europe’. Juncker claims the money will eventually benefit research, but some research organisations are doubtful. The League of European Research Universities released a statement claiming they regret the diversion of the money “for a vague and highly uncertain project” ... read more 27.11.2014

Bulgaria continues to lose graduates

SOFIA (news7) -- Around 10 percent of Bulgarian graduates, 7,000 students, leave the country every year to study abroad, with many choosing to settle in the host country after graduation … read more 30.11.2014

Czechs craving for recognition

PRAGUE (ceskatelevize) -- Czech society is dominated by a desire and a need for university degrees and academic titles, claims Rudolf Haňka who is chief scientific advisor to the Prime Minister. Haňka’s statement was backed by education minister Marcel Chládek, who said that employability must be prioritised … read more 30.11.2014

Universities pay the cost for Copyright Law in Spain

MADRID (abc) -- Spanish rectors expect the new Copyright Act, effective as of January 2015, will be costly. As it stands, universities will be charged a flat fee of five euros per year for each student who can access copyrighted documents, they will also have to pay a compensation fee to authors. The bill was passed with 172 votes in favour and 144 against … read more 27.11.2014

Belarus university-business relations underdeveloped?

MINSK (belarusian news) -- A Belarusian businessman has complained that his country’s universities are “underdeveloped” in the way they interact with the economy. He claimed that a stronger connection must be formed in order to raise professional levels of workers in the country. Finland was cited as a country to aspire to, where universities even accord curricula with companies … read more 28.11.2014

German President on scientific mission in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA (shanghai daily) -- German President Joachin Gauck began a two-day visit to Slovenia on Tuesday where he examined possibilities for expanding the strong ties in trade, science and research, the Slovenian president’s office said. During Mr Gauck’s visit, the University of Ljubljana and the Technical University of Berlin also signed an agreement on cooperation … read more 25.11.14

Foreign doctors in France prompt migration fears

PARIS (le monde) -- The number of doctors with a foreign degree in France has increased by 60 percent since 2007 and now represents 8.2 percent (22,568) of the country’s health professionals. This number could rise to 30,000 by 2020. Since over 40 percent of physicians holding a foreign degree obtained it in Romania, Patrick Romestaing, vice-president National Medical Board (CNOM) said these figures should “launch a debate on the consequences of migration in the European Union” … read more 27.11.2014

German universities attract more funding

BERLIN (aachener zeitung) -- The funding for research and teaching that German universities acquire from the state and the private sector has reached a record high, amounting to €6.3 billion in 2012 … read more 27.11.2014

Venetian students unite against ex-mayor Orsoni

VENICE (online news) -- Students at the University of Venice have protested against the potential recruitment of ex-mayor Giorgio Orsoni. Although Orsoni is currently awaiting trial, accused of illegal financing, the students have already written to the university president, claiming Orsoni does not display the ethical requirements of ‘transparency’ and ‘merit’ that characterise the university … read more 23.11.2014

Latvia promotes scientific excellence

RIGA (nra) -- The Latvian government has agreed to ring-fence 10 million euros for scientific development. The funds will support both the consolidation of Latvian scientific centres and the development of scientific excellence more generally … read more 28.11.2014

Erasmus+ programme to empower over 55s

BRUSSELS (gozo news) -- A new project launched under the Erasmus+ programme has been launched, aiming to improve the employability of individuals aged 55 and over. The strategy hopes to lead to the reduction of skills mismatch and supports the imparting of skills from older employees to a younger generation. The project will primarily focus on the financial services industry … read more 20.11.2014

Foreign graduates struggling in Finland

HELSINKI (yle) -- Less than half of all international students are employed in Finland within a year of graduation, with many of the foreigners employed in the hospitality and cleaning industries … read more 25.11.2014

Greek universities close for New Year

ATHENS (newsit) -- Greek Rectors have announced that they will not operate their universities in the new year, due to further budget cuts and a lack of extra funding. The rectors linked their economic problems to the huge increase in student transfers this year … read more 23.11.2014

No online diplomas for Poland

WARSAW (dziennikpolski24) -- Although more and more Polish universities are offering online courses, it remains impossible to receive a diploma through these remote classes. Due to higher education regulations in Poland, at least 40 percent of classes in the semester must take place traditionally, in university classrooms, and students must also attend the final exams in person. Dr Jacek Urbaniec, Rector's Plenipotentiary for E-learning at the Jagiellonian University, said that universities claiming to offer fully online courses are part of the problem … read more 28.11.2014

Hungary and Vietnam strengthen educational ties

HANOI (hirado) -- Hungarian and Vietnamese Rectors have participated in the inaugural Vietnamese-Hungarian Rectors’ Conference. János Áder, Hungarian President, announced that the number of Vietnamese student scholarships in Hungary would be doubled, citing his desires for greater internationalisation … read more 27.11.14

Russia: Intolerance against Muslim students

MOSCOW (fp) -- Russia appears to be taking serious moves to combat the “radicalization” of Muslims within its border. Recent pro-Islamic reports are complaining that Russia is banning the Islamic hijab and, perhaps even more decisively, key Islamic scriptures, on the charge that they incite terrorism: “Even educational institutions, including universities, have issued decrees banning the wearing of the hijab altogether.” Moscow’s Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University appears mentioned as one of the schools to forbid the donning of the hijab on its premises ... read more 25.11.2014

Finland charges non-European students

HELSINKI (yle) --Finnish universities and polytechnics predominately approve of the government’s desire to introduce tuition fees for students arriving from outside the EU and EEA. Students and youth organisations roundly condemn the move, seeing it as a threat to not only equal education, but also the national economy ... read more 26.11.2014

Netherlands charges towards open access

HAGUE (r.i.) -- Springer and the Association of Dutch Universities (VSNU) have finally agreed on the transition to open access. In a deal that also includes access to thousands of Springer’s journals, they committed to the swift implementation of open access publishing for publicly funded research. Sander Dekker, state secretary for education, said this was “a very important step in the right direction” as the Netherlands attempts to publish 100 percent of scientific output using open access by 2025 … read more 20.11.14

Cyprus co-op banks cut student loan rates

NICOSIA (cyprus mail) -- The Cyprus Co-operative Central Bank announced that they would be decreasing interest rates for student loans to 4.5 per cent and would introduce a scholarship programme ... read more 22.11.2014

Danish students study part-time?

COPENHAGEN (politiken) -- Students in Denmark do not spend enough time studying, according to a quality committee. Their report shows that Danish students generally spend 1,350 hours per year studying, roughly 20 percent less than what is necessary to constitute ‘full-time’ education, 1,650 hours. The committee also recommends changes to university entrance requirements and says that educational institutions should be given responsibility over how their funding is distributed: between teaching, research and development … read more 24.11.2014

Publishing: The peer-review scam

INTERNATIONAL (nature) -- In the past 2 years, journals have been forced to retract more than 110 papers in at least six instances of peer-review rigging. Researchers exploited vulnerabilities in the publishers’ computerised systems to dupe editors into accepting manuscripts, often by doing their own reviews ... read more 26.11.2014

Read also: Open access is tiring out peer reviewers

External exams for Ukrainian diplomas

DONBASS (rbc) -- The Ukrainian education and science ministry has detailed mechanisms for awarding diplomas and certificates to university and school graduates in the Donets Basin who cannot move for various reasons. Education minister Serhiy Kvit said the exams “will be done externally or remotely” … read more 24.11.2014

Anger over research budget cuts in France

STRASBOURG (francetv) -- Academics have expressed outrage at budget cuts at the University of Strasbourg. The university has witnessed the freezing of one quarter of public grants and 50 research-teaching positions. Academics, trade unionists, the Dean of the University as well as the collective “Sciences en Marche” gathered for the first time to discuss their demands ahead of a planned strike on the 11 December… read more 24.11.2014

Maltese youth feels fine without (pe)degree

VALETTA (malta today) -- A European Commission report has revealed that the number of students choosing not to attend university in Malta is the second highest in the EU. Education minister Evarist Bartolo said that the Maltese government wants to halve these figures by 2020. The government has allocated 5.5 million euros for scholarship schemes for Masters’ programmes … read more 13.11.2014

Gates Foundation goes open access

INTERNATIONAL (sciencemag) -- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest grant-making foundations, has adopted a new policy of open access. Starting in 2017, researchers funded by the foundation must only publish their work in immediate open access journals. The organisation will pay the fees commonly charged by such journals … read more 21.11.2014

Irish professors enjoy unparalleled salaries

DUBLIN (independent) -- Despite falling university standards, six years of austerity budgets and governmental efforts to standardise university salaries, 1,093 of the 4,327 academic staff in the Irish universities earn more than €100,000 p.a.. The average pay levels surpassed comparable countries such as the UK, Canada and the US … read more 23.11.2014

Spain to recognise pre-Bologna titles

MADRID (diario crítico) -- The Spanish government have approved a decree allowing 140 Spanish pre-Bologna degrees to be of equal value to the European framework. The new rules will also impact upon the recognition of foreign degrees. It is hoped that this will help tackle the low level of internationalisation in Spanish universities, explained Montserrat Gomendio, state secretary for education … read more 21.11.2014

New Belgian course in university quality control

BRUSSELS (de morgen) -- Belgian education minister Hilde Crevits has said that college and university inspections are to stop, giving them greater freedom in quality monitoring. It is hoped, that by getting rid of ‘time-consuming’ external quality control, at least until 2020, there will be less administrative pressure on professors and several million euros can be saved ... read more 24.11.2014

Croatian cuts may incite brain drain

ZAGREB (slobodna dalmacija) -- Croatian postdocs abroad will not receive financial state support during their first year. As part of austerity measures, the government cancelled the ‘collective science agreement’. For the first time ever, these young scientists will have to rely entirely on funding from their overseas institutions. There are suggestions that this may result in the permanent emigration of many … read more 20.11.14

No chance for students in Berlin

BERLIN (tagesspiegel) -- Students looking for affordable, publicly subsidised student housing in Berlin have currently no chance. 165,000 students live in the German capital, only 95,000 places are available. Promises of outgoing mayor Klaus Wowereit to build 5,000 units, were not kept. The last concrete project, 178 flats in a northern suburb, failed due to investors’ greed. Good news though for Berlin’s shareconomy! ... read more 24.11.2014

Mosques to be built at 80 Turkish universities

ANKARA (hurriyet) -- Mehmet Görmez, President of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, has announced that mosques will be built in 80 state universities. Görmez stated that they “want the youth to have spiritual development and have access to mosques” … read more 21.11.2014

Scientists rally for threatened research agency

BRUSSELS (sciencemag) -- European scientists have opposed the Belgian government’s plans to scrap the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO). BELSPO manages science institutes such as the Royal Observatory of Belgium and oversees the country’s contribution to the European Space Agency. The scientists, who have launched a petition against the plans, claim the move will leave Belgium “below the threshold of scientific … poverty” … read more 21.11.2014

Danes reform international recruitment

COPENHAGEN (pr) -- The Danish parliament is considering a new bill to reform the country’s international recruitment. The bill would facilitate the recruitment of highly skilled non-EU workers by introducing a new fast-track system for highly qualified employees, better conditions for researchers and a relaxation of the research tax system … read more 21.11.2014

Italy fights back against brain drain

ROME (repubblica) -- The Italian government is seeking to prevent and even reverse the brain drain of scientists and researchers from the country. As part of the reformed Stability Law, the resources behind tax credits for research and development will increase to 500 million euros … read more 19.11.2014

Denmark worried by surge in foreign students

COPENHAGEN (tv2) -- Following reports that the number of students from the European Union who receive the Danish state funded Educational Grant (SU) has increased tenfold in just two years, from 442 students to 4141. MP Jens Henrik Thulesen Dahl (DPP) has suggested that the increase should be ‘plugged’. Following an EU decision in 2013, students who come to Denmark from countries within the European Union are entitled to receive SU if they have at least 11 hours worth of study time per week. This has caused the explosion in foreign SU receivers, with suggestions that 3,000 students have come from Eastern Europe. Mr Dahl stated that the Danish “open market for education … now appears to be systemically exploited” and expressed fears that the SU budget framework will be breached: of the 390 million krone allocated to the SU, 204 million are already being used … read more 19.11.14

London students march for free education

LONDON (bbc) -- Thousands of students have marched through London protesting against education cuts, tuition fees and student debt. The ‘Free Education’ protest was not supported by the United Kingdom’s National Union of Students (NUS) and a number of arrests were made when the mostly peaceful protest descended on Parliament Square … read more 19.11.2014

Spanish and Portuguese universities to collaborate

LISBON (abc) -- To enhance the exchange of Spanish and Portuguese students and teachers, Eduardo Junco, the Spanish ambassador to Portugal, has promoted collaboration between the countries’ universities. Junco announced the incorporation of several institutions into the Iberian Network Entities Transboundary (RIET), a European organisation of cross-border cooperation … read more 18.11.14

Innovation of Dutch businesses plummets

ROTTERDAM (rsm) -- The Erasmus Competition and Innovation Monitor, run by the research institute INSCOPE, has revealed that the “capacity for innovation among Dutch companies has decreased substantially” when compared to previous years … read more 18.11.2014

Students protest against Mario Draghi in Rome

ROME (repubblica) -- Economic students at Roma Tre University led demonstrations against the President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, after his participation in a conference at the university. The students blame Mr Draghi for austerity measures that have caused increased insecurity and budget cuts at schools and universities … read more 13.11.2014

Free research threatened by grant distribution?

STOCKHOLM (svd) -- Swedish professors have claimed that the current system of unilateral research investment threatens free research as Swedish universities are managed by principles drawn from the business community rather than by research colleagues. The professors also suggest that publication in major journals is crucial for receiving research grants, meaning that only a small clique of researchers in so-called “elite centres” benefit from the awards while researchers with more everyday clinical problems have difficulty getting funding … read more 20.11.2014

New Director General of Higher Education in Portugal

LISBON (observador) -- In Portugal the position of Director-General of Higher Education has been filled by João António Rodrigues Sampaio Queiroz. According to a statement from the ministry, the biotechnology professor and rector of the University of Beira Interior in north-eastern Portugal, was chosen due to his “vast academic experience” ... read more 19.11.2014

Austrian companies invest greatly in research

VIENNA (kurier) -- Austria currently spends €9.07 billion (2.81 percent of GDP) on research and development and is ranked fifth in the European Union for such investment. The country largely owes this high rating to its domestic companies, who finance 69 percent of research … read more 17.11.2014

European research system “too fragmented”

PARIS (euractiv) -- Geneviève Fioraso, French state secretary for higher education and research, has criticised the current European system of research and the transfer of technology to industry. Ms Fioraso stated that the current model lacks flexibility and “is still too fragmented” and has called for “interdisciplinary teams integrating the human and social sciences“. The minister also lamented France’s limited participation in European research projects and expressed her desire to see greater involvement in the Horizon 2020 programme … read more 19.11.2014

White men dominate in UK universities

LONDON (guardian) -- There has been slow progress in reducing inequality at UK universities, with a staggering 80 percent of professors being men, and only 5.9 percent of academic staff being from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, according to a new study … read more 18.11.14

European Union budget talks collapse

BRUSSELS (esna) -- Negotiations for the 2015 budget between the European Parliament and the European Council have collapsed following disagreement over a workable budget. Parliament, who wants to reduce the growing number of outstanding bills, could not accept the Council’s proposal, which was revealed on the very last day of the budget talks. The Council suggested only half of what the European Commission had asked for to pay the most urgent bills, which included payments to the academic community. Jean Arthuis, leader of the parliamentary delegation, said that this dishonouring of commitments by the EU “puts entrepreneurs, researchers and Erasmus students in difficulty”. The Commission will now present a new draft budget, re-launching the procedure … read more 18.11.14

Spanish students defend public education

MADRID (20 minutos) -- Green Tide, a Spanish movement against the continued cuts to higher education, has launched a series of protests aimed at criticising government policies, with special emphasis on colleges … read more 19.11.2014

Turkish professor “violates right to education”

ISTANBUL (daily sabah) -- Esat Rennan Pekünlü, a lecturer at Ege University in Western Turkey, has been sentenced to two years in prison for banning students from entering the classroom wearing a headscarf. This case signifies the return of the headscarf debate, sparked in September when a law was passed allowing headscarves to be worn in secondary schools as well … read more 19.11.2014

Solidarity with foreign students in Norway

OSLO (adressa) -- Students in the Norwegian city of Trondheim have expressed their disagreement with the government proposal to introduce tuition fees for foreign students in a protest arranged by the Student Union. Recently Norwegian rectors also came out in support of foreign students, with half saying they would subsidise international students if the budget suggestion is approved ... read more 17.11.2014

Plagiarism explodes in the Balkans

ZAGREB (aljazeera) -- The Balkan regions have seen a huge increase in the number of advertisements brazenly offering seminar, graduate, masters and even doctoral theses. Although the purchase of such academic papers is an open secret, there is little evidence or information of the authorities taking action against the practice … read more 17.11.2014

Croatian rectors threaten constitutional complaint

ZAGREB (novelist) -- Croatian university rectors will seek a meeting with the Prime Minister after the Croatian finance minister, Boris Lalovac, included all university revenues and expenditures in the 2015 draft budget. This would allow the minister to see how the institutions, including those who do not receive income from the budget, spent their own revenues. The rectors have attacked this as a violation of the Croatian constitutional principle of university autonomy … read more 15.11.2014

Students flock to Poland

WARSAW (wyborcza) -- Although the internationalisation of Polish universities ranks low in the EU, the level of foreign students has risen by 23 percent in the last academic year. Most of them come from Ukraine, which, at 15,123, represents 42 percent of all foreign students in Poland … read more 14.11.14

Plagiarism controversy at French journalism school

PARIS (metro) -- The Parisian School of Journalism at Sciences Po is at the heart of a plagiarism scandal, after its Executive Director Agnes Chaveau was suspended for copying sentences in articles on the Huffington Post website. “Plagiarism is a serious matter in journalism … the school, which teaches ethics, cannot take these things lightly,” said the director of the prestigious school … read more 17.11.2014

European Commission science advisor scrapped

BRUSSELS (bbc) -- The European Commission has announced the termination of the role of EU Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA). The CSA was to “provide independent expert advice on any aspect of science, technology and innovation as requested by the President”. This comes as Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker formally closed the the Bureau of European Policy Advisers, which included the CSA. Researchers across Europe and British members of the European Parliament have expressed their dismay at Mr Juncker’s decision … read more 13.11.2014

New student housing project in Sweden

SKOPJE (skånskan) -- Eslöv council in southern Sweden are hoping to tackle student-housing shortages in Sweden with the purchasing of a plot of land on which they will build housing especially for students. The construction company Atmosfärhus Syd AB, which is behind the plans, hopes that students studying at the University of Lund and Malmö Academy will be enticed to stay in Eslöv, thanks partly to the good train links … read more 18.11.2014

Irish teachers propose corporate tax for education

DUBLIN (irish times) -- The staff-to-student ratios at Irish universities soared by 30 percent between 2008 and 2012, from 1:18 to 1:27. This deterioration is the effect of a 25 percent decrease in recurrent grant allocations to universities and colleges. Mike Jennings, general secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers, argues that graduate taxes and higher student loans will lead to an exodus of students. He pleas for a radical new approach, such as the allocation of a set percentage of corporate tax for the education sector … read more 18.11.2014

German university funding centralised

BERLIN (sr) -- A change of the German Basic Law now allows the federal government to finance universities directly. This was previously forbidden, in a 2006 law that stated that only single states gave the authority of higher education funding. In recent years, many of the regional states were unable to adequately finance their universities … read more 18.11.2014

Spanish humanities struggle on the labour market

MADRID (umh) -- A new national survey has described the difficulties of graduates of humanities within the Spanish labour market. From an analysis of 190,000 graduates, it emerged that humanities degree holders are much more likely to be unemployed. While medicine and engineering reach an employability of over 80 percent, not even half of graduates of history (45), arts (40) and languages (18-40 percent) can find a job … read more 17.11.14

Dutch students protest grant abolition


THE HAGUE (jdW) -- Thousands of Dutch students demonstrated on Friday in The Hague against the abolition of the state grant and the introduction of a loan system in its place. It is estimated that students under this new system will have to borrow up to €40,000. For education minister Jet Bussemaker the basic grant, introduced in 1986, is not “up-to-date” anymore, as the number of students has quadrupled in 28 years. Bussemaker believes that the one billion euros provided overtime by the grant abolition could be better spent boosting the quality of Dutch higher education … read more 14.11.2014

Angela Merkel insists India shouldn’t drop German

BERLIN (zee news) -- India’s move to drop German as a third school language has moved Chancellor Angela Merkel to raise the issue personally with Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi … read more 15.11.2014

UNESCO launches World Library of Science

INTERNATIONAL (unesco) -- In collaboration with the educational division of Nature Publishing Group and Roche, the world’s largest biotech company, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has launched the World Library of Science. This free, online, science education resource provides over 300 top-quality articles, 25 eBooks and over 70 videos from the publishers of Nature and “seeks to make science learning accessible to students everywhere in the world” … read more 07.11.2014

China to lead research investment

INTERNATIONAL (jsonline) -- A new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has suggested that China will become the world's leading research-and-development economy by 2019, overtaking Europe, Japan and the USA … read more 12.11.2014

France pays twice for research publishing

PARIS (eur89) -- An investigation has revealed that the French research ministry paid Elsevier, the Dutch publishing company, 172 million euros for five years worth of publications. Although French taxpayers financed the initial publication and have now paid a second time for this research to be accessed by 476 educational institutions, they themselves will not be able to access it thanks to the subscription models that the monopolising journal publishers employ … read more 10.11.2014

Germany offers first Muslim scholarships

BERLIN (rp) -- In an unprecedented move, the German government has funded scholarships specifically for Muslim students. The ‘Avicenna-Studienwerk’ received a rush of applicants, the research ministry will allocate €10 million over the next five years … read more 17.11.14

Spanish students favour online education

BARCELONA (uoc.edu) -- The Open University of Catalonia (UOC) has revealed that over 230,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students are engaged in online university education in Spain. This represents 15 percent of all students in the country. The UOC also highlighted the interests of the business world in e learning … read more 15.11.2014

UK universities keen on EU student cash

LONDON (the) -- English universities are targeting the European Union for extra student recruitment when the cap on undergraduates is lifted next year, prompting warnings about additional pressure on the student loans system. James Pitman, managing director for a student recruitment company, told the press the motivation for universities to recruit EU students was “volume, obviously; it’s revenue” ... read more 13.11.2014

Brits confuse education with business

LONDON (the) -- The British Times Higher Education magazine believes German education policy (with the aim of sending more students abroad) to be nothing more than an “industrial strategy, which requires highly skilled graduates to be able to operate across the world” ... read more 13.11.14

Clashes in the Greek universities

ATHENS (libcom) -- Rectors of several Greek universities called for police to block any possible occupations of university premises for the November 17th anniversary of the 1973 student uprising. The following clashes resulted in at least two injuries. Until recently the police were not allowed to enter university grounds ... read more 14.11.2014

Rise in foreign students at Polish universities

WARSAW (the news) -- Close to 36,000 foreigners are currently studying at Polish universities, marking an increase of almost 25 percent compared with the previous academic year ... read more 10.11.2014

Ukraine evacuates universities from occupied territories

KIEV (setimes) -- Thousands of professors and students are moving from eastern Ukraine to different regions across the country to continue the education process they said became “impossible” under the separatist regime. According to the education ministry of Ukraine, 11 universities have moved from the occupied territories to other regions of the country ... read more 12.112014

Research cost reform rejected in Europe

LONDON (ft) -- According to a senior European politician, plans to overhaul research costs have been rejected by the new pan-European financial regulator ESMA. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) wanted to enact a Europe-wide ban on research costs being bundled with trading in dealing commissions. ESMA supported greater transparency from brokers instead and opted not to ban the use of commissions … read more 11.11.2014

Launch of the Nature Index

LONDON (nature) -- Science outputs of 20,000 institutions worldwide can now be easily analysed with the new Nature Index, a freely accessible website available at natureindex.com. The index tracks the author affiliations of nearly 60,000 scientific articles published per year ... read more 04.11.2014

Irish university chancellors denounce budget cuts

BELFAST (sluggerotoole) -- The vice-chancellors of Queen’s University and the University of Ulster have warned that following planned budget cuts, they will accept up to 1,100 fewer students next year. Northern Ireland’s executive has proposed a cut of 10.8 percent in funding for the Department of Education and Learning … read more 8.11.14

Have French business schools reached their limit?

PARIS (les echos) -- A recent report has revealed that the stability of French business schools may well be shaky. Apparently these schools have reached “the limits of their performance”, despite an increase in student numbers and tuition fees income their margins for financial manoeuvre continue to shrink … read more 11.11.2014 

Italy internationalises with Tunisia

SIENA (ansamed) -- The University of Siena has signed an agreement with the Tunisian universities of Carthage and Sousse to foster collaboration and joint research projects within their territories. The partnership will also include exchange programmes for teachers and students … read more 7.11.14

Italian seismologists cleared of manslaughter

L’AQUILA (nature) -- Six seismologists accused of misleading the public about the risk of an earthquake in Italy were cleared of manslaughter on 10 November. An appeals court overturned their six-year prison sentences and reduced to two years the sentence for a government official who had been convicted with them.
The verdict prompted many L’Aquila citizens outside the courtroom to react with rage, shouting “shame” and saying that the Italian state had just acquitted itself. But it comes as a relief to scientists around the world who had been following the unprecedented case with alarm ... read more | and here 10.11.2014

French students disadvantaged in Quebec?

QUEBEC (lemonde) -- 12,000 French students studying in Quebec may face higher tuition fees if an agreement cannot be reached between François Hollande, French President, and Philippe Couillard, Quebec Premier. These students currently pay the same yearly amount as their Quebec counterparts, around 1,500 euros, thanks to a previous agreement. There are also suggestions that quotas may be introduced at Quebec universities for French students … read more 05.11.2014

Portuguese polytechnics face devaluation

LISBON (notícias ao minuto) -- José Ferreira Gomes, Portuguese state secretary for higher education, has proposed that there be more differentiation between universities and polytechnics in the country. “The two different systems have different goals,” he said. This could mean that entry requirements are much lower for those applying for polytechnics … read more 11.11.2014

Macedonia and Croatia begin student exchanges

SKOPJE (macedonia online) -- Engineering and IT faculties in Skopje, Macedonia, and Zagreb, Croatia, have agreed on a new cooperation programme that will involve numerous professors, students and interns. The traditionally close ties between the educational institutions of both countries have been reinforced by a five-year plan … read more 10.11.14

Drastical reduction of student places in Denmark

COPENHAGEN (politiken) -- Sofie Carsten Nielsen, the Danish science and education minister, has announced an agreement with Universities Denmark over the controversial cuts to university courses. The new plan gives universities freedom in distributing the cutbacks over disciplines and graduate programmes will only be reduced after 2018. The plan asks universities to close around 3,500 places in undergraduate programmes and 2,400 places in graduate courses … read more 04.11.2014

Crato denies Portugal has too many graduates

LISBON (destak) -- Portuguese Minister of Education, Nuno Crato has spoken out about German president Angela Merkel’s comments that Portugal has “too many university graduates”. Crato responded by saying that Portugal will continue to invest in education. He did however stress the importance of students having multiple options when leaving university, including access to vocational training … read more 05.11.2014

Lectures in Romania cancelled during elections

BUCHAREST (romania-insider) -- The Romanian Ministry of Education has proposed that university classes be suspended in the country on Friday and Monday. They hope that doing so would encourage more students to vote in the presidential election … read more 11.11.2014

MEPs to discuss future of copyright

BRUSSELS (eu) -- Legal affairs and culture committees have met with academics, representatives of content creators and distributors, and European Commission experts to discuss how copyright laws can keep up to date with technological developments. New Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said he wants to modernise current copyright rules “in the light of the digital revolution” ... read more 11.11.14 

Disabled students disadvantaged in Spain

MADRID (el economista) -- Spanish people with disabilities are still at a disadvantage when it comes to access to jobs and education. It was reported that the percentage of students achieving higher education among the disabled population is 15 percent, half of the amount of students without disabilities … read more 10.11.2014

Poland granted millions for research

WARSAW (finanse) -- The European Investment Bank has granted Poland a loan of 700 million euros to support major investments in research, development and innovation in Poland’s knowledge economy and its digital administration … read more 06.11.2014

Greek universities suffocated by transfers

THESSALONIKI (agelioforos) -- The administrations of three universities in Thessaloniki have asked for state assistance in renting temporary classrooms and hiring temporary staff in the face of 3,000 transferring students who may “sink” their auditoriums. Pericles Mitkas, rector of the Aristotle University, stated, “We have students standing. The lecture halls are overcrowded and can not meet the requirements”. Mr Mitkas’ institution is expected to receive an additional 1,808 students … read more 10.11.2014

Spain struggling to monetise research

MADRID (abc) -- A study has revealed that universities in Spain face huge barriers when it comes to using academic research for economic purposes. Tona Rubio, the author of the study, writes that Spanish universities are “slow and uncompetitive” and “far removed from the market” ... read more 8.11.14 

Dutch universities undermined by English language?

AMSTERDAM (refdag) -- English language education in Dutch universities has been rising exponentially in recent years but several university lecturers have now claimed such education is disastrous for students, teachers and Dutch society in general … read more 07.11.2014

International outrage after journal withdrawal

LISBON (publico) -- The Portuguese Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC) will launch an investigation into the University of Lisbon’s Institute of Social Sciences’ (ICS) suspension and withdrawal of the Análise Social journal. The ICS suspended the journal because of a visual essay by Ricardo Campos that, according to the institute, “contained offensive material that impaired the reputation of the ICS” and the journal. This controversy has generated widespread criticism of the ICS from hundreds of Portuguese and international academics who sympathise with the author and who claim the suspension violates the academic freedom of publication … read more 09.11.2014

German students show no political interest

BERLIN (huffington post) -- German science minister, Johanna Wanka, has expressed her concern that 30 percent of the German student population (compared to 42 percent in 2010), “the leaders of tomorrow”, feel indifferent towards politics, as they believe it has no bearing on them. According to a recent national student survey , German students are also more conservative, consumerist, risk-averse and hostile against forgeigners than four years ago … read more 27.10.2014

Three out of four Swiss students seek jobs during studying

BERN (blick) -- Although university courses are structured and designed for full-time study, 72 percent of Swiss students entered paid employment alongside their courses in 2013. Family support still provides the bulk of funding at 51 percent, while student employment constitutes 39 percent … read more 30.10.14

Belgian medical graduates crisis

LIEGE (7sur7/rtbf) -- Almost half of all final year Francophone medical students may be unable to practice medicine after graduating, as they will be denied ‘Inami’ numbers. These limited numbers constitute a ‘numerus clausus’ since they are used by the Belgium state to regulate the number of recognised doctors in the country. Representatives from both sides of the linguistic border have been working to find solutions to the on-going crisis but the Flemish Council of Medical Students (VGSO) has challenged attempts to obtain numbers for all Francophone graduates in medicine and dentistry … read more 03.11.2014

Gender politics in Austrian university theses

VIENNA (freie welt) -- Since the early 1990s, political correctness has become an increasing trend in the public discourse of German speaking countries. The news that students at the Vienna Vocational Training Institute are obliged to write their theses in a ‘gender-neutral form’, has stirred up a heated discussion on political correctness in Austria … read more 03.11.14

European universities unfazed by international rankings

MADRID (europa press) -- According to a report carried out by the European University Association, only two in five European institutions heed the results from international rankings. The authors of the study pointed to the ‘limitations’ of these types of rankings, and recommended that universities do not refer to them when making important decisions about the allocation of university resources … read more 08.11.2014

Scottish students crowdfund castle for refugees

ABERDEEN (pressandjournal) -- Scottish students from Aberdeen University have launched a crowdfunding initiative to purchase a £6 million castle as a sanctuary for starving asylum seekers. The students see the house wasted as a “playground for the mega-rich” and they intend to create a vibrant community of refugees in the estate … read more 03.11.2014

Plagiarism among scientists more common

INTERNATIONAL (the scientist) -- An extensive combination and analysis of 17 surveys that involved thousands of scientists has suggested that the proportion of scientists who have witnessed incidents of plagiarism is around 30 percent. This overwhelms previous estimates, which proposed percentages between 0.15 and 11 percent … read more 03.11.2014

French tax credit boosts industrial R&D funding

PARIS (challenges) -- The French tax credit (CIR) has caused an increase in industrial research and development (R&D) investments. A study has shown that CIR, which reduces research costs by 25 percent, helped to support company investments in R&D worth 5.3 billion euros between 2007 and 2012. This figure is 1.5 times higher than the costs of the tax credit to the state … read more 04.11.2014

Wage dumping at German universities

BERLIN (pr) -- Many of the 94,000 lecturers - twice as many as 15 years ago - are not even paid the minimum wage, 8.50 euros, their contracts are temporary. Andreas Keller, president of the Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW), demanded the end of this “wage dumping” and to precarious employment at German universities ... read more 06.11.2014

EU donation revamps Serbian universities

BELGRADE (b92) -- The European Union has provided 30 million euros for Serbia’s “High Education Teaching Infrastructure Project (HETIP)”. This allowed the renovation of 27 university buildings and included labs, research facilities, teaching and utility facilities … read more 31.10.14

Serbian academics call for support

BELGRADE (inserbia) -- Participants in a debate at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) have called for a significant increase in the national science budget. Aleksandar Belić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, highlighted the stagnating funding for 12,500 Serbian researchers. Ljubisav Rakić, Vice President of the Academy, called on the wider scientific community to help resolve the vital issues … read more 04.11.14

Partial default on French university grant worries rectors

PARIS (vousnousils) -- French university presidents have expressed dismay at a 20 percent reduction in this year’s university funding. They have indicated that this cutback may result in unpaid employees’ salaries in December. Jean-Loup Salzmann, president of the Conference of University Presidents, warned that if the 20 percent fell through, “more than two thirds of universities would be in the red” … read more 30.10.2014

Engineering fast-track abandoned in Norway

OSLO (tu) -- The plan to allow vocationally trained students to access colleges and universities in Norway without supplementary training caused outrage when implemented in 2013. Now the government have gone back on their promise, and hopes the decision will have a positive effect on quality of education in the country. “The intention was good, but it is bad policy for engineering studies,” said Røe Isaksen of TU University. “It would have done the students a disservice” … read more 30.10.2014

Unequal financing in ERA-NET schemes

BRUSSELS (neth.er) -- From 2002 to 2013, the European Union invested €483 million into the so-called ERA-NET scheme, designed to support the coordination and collaboration of national research programmes. A report found that “Germany and the UK alone represent one third of the public funding” … read more 03.11.2014

Croatian students drawn abroad

ZAGREB (tportal) -- Since joining the European Union and gaining free movement on the continent, more and more Croatian students choose to study abroad. The share of Croats studying in neighbouring Bosnia has jumped to 18 percent from 12.5 in 2010, attracted by lower rent and tuition costs and lower grade barriers to entry … read more 2.11.14

Swiss rectors: “The boat is full”

ZURICH (nzz) -- The presidents of the Swiss Federal Technology Institutes in Zurich and Lausanne have proposed limits on the number of foreign students at their institutions. Patrick Aebischer, president of Lausanne’s institute, said “We are pleased with all our foreign students but we are reaching our capacity.” The word “quota” has been avoided so far … read more 28.10.2014

Standardisation as the future of research?

BRUSSELS (neth.er) -- According to the conference ‘Standards: Your Innovation Bridge’, researchers should involve standardisation in their work as soon as possible to support and generate innovation. Many calls under Horizon 2020 require insight into how standardisation is a part of research projects, an indicator for the impending necessity of the practice … read more 31.10.2014

Maastricht proves popular for Irish students

BELFAST (irish mirror) -- An increasing number of Northern Irish university students are choosing to study in the Netherlands, attracted by low tuition fees, various courses in English and well supported preparation for graduate careers … read more 29.10.2014

USA releases ‘Best Global Universities’ rankings

WASHINGTON (usnews) -- U.S. News and World Report has released the first edition of its new university ranking system, ‘Best Global Universities’. The American media company enters an international classification market previously dominated by Britain and Shanghai. The rankings are based on data and metrics provided by research analysts at Thomson Reuters and features the top 500 universities across 49 countries … read more 28.10.2014

LinkedIn unveils original university ranking system

INTERNATIONAL (blog.nl.edu) -- LinkedIn, the business-oriented social networking service, has launched its unique take on university rankings. The site analysed its extensive database of members and catalogued where they had studied and whom they have worked for, which generated original rankings based on employment trends … read more 29.10.14

Agreement on university cuts in Denmark

COPENHAGEN (dr) -- Denmark’s controversial education budget cuts have now been agreed upon by ministers and universities. The Danish government caused outrage in October when it proposed getting rid of 4,000 study places with low job prospects. The new plan looks only marginally different from the original, with the axing of certain subjects beginning in 2020, rather than the original 2018. The decision has caused outrage by academics and students alike ... read more 04.11.2014 

Female students dominate dentistry in Norway

OSLO (yle uutiset) -- Almost 80 percent of dental students in Norway are female and this figure has increased dramatically over the past 10-15 years. President of the Norwegian Dental Association Bergens Tidende explained that the dental profession may be more attractive to women because of increased flexibility … read more 05.11.2014

Controversy over Austrian University Act

VIENNA (presse) -- University rectors, the Austrian national student union and the women’s ministry have criticised proposed regulatory changes to the proportion of female university students. The amendment will introduce gender parity for females instead of the current 40 percent quota. Parity would allow men to contest the figures should the female proportion rise above 50 percent … read more 30.10.14

Finland plans to charge international students

HELSINKI (yle) -- Following similar policies by other Scandinavian countries, Finland is planning to introduce tuition fees for students coming from outside Europe. Minimum fees of €4,000 will be payable each year under government plans, starting in 2016 … read more 29.10.2014

80,000 students on strike in Canada

MONTREAL (telesur) -- 50,000 people hit the streets of Montreal to reject the Liberal government’s cuts to health, education, and public services. Thousands of students from Quebec colleges and universities participated following a vote by 82,000 students for one-day strike to coincide with the march. Students in Quebec made headlines world-wide after going on strike for several months to protest proposed tuition fee increases in the province. At its peak 250,000 students were participating in daily actions ... read more 29.10.2014

Precarious lives of Italian researchers

ROME (la stampa) -- Only one percent of Italian researchers have any possibility of job stabilisation. Recent data from the education ministry has revealed that there are 2,450 researchers on temporary ‘type A’ contracts and only 224 on ‘type B’. Type A contracts expire at a maximum of five years and the researcher is then forced to leave the institution. Type B contracts are the only ones that allow a promotion to associate professor after three years. Under these worrying conditions, 99 percent of Italian researchers will be expelled from the academic system, up from 96 percent last year … read more 03.11.2014

Belgian research budget axed

BRUSSELS (de morgen) -- The Belgian government are to cut 46 million euros from its science budget over the next five years. The research contracts with the eleven federal scientific institutions will be reduced by €8.8 million to just 44 million. François Englert, Belgian Nobel laureate in physics, says this move constitutes an “an axe in one of Belgium’s biggest engines of growth” and the country will lose “one of its greatest assets” … read more 27.10.2014 

Glass ceiling for women in German academia

BERLIN (taz.de) -- Female academics in Germany have a much tougher time than men, according to a new study. A number of women complain that the expectation that doctoral students work beyond contractually agreed working hours means that those who have to take on child care (statistically more likely to be women) are left in an impossible position. The study also claims that universities have been failing for a long time to promote women and that more programs are needed to break this ‘glass ceiling’ … read more 29.10.2014 

Dutch universities struggle for open access

THE HAGUE (dn) -- The current negotiations between Dutch universities’ association VSNU and the publishing house Reed Elsevier about free access to academic articles have reached an impasse. The universities want to move in line with education ministry policy that by 2020, all academic publications should be open access because they are mainly financed with public money. But Elsevier made a proposal last week which in no way addresses this necessary change ... read more 04.11.2014

Scottish borrowing soars to record levels

EDINBURGH (guardian) -- Tuition may be free in Scotland, but student debt for the last academic year has risen drastically to £430 million, after the government cut the grants they could claim by 40 percent. The heaviest burden is falling on the poorest students, as overall spending on grants for living costs have been reduced from £89 million to £53 million last year. “These are startling figures” said Scottish higher education expert Lucy Hunter Blackburn … read more 28.10.2014

Stalinism at Dutch universities

AMSTERDAM (punt) -- Performance agreements and evaluation do not necessarily improve teaching and research quality at Dutch universities and colleges. On the contrary, according to a report by student unions, performance agreements have become formal barriers to prevent discussion between students, teaching staff and the administration … read more 29.10.14

Marking boycott in UK will hit 69 universities

Athenian university senate held hostage

ATHENS (greekreporter) -- A board meeting at the University of Athens turned into a hostage situation when fifty students held the university’s senate members captive. The students were protesting against dean Theodoros Fortsakis’ decision to hire a private security company for campus security … read more 30.10.2014

Deregulated police university access denied

MADRID (abc) -- The rector of the University Alcalá de Henares has rejected a controversial governmental protocol that was proposed to all Madrilenian universities. The plan would allow national police to enter university campuses without authorisation, while before they were denied access without the permission of the rector. The Spanish Workers’ Commission had demanded the immediate withdrawal of the protocol, which they regard as a frontal attack on freedom of expression, assembly and association … read more 28.10.2014

German-Arab ties strengthened

BERLIN (freie presse) -- A cooperation project has been established between Berlin’s Technical University and a number of universities in Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. At a 3-day conference in Chemnitz, Germany, increasing student exchanges between universities, expanding technology transfer, teaching and research connections were discussed … read more 30.10.2014  

United States of Europe?

MADRID (the) -- Kurt Deketelaere, secretary general of the League of European Research Universities, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the Bologna Process and has claimed that EU-wide legislation may be required to truly enable the free movement of students and researchers. Mr Deketelaere encouraged a merger of different European pedagogies and performance assessments, demanding that the European Union work “as one bloc from the higher education and research perspective” … read more 30.10.14

German research investment rockets

BERLIN (deutschlandfunk/bmbf) -- The federal and state governments in Germany have agreed on an expansion to the Higher Education Pact, which will last until 2020. This contains, amongst other benefits, a multi-billion dollar package for research funding and an extension to the Excellence Initiative. Johanna Wanka, education and research minister, said that they had "put together a tremendous package” … read more 30.10.2014 

Continuous testing superior to terminal?

PARIS (le monde) --

Norwegian universities plan merger

STAVANGER (nrk) -- The Norwegian universities of Stavanger and Høgskolen Stord / Haugesund are preparing to merge faculties. This move is in line with the Norwegian education ministry’s restructuring plans for the country’s higher education landscape. The government is expected to publish a white paper on the sector in spring 2015 ... read more 27.10.2014

Austrian student union wants ban on nationalistic dress

VIENNA (heute) -- In the fight against right-wing extremism, the University of Vienna Student Union has called for a ban on nationalistic forms of dress on university grounds. The Union demands that university representatives make a “public and clear statement against right-wing extremist and German national ideology”. The Cartellverband (Austria’s largest student and academic association) vehemently opposes these plans, calling them “authoritarian” … read more 27.10.2014

Russian universities to boost regional development

MOSCOW (ria) -- The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has declared that Russian universities must become “a centre for the development” of their regions and should focus on the training required by inhabitants. Mr Putin noted that new ship and aircraft building enterprises are being constructed in the Russian Far East and these must be accommodated for with relevant training … read more 30.10.14

Scant Serbian research funding

BELGRADE (rtv) -- Although Serbia is charged with coordinating scientific developments within the Danube region, it surprisingly spends less than one percent of its gross domestic product on research and development, investment in human resources and knowledge societies. This is five times less than the funds recommended by the EU … read more 29.10.2014

Ukrainian universities on wheels

KIEV (poisk) -- The Ukrainian education ministry has announced that Donetsk National University will resume its educational activities in Vinnytsya, located over 800 km west, in early November. This relocation is one of many others as several south-eastern universities are also being transferred to ‘replacement’ cities … read more 24.10.2014

Lithuanian students predict university reduction

VILNIUS (balticcourse) -- The Lithuanian national students’ union (LSS) has given an unconventional forecast for the future of Lithuanian universities. LSS say that competition in the educational field will force improvements in educational quality, which will only be possible by consolidating university resources and merging institutions. This will reduce the number of Lithuanian higher education institutions and universities by 2030 … read more 17.10.2014

German students more apathetic than ever

BERLIN (sued deutsche) -- German students are highly satisfied with their university education, a new study has revealed. So much so in fact that the rate of political engagement amongst students is now lower than ever. Where in 2001 45 percent of respondents described their political interest as “very strong”, now only a third would claim so. Education Minister Johanna Wanka suggested this could be described a “general trend towards political passivity and apathy” amongst students ... read more 29.10.2014

Research organisations sound alarm over EU budget

BRUSSELS (div) -- Hundreds of European research and technology organisations have called on the Council of Ministers to avoid cuts in the EU budget for 2015. As recently expressed by Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, “a sword of Damocles is hanging over Horizon 2020 in the Budget 2015.” Cutting by 10 percent the EC’s Draft 2015 Budget for research payment appropriations – as proposed by the EU Council - would represent a €1 billion budget decrease for the Research Budget ... read more | and here 27.10.2014

Swiss Universities want cap on foreign students

ZURICH (srf) -- Rectors from the federal Technical universities of Zurich and Lausanne claim that they have reached the limits of their capacity and are demanding that the number of foreign students be limited. “This is discriminatory and xenophobic” said a representative of the Swiss Federation of Student Bodies. The timing of the demands is “tricky”, explained ETH Zurich University Spokesman Roman Klingler, with mass immigration currently dominating the political agenda in the country … read more 29.10.2014

The stars within reach for Polish science

WARSAW (focus) -- Poland has signed an agreement with the European Southern Observatory (ESO). This research organisation in the field of astronomy will offer Poland’s scientific community access to highly sophisticated equipment and will cover travel and residential costs. Marek Sarna, professor at the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre, describes this deal as a “ground-breaking” moment for Polish science … read more 29.10.2014

Educational imbalance in Belarus

MINSK (eurobelarus) -- The number of Belarusians applying to universities in Minsk has more than quadrupled in 13 years, up from 8,000 to 34,000 in 2013. One third of all students choose to study in the nation’s capital, with many never returning to their region … read more 28.10.2014

Serbian minister commends volunteering

BELGRADE (inserbia) -- Srdjan Verbic, Serbian education minister, has called on Serbian companies taking part in the Danube Strategy to welcome students who volunteer for the projects. Mr Verbic stated “there are thousands of students who would like to take part … for free and show their competencies”, allowing them to get a job more easily later … read more 27.10.2014

Programme for outstanding Polish students

WARSAW (rmf24) -- The exposé of Prime Minister Ewy Kopacz has revealed plans to finance the studies of Poland’s brightest students. The programme will begin in 2016 and will cover the monetary costs of 100 “outstanding” students who “promise hope for trends, research and innovative ideas” and “get into the top 29 universities in the world,” explains science minister Lena Kolarska-Bobińska … read more 27.10.2014

Subsidies for Romanian entrepreneurs

BUCHAREST (incont) -- Young Romanians aged between 18 and 25 and Romanian students will benefit from a new initiative aimed at encouraging independent activity and development. The ‘Romania Start-Up’ program will allocate 100 million euros for companies that are newly created by youths and students will be helped to develop entrepreneurship with mentoring sessions, workshops and training … read more 22.10.2014

Ukrainian ‘traitors’ lose academic titles

LUGANSK (uapress) -- Lecturers at universities in Lugansk who voluntarily united with the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic will be deprived of their scientific statuses. The Ukrainian education ministry is planning regulatory changes to facilitate the removal of professorial and associate professorial titles from persons voluntarily working in separatist controlled universities ... read more 25.10.2014

Reintroduction of tuition fees in Germany?

BERLIN (westen) -- Just as Germany inspired many by becoming completely tuition-fee free, the debate has been reignited, with some claiming they should be reintroduced. “An appropriate and socially equitable participation of students in the financing process makes sense” claims Ursula Gather, chairman of a regional rectors’ conference. But many politicians are reluctant to open the debate up again. Education minister Ludwig Spaenle stated, “we have conducted a societal debate… In the end, the result is that the general public and not individual families pay for study” … read more 29.10.2014

One third of Turkish youth neither in work nor education

ISTANBUL (hurriyet) -- Concerns are rising in Turkey over the rapid increase in unemployment amongst young people. This is coupled with a worryingly sharp decrease in Turkish youth attending education. Currently only a third of Turkey’s 11.7 million young people are in education, with another third working and the final third not working at all ... read more 27.10.2014 

German professors embark on partnership with Santander

MÖNCHENGLADBACH (ots) -- The German University Association (DHV) has partnered with Santander Universities. Santander Universities, a subdivision of Santander Consumer Bank AG, will support students from non-academic and often immigrant backgrounds with scholarship programmes. The bank will also supplement the annual ‘Rector of the Year’ award with 10,000 euros ... read more 17.10.2014

Saarland University cuts travel burdens

SAARBRÜCKEN (pr) -- Students at Saarland University who wish to visit partner universities within the ‘Greater Region’ for academic purposes can be supported in their travel costs. Saarland University has joined its associates in Liege, Lorraine and Luxembourg in setting up a mobility fund to reduce the financial burden for students ... read more 22.10.2014

Italian scientists pushed to the brink by spending cuts

ROME (sciencemag) -- Announcements to make further cuts to universities and research centers has caused outcry from students and researchers. New cuts will strangle research, says physicist Francesco Sylos Labini of the Enrico Fermi Center in Rome. “Cuts will have a dramatic consequence in hiring new people and the financial resources for research,” he explained. The body representing Italy’s university system (CUN) published an open letter online asking Prime Minister Renzi to cancel the latest round of cuts … read more 22.10.14 

Luxembourg promotes open access

WALFERDANGE (paperjam) -- In conjunction with Open Access Week, the University of Luxembourg has made almost 8,000 scientific publications and more than 14,500 researchers’ publication references freely available on the website Orbilu (Open Repository and Bibliography) … read more 21.10.2014

Clash between police and students in Ankara

ANKARA (todayszaman) -- Police cracked down on student demonstrations held at two universities in the Turkish capital Ankara. Students protested against the Islamic State attacks on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani. At the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (ODTÜ), they wanted to march from the University to the office of the ruling Justice and Development Party and were blocked by the police at the school’s gate with water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas … read more 9.10.14

Outcry at ‘humanities massacre’ in Denmark

COPENHAGEN (uwn) -- Government plans to cut 4,000 student places from faculties of humanities in Danish universities have created uproar among academics and the general population. Dean of humanities at Copenhagen University, Ulf Hedtoft, described the government decisions as a “massacre of the humanities”. A petition is also being circulated, calling for a “stop to the shortsighted intervention in Danish universities” and attracted almost 4,000 signatures in the first two days of being launched… read more 22.10.2014 

Peruvian postgrads gain Belgian backing

LIMA (andina) -- The Peruvian education ministry and the Belgium Higher Education Academy have signed an inter-institutional agreement to promote academic cooperation between the countries. This agreement will provide scholarships to financially disadvantaged Peruvians and will allow them to pursue scientific and technological postgraduate studies at Belgium universities … read more 23.10.2014

Holland registers Chartered Engineers

HAGUE (cobouw) -- The Dutch Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI) has announced an agreement with the British Engineering Council. This will permit the ‘Chartered Engineer’ quality mark to be issued in the Netherlands, making KIVI the first professional association allowed to grant the title outside the territory of the British Engineering Council … read more 20.10.14

Low fees, but high cost of living in France

PARIS (uwn) -- Students in French universities pay among the lowest fees in Europe, but despite that students are suffering with a rise in the cost of living. According to a report , a student has to spend on average 2,500 euros to start the university year, 2 percent more than last year. The main reasons were higher rent and increases in unavoidable expenses such as enrolment fees, university meals and social security payments ... read more 24.10.2014 

British private school kids flocking to overseas universities

LONDON (telegraph) -- More and more students from leading UK private schools are taking university courses abroad. A survey of members of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference found that a concern for tuition fee prices was the main reason for this rise, coupled with an increased awareness of opportunities abroad … read more 25.10.2014 

Turkey struggles with low academic quality

ISTANBUL (hurriyet) -- The number of Turkish universities has increased from 73 to 184 in 12 years. The number of scientific publications from Turkey that have made their way to international science indexes is 120,000. But their impact factor is only 4.55. What about academia, asks Hurriyet columnist Taha Akyol. Can that academia meet the challenge of growth and quality? ... read more 23.10.2014

The impact of austerity on EU universities

LONDON (the) -- Post-crash austerity measures have buffeted university funding across Europe in the past six years. How are some countries faring on state funding, according to a recent EUA report? ... read more 23.10.14

Danish post-graduate studies less flexible

Europe ‘risks dividing science and development policy’

BRUSSELS (scidev) -- A revamp of the European Commission’s set-up could hamper cooperation between its development and research arms, say observers, as European Parliament hearings start this week to approve the commissioners who will oversee each portfolio ... read more 29.10.2014

UK student visa rules condemned by employers

LONDON (bbc) -- A business leader has accused politicians of “cheap and pathetic gestures” in their approach to student visas in the UK. He joins a debate following warnings from universities that the student visa process has become so rigorous that it is putting people off. Universities have lobbied for students not to be included in net migration figures ... read more 23.10.2014

New European Commission includes Navracsics

STRASBOURG (eu/euractiv/politics.hu) -- The European Parliament has approved Jean-Claude Junker’s team of European commissioners, with Tibor Navracsics as commissioner of culture, education, youth and sports. This comes despite resistance from MEPs who claim that Mr Junker ignored their demands of consigning Mr Navracsics to a position outside culture and education. The new commissioner has, however, been stripped of the citizenship portfolio … read more | video 22.10.14
Benedek Javor, MEP of the Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party, criticised Juncker for “disregarding” the European Parliament’s objections to several candidates, including Navracsics, who had been “clearly rejected” by the relevant EP committee ... read more 23.10.2014

ID checks at University of Athens cause uproar

ATHENS (ekathimerini) -- Plans introduced by University of Athens rector Theodoros Fortsakis to impose identity checks on any unauthorised guests on campus have met with severe opposition from students and academics. Students staged protests at the main building and padlocked the gates of the Philosophy building following the announcement, claiming that it would damage free exchange of ideas at the university … read more 23.10.2014

University of Rome aids development of cultural community

ROME (bitculturali) -- A cultural project launched in Rome’s schools has been supported by the University Rome III and its rector, Mario Panizza, in order to aid cultural development in the city. The project aims to raise historical awareness and promote the area among the community. The University students will participate in programmes aimed educating the younger students but also developing the campus into not only an academic community but a residential one … read more 23.10.2014

Science research halted by lack of funding in Czech Republic

PRAGUE (rozhlas) -- The crucial scientific research undertaken at eight international facilities in the Czech Republic has been stopped due to lack of funding. The Ministry of Education has allegedly not provided the money they promised … read more 23.10.2014

Google offers technology courses

MADRID (elpais) -- The technology giant Google has recently started an initiative in Spanish universities that will train students in the use of new technologies. Google will offer five free online courses of 40 hours in e-commerce, app development, data analysis, cloud computing and digital marketing. This marketing course will also be taught in selected classrooms of 23 public Spanish universities … read more 20.10.14

Bertelsmann expands E-learning division

GÜTERSLOH (pr) -- In an attempt to draw more revenue from the education sector, Europe’s largest media company Bertelsmann has announced the purchase of US based Relias Learning. Bertelsmann’s acquisition of the online training provider is its first major purchase in the United States since 1998 and Thomas Rabe, CEO of Bertelsmann, states that it is “a major step on the way to making the education business a third mainstay of business for Bertelsmann alongside media and services” … read more 21.10.14

Lithuanian university sells historic war buildings

Censorship in British student newspaper

PLYMOUTH (guardian) -- Katie French, the editor of Plymouth University’s student union paper Knowledge, was threatened with expulsion for exposing the university’s budget cuts to student services. The students’ union demanded that she remove the story and on an earlier occasion, as Ms French explains, the university’s communications staff told the journalists to avoid stories “that portrayed the university in a bad light” … read more 21.10.14

Alsatian universities embrace open access

STRASBOURG (letudiant) -- The Alsatian universities of Strasbourg and Mulhouse are preparing the ‘AOC Alsace’ project (Open Archives for Knowledge), which will create institutional ‘open archives’ for Alsatian researchers. AOC, aiming to assemble scientific research within a single accessible portal, will allow articles and manuscripts to be deposited in an open access database … read more 21.10.14

Free photocopying for Italian students… At a price

ROME (il fatto quotidiano) -- Students will now be able to make copies of handouts and notes for free, thanks to a new Rome-based startup company, Fotocopiagratis. The concept is simple: Students sign up to the website, where they will receive a pin that they can bring into participating stores. The downside? In exchange participating sponsors will be able to print their logo on the back of each page. From October 1 the initiative officially started in Rome, but in the next few months it is expected to spread to other Italian cities. “We want to provide a valuable service to students all over the country,” said the founder of the startup, Geremicca Andrea … read more 20.10.2014

Proposal for controlled entry into University of Athens

ATHENS (matrix 24) -- Rector Theodore Fortsakis has proposed that the University of Athens implement stricter security measures, in order to prevent potential student occupation of the university buildings. Proposed security arrangements include the recruitment of private companies, increased patrols and the installation of alarm systems in “sensitive” buildings. The proposals were met with outrage from students, who organised protest rallies in defiance ... read more 20.10.2014 

Pro and anti-ISIL students clash at Turkish university

University of Malta collaborates with Communications Authority

VALETTA (malta today) -- In an attempt to support initiatives that boost the Maltese digital economy, the MCA and University of Malta have yesterday agreed on collaboration. The collaboration aims to support initiatives that bridge the gap between research, innovation and entrepreneurship in fields related to communication technologies and their applications. Four research projects were supported financially by the MCA and today the MCA TAKEOFF Award was also launched, for which 40,000 euros will be made available. The University will be hosting the start-ups at its campus-based TAKEOFF incubator. “Collaborating with the University will give the Authority access to knowledge and expertise from a broad spectrum of disciplines” explained Edward Woods, Chairman of the MCA … read more 20.10.201

Universities in Egypt step up security to avoid extremism

Erasmus Plus fails to pay students on time in Latvia

RIGA (apollo) -- Latvian students have reported serious problems with actually receiving the erasmus grants they were promised by their home institution. In a survey conducted by some universities in the country, students reported a substantial delay in the payment of their grant, causing them to suffer financially as a result. The Erasmus + organisation said that the problems arose due to the changes in the scheme having only been made this september and hence administrative procedures delayed the transfer of funds. They also said that universities should now have received all their funds and hence any further transfer delays will be at the fault of the university …

Dominance of elite journals eroding

INTERNATIONAL (sciencemag) -- The dominance of elite journals might soon be a thing of the past. The team that developed Google Scholar have analysed around 160 million scholarly documents and found that elite journals like Science and Nature still come out on top, but lower ranked journals in many fields have been making gains. The egalitarian trend “is a pretty strong phenomenon,” says Vincent Larivière, lead author of the study … read more 14.10.2014

Student fees to rise in Flanders

FLANDERS (acualités) -- Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits has described plans to increase tuition fees to 890 euros in the Belgian city of Flanders, starting in the academic year 2015/2016 … read more 20.10.2014

80,000 on strike in Malaga against university privatisation

MÁLAGA (diario sur) -- The strike by students and teachers in the southern Spanish city Malaga against cuts and downsizing in Education is planned to last three days. Main reason for the protests is the new higher education law, LOMCE in short, and named after education minister José Wert. “The law is a clear attempt to privatise higher education” explained Rubén Fernández, a student representative ... read more 20.10.2014

Polish efforts to reduce brain drain

Belarus to welcome more students from Turkmenistan

MINSK (BelTA) -- Belarus is ready to train more students from Turkmenistan and provide accommodation for them, President Alexander Lukashenko said. Already 9,000 Turkmen students are in the country ... read more 8.10.2014

European scientists rally to protest jobs and funding crisis

INTERNATIONAL (cw) -- A growing number of scientists throughout Europe, frustrated with inadequate funding for research and a lack of jobs, are banding together to demand that policymakers at national and EU levels take action to make science a long-term funding priority. Some scientists are taking to the streets, others published an open letter and a petition, which as of Friday had been signed by nearly 12,000 scientists ... read more 17.10.2014

Thousands of researchers demonstrate in Paris

PARIS (rtl) -- Thousands of scientists gathered on Friday afternoon to protest against the “dramatic situation” within scientific employment and demand more resources for research. The procession headed to the Place Vauban, in the centre of Paris, under a banner proclaiming “Higher Education and Research: Another Policy is Possible!” “Its been 10 years since researchers have taken to the streets”, explained a protester. The collective is supported by a number of trade unions … read more | video20.10.2014

Norway to introduce fees for international students

OSLO (nordic page) -- In next year’s budget, the government of Norway proposes to introduce tuition fees for international students from outside the EU/EEA, despite an overall parliamentary opposition. As a response to the proposal, Norwegian student organisations, students, teachers and others held a demonstration outside the University of Oslo yesterday where even Rector Ole Petter Ottersen participated … read more 20.10.2014

Fees and grants differ hugely across Europe

BRUSSELS (europa.eu) -- Levels of tuition fees, grants and loans in Europe continue to highlight stark differences, according to a new EU report. Fee systems have remained relatively stable across all 33 participating countries, the highest fees were found to be in England ... read more 17.10.2014

Polish nationalists don’t want Ukrainian students

PODKARPACKIE (gazeta) -- Nationalists in the southeastern Polish province of Podkarpackie want to get rid of Ukrainian students – one goal among others they try to achieve through policy making on the local level. They accuse Ukrainian students of corruption to obtain immigration papers and of receiving public funds without contributing to public interest … read more 20.10.14

Universities challenged: The higher education experiment

Nature’s latest issue takes an in depth look at the biggest issue facing universities today, their changing role and structure in a rapidly developing technological age. Within the issue, the synergy between education and research is examined with reference to how this relationship is being forced to rapidly adapt to a changing society. They suggest that the pace of this acceleration has increased substantially in recent times and the university of 2030 is expected to look very different. This unprecedented growth is portrayed with a range of examples from universities all over the world, experimenting with new models for learning, researching and progressing economically ...

Campus as a laboratory

The changing face of university has presented itself in many different examples across international universities. Examples of this include Germany’s innovative university, the ‘flipped classroom’ model adopted controversially in South Korea, and the amplification of the MOOC’s generation in the UK.

    Germany: Innovative University At the Technical University of Munich reforms were made, including replacing the universities board with a board of trustees to allow swift decision making, introducing graduate schools as well as private funding programs. This model promotes relaxed government controls and hence more professional academic freedom for growth.
   South Korea: ‘flipped classrooms’ In response to the digital age, the flipped classroom model was controversially applied in South Korea, as in other cities, where by students watch online lessons at home and attend university only to discuss the content with peers in a seminar like format, the teachers role is merely that of supervisor.
   UK: The social university In the UK the popular Open University took hold of the growing MOOC’s trend, on the basis of the belief that students construct their knowledge through mutual interactions. MOOC’s in this sense put social engagement at the centre of learning by encouraging intense online discussion amongst students about the course content ...

Companies on campus

The growing trend of partnerships between academia and industry has caused an increase in the development of industry research labs on campus: universities can benefit from corporate expertise and funding whilst the companies make their financial profit. Universities need to ensure conflicts of interest do not occur by, using their resources to form careful policies on intellectual property ...

Arizona's big bet: The research rethink

Arizona State University is trying to reinvent academia by tearing down walls between disciplines. The results underscore how hard it is for large unis, which employ thousands of researchers, to alter their fundamental character by uprooting entrenched academic disciplines ... read more

Embrace big data to educate Europe

AMSTERDAM (euractiv) -- EU leaders underlined the importance of big data for Europe’s economy at their October 2013 summit. A crucial question is, how big data can help to deliver an education system that enables Europe to realise the full potential of its most valuable and precious resource – its people. Skills must be acquired to harness the power of big data; technologies and infrastructure developed to collect, store, share and analyse it; and policies agreed to address concerns surrounding privacy and security, and the potentially dehumanising impact of big data on education, says Olivier Dumon ... read more 17.10.2014

Jihadist message on Parisian University website

Polish science minister calls for ethical vigilance

Danish government freezes out foreign students

EU students shun Swiss university studies

BERN (thelocal) -- Universities in Western Switzerland have seen a reduction in enrolments by EU students of up to 38 percent compared with the autumn semester last year as a direct result of the “negative effects” of the referendum. Even Switzerland’s two best known universities in Lausanne and Zurich have suffered, the universities in Bern and Basel as well ... read more 16.10.14

Albania welcomes nuclear research

SHKODRA (24ore) -- The Albanian education and sports minister, Lindita Nikolla, has signed an agreement with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). This is designed to increase cooperation between Albanian universities and international scientific research institutions … read more 08.14.14

Greek teachers allowed to teach abroad

ATHENS (newsbeast) -- After some debate in the Houses of Parliament, Greek teachers are now legally able to teach at universities abroad. Education minister Andreas Loverdos explained that academics should have this right, as long as the university grant the authorisation … read more 14.10.2014  

San Marino university concerned about teacher rankings

SAN MARINO (rtv) -- The University Council in San Marino has voiced concerned about the current method used for ranking teachers in terms of employability. The council suggested that the system does not allow fair distribution of employment among the higher educated teachers and this directly affects the ability of the University of San Marino to provide the highest quality of education at all levels … read more 14.10.2014

‘Hard’ sciences attract French students

PARIS (lemonde) -- French universities are seeing an increase of up to 30 percent in the number of new entrants in scientific subjects and ‘hard’ sciences such as mathematics, physics and chemistry. Isabelle Demachy, vice-president of Paris-Sud, has suggested that this upsurge results from the reform of science programmes within schools: “Sciences are now taught in a more playful manner with concrete examples and by interacting with young people” … read more 08.10.2014

China and Germany vow to boost educational partnership

Serbian philosophers stage protests

BELGRADE (inserbia) -- Students at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences began protests on Monday night after unsuccessful negotiations with the university’s administration on student co-finance. Almost 200 philosophy students have gathered to block classroom lectures because they say the “faculty is ignoring their requests” … read more 14.14.14

60,000 German students to miss out on student loan

Russia’s odds of receiving a Nobel Prize ‘approaching zero’

MOSCOW (moscow times) -- Russia’s post-Soviet generation of scientists is suffering from a lack of independence, strategic planning and honest competition, it has been reported. Although science used to be ranked among the state’s top priorities during the Soviet era, these days Russia’s odds of receiving a Nobel Prize are minimal. “Society no longer realises how much it owes to scientists, to engineers, and this has devalued the status of scientists, demotivating them,” explained Russia’s most recent Nobel laureate Konstantin Novoselov … read more 08.10.14 

CIS leaders plan greater cooperation

ASTANA (nomad) -- At a meeting of the Russian Commonwealth (CIS), the heads of state discussed key issues of bilateral cooperation in trade, economic and investment spheres. The presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova and Belarus, amongst others, also reviewed greater cooperation in the fields of science, education and youth policy. This culminated in the decision to declare 2016 the Year of Education within the Commonwealth … read more 13.10.2014

NATO and Balkan scientific research cooperation

Commodification of higher education

PARIS (le monde) -- Even though their financial resources are limited, French universities remain reluctant to admit students. Virgil Chassagnon, scientific director at ESDES School of Business and Management, reports that education today has become an object of business and this underlying economic model of Neoliberalism has trapped higher education in a maze of financial capitalism. Mr Chassagnon suggests that France faces a complex equation in the coming years if it is to retain its ability to generate innovation and ensure affordable education. The business model of French universities must be improved by abolishing commercialised education and by reducing the number of over-indebted students … read more 10.10.2014

German stimulus packages demanded

BERLIN (reuters) -- Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup, a forum of European finance ministers, has called on Germany to invest more in areas such as digital infrastructure, research, development and education. Mr Dijsselbloem adds his voice to the growing list of critics who see Berlin’s reluctance to launch stimulus measures as unacceptable. “Structural reforms are not something you undertake every 20 years,” he said … read more 13.10.2014

Azerbaijan supports education conference

BAKU (azernews) -- A rare education conference in Baku has received support from the Ministry of Education of the Azerbaijan Republic. The event was open to the public as well as catering to university students, who could take advantage of talking with industry leaders in the Azerbaijan economy. More than 100 participants from 20 countries took part and presented their bachelor and MBA programs … read more 11.10.2014

Belarus lacks academic freedom

MINSK (naviny) -- Experts from the Belarusian Bologna Committee, which aims to break Belarus’ educational isolation from the European Higher Education Area and Bologna Process, claim that the lack of information on Belarusian university websites is indicative of the lack of academic freedom in Belarus’ HE. Belarus currently does not comply with the principles of the Bologna Process, which include academic freedom, institutional autonomy and student participation in HE. Vladimir Dunayev, from the Committee, said that the secrecy of these universities is an obvious obstacle to Belarus’ entry into the Bologna Process … read more 14.10.14

Private universities dying out in Romania

Open letters calls for science funding cuts to stop

INTERNATIONAL (sciencemag) -- Prominent science academics from universities across Europe, including Italy, Spain and France, have penned an open letter highlighting drastic budget cuts in science research and accusing their respective government of favouring well established groups and applied research over basic science research, in what they call a ‘systematic destruction of national R&D infrastructure’. Nearly 5000 scientists have signed the letter, which also warns of a brain drain “from the South to the North and from Europe to beyond” … read more 10.10.14

Belgians priced out of education

BRUSSELS (lalibre) -- The rising costs of higher education are blocking access to less advantaged Belgian students. The state scholarship has increased only slightly since the 1980s and the average annual allocation of €1,067 is woefully inadequate when compared to their annual fees, which can be between 7,000 and 12,000 euros … read more 12.10.2014

Federal and state governments come together in Germany

Erasmus mobility - and an international mindset

BRUSSELS(uwn) -- A recent EU study on internationalisation has gained wide attention. Apparently, an international mindset deriving from background and education is as important as mobility … read more 13.10.2014

Austrian universities budgets: definitely maybe

VIENNA (studium) -- Public financing of Austrian universities has remained stable, according to the European University Association (EUA). The question remains - since Austria has seen a staggering 25 percent increase in their student population since 2008 - whether a ‘stable’ response is really sufficient in dealing with the financial burden on universities ... read more 13.10.2014

University of Leuven aims for space travel

EU budget cuts reversed

BRUSSELS (europarl) -- The Budgets Committee in the European Parliament has reversed the EU’s Council of Ministers’ proposed budget cuts for 2015. The Council proposed cutting the €146bn budget for 2015 by €522m and the €142bn payments proposal by €2.1bn. The Budgets Committee has instead recommended a sum for commitments of €146.3bn and actual payments amounting to €146.4bn. The Committee also advised adding €190.5 million more for SMEs, research and education, including an additional €24 million for the Erasmus+ programme. The EP will vote on these figures on October 22 … read more 07.10.2014

1,200 academics sign petition against Israel boycott

Funding to let Italian research emerge

ROME (ansa) -- An Italian resolution that demands state financing of €3 billion for research over seven years was adopted by the 7th Italian Senate Committee and presented to education minister Stefania Giannini. The document calls for public research funding to increase from 0.52 to 0.7 percent of GPD by 2020 and for the creation of a single fund for the 22 Italian public research institutions. Fabrizio Bocchino, vice-chairman of the Committee, said that with this act, Italian ”public research finally emerges from the shadow to which it has been relegated in recent years” … read more 09.10.2014

Brain drain of Czech medical graduates

PRAGUE (krajskelisty) -- 173 medical school graduates left to work abroad during the last nine months. This accounts for almost 20 percent of all graduates from Czech medical faculties. The Czech Medical Chamber (CLK) has warned that the number of departures is increasing and that “it is certainly wrong, medical faculties produce physicians for export” … read more 9.10.14

New Latvian minister campaigns for teachers and students

RIGA (aprinkis) -- Following his election to parliament, new education minister from the ‘The Heart of Lativa’ party Arvīds Platpers has suggested that education should be at the forefront of the country’s reform. Amongst other policies he is keen to increase teacher salaries and improve the quality of life for those who attend university … read more 08.10.2014

Transparency in Spanish universities improving

MADRID (el confidencial) -- In a study presented by the Consistency and Transparency Foundation, Spain seems to be taking small steps towards better accountability in both public and private universities. The growth was mainly seen in economic data, but the report suggests the trend will increase reputability of Spanish universities in the future … read more 10.10.2014

Young workers look for careers abroad

INTERNATIONAL (le monde) -- A study by the Boston Consulting Group into the global mobility of workers has confirmed that, in most countries, young people aged 21-30 are more mobile than their older compatriots. Those in the medical and social fields appear at the lower end of the scale, with only 50 percent citing willingness to work abroad, compared with 70 percent of engineers and IT professionals ... read more 07.10.14

Polish students leave universities in debt

YÖK abolishing itself

ANKARA (dailysabah) -- Gökhan Çetinsaya, president of the Turkish Higher Education Board (YÖK), has said that his organisation should be abolished. Mr Çetinsaya stated that disbanding YÖK, which controls all Turkish universities and according to him has become unworkable as a bureaucratic institution, would allow reform in the Turkish higher education system ... read more 29.09.2014

Orbán’s ‘butler’ rejected as EU commissioner

BRUSSELS (the) -- Members of the European Parliament have rejected the candidacy of Tibor Navracsics to the education, culture, youth and citizenship portfolio.
Mr Navracsics, the former foreign minister and a close political ally to prime minister Viktor Orbán, has been labelled as his ‘butler’ by opposition leaders. Mr Navracsics is the first candidate to be rejected at the hearings. He has been in a right-wing government criticised in the EU for allegedly undermining civil liberties, he has also been held responsible for policies leading to plummeting student numbers in Hungary ... read more 09.10.2014

Boost for graduate programs in Wrocław

WROCLAW (wrocław naszemiasto) -- The Polish science ministry has allocated €40 million for the creation of graduate schemes across education institutions in the city of Wrocław. More than 10 percent of this amount will go to universities in the city. The money will create internship placements for hundreds of students in the fields of translation, law, economics and psychology amongst others. The initiative is centred around students becoming more eligible for top jobs after graduation … read more 08.10.2014

University of Glasgow ditches fossil fuels

GLASGOW (the) -- The University of Glasgow has fully committed itself to “disinvesting from fossil fuel industry companies”. The institution is reportedly the first European university to fully commit to scrapping the non-renewable resources and follows the actions of SOAS, University of London, which previously froze new investments in the fossil fuel industry, although it is yet to commit to full divestment ... read more 08.10.2014

Investment for international profile of Kassel and Giessen

New Islamic university proposed in Istanbul

ANKARA (hurriyet) -- Diyanet, the official Turkish institution for Islamic matters, has announced plans to open an Islamic university in Istanbul. The formal application, made to the Higher Education Board, states that the existing Istanbul 29 Mayıs University would be converted into the International Islamic University … read more 01.10.2014

Students forced underground in Germany

For the EU, education is just a side-product

BRUSSELS (esu) -- The European Students Union is concerned about a new direction of EU education policy. In an organizational chart of the European Commission, the diversity of education is no longer part of a Commissioner’s portfolio but instead referred to as “skills”, ESU chairwoman Elisabeth Gehrke said ... read more | “We also want to express our dismay that tuition fees are being discussed in certain forums where the student and stakeholder voice is being shut out. This is not responsible policy-making and breeds distrust in a time in Europe where that is the last thing we need,” she said ... read more 29.09.14

Northern Irish universities await funding cuts

BELFAST (THE) -- Attempts to cope with the fallout from welfare reforms have forced the Northern Irish government to cut the budgets for Stormont departments including the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL). This has resulted in multimillion pound in-year funding cuts for Northern Irish universities. The University of Ulster has said it will receive £3.15 million less than expected and Queen’s University Belfast faces a £3.9 million shortfall … read more 02.10.2014

MBA market disrupted by global mobility and technology

INTERNATIONAL (bb) -- Citizens of most Asian regions make up the majority of foreign MBA candidates in the US and Canada, while European programs receive their largest share from East and Southeast Asia ... read more

Belgian university president plagiarises speech

BRUSSELS (liberation) -- Alain Delchambre, president of the Free University of Brussels (ULB) has resigned after being caught taking the words from speeches by Jacques Chirac and others. Many have expressed outrage over the case, especially considering the usually severe treatment of plagiarising students at the ULB ... read more 6.10.14

EU research chief candidate passes first test

BRUSSELS (science) -- Carlos Moedas, the commissioner-designate for research, has won over European parliamentarians in a public hearing. A former state secretary in Portugal with no research policy background, Moedas came across as well-prepared—but the plans he presented for his possible 5-year term remain vague, observers say ... read more 03.10.2014

Turkish university staff to influence education reforms

ANKARA (takvim) -- The Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has announced that university staff will hold an executive role in implementating new higher education reforms, promising wage growth and academic incentives. Mr Davutoglu took to twitter to confirm the plans, stating the “university staff in charge of the new regulations will enact the plans as soon as possible” and this new "arrangement will benefit all academic staff in varying proportions" … 

Football league internships for best Romanian students

Students protest in Serbia

Digital studies in Greece increasingly popular

PATRAS (aixmi) -- The Hellenic Open University will welcome thousands of new students in the 2015-2016 academic year. The university is opening its doors to 10,000 more undergraduates and postgraduates at a split of 4790 to 5210 respectively … read more 02.10.2014

7 billion for Hungarian universities debts

BUDAPEST (index) -- Twelve universities in Hungary will receive a total of 7 billion forint (22.6 million euro) to combat their current debt and try to ensure the deficit is not increased again. The plans were announced by the state secretary for higher education, Palkovics László … read more 29.09.2014

Croatian oil company launches entrepreneur initiative

Romanian students complain over escalating fees

BUCHAREST (romanialibera) -- Romanian students will have to pay much more in the coming year as over one third of universities have increased their prices. Many universities additionally charge for the licensing exam. A study by the national student union ANOSR also reveals that there are wide discrepancies between the tuition fees for the same program of study, with courses in medicine differing the most between institutions. This has led to widespread student dissatisfaction and complaint … read more 29.09.2014

Sofia University to become more energy-efficient

SOFIA (dnevnik) -- Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski will receive 2.8 million lev (1.4 million euro) from the government to carry out essential repairs to campus buildings. The country’s oldest university takes care of nine buildings ​​and 10 other monuments built in the 19th and 20th centuries that urgently need modernisation and improvements in terms of energy-efficiency … read more 01.10.2014

Portuguese education ministry tracks hazing incidents

Netherlands: Paradise Lost

THE HAGUE (nrc.nl) -- Dutch graduates have exploited a loophole in student financing that enables them to take gap years and still receive the basic grant, stufi. By registering for an arbitrary course and enrolling before October 1st, they can drop out after a month or even after one day and still receive the grant for the full study period. The loophole — altogether with the basic grant — will be abolished next year … read more 30.09.2014

France invests in ‘super-universities’

PARIS (le figaro) -- Prime minister Manuel Valls has launched a tender for a new wave of French ‘super-universities’ (IDEX). The budget of the new round — a format shaped after the German Exzellenzinitiative during the Sarkozy government in 2009 — has a budget of 3.1 billion euro. Like his predecessor, Valls wants “to foster the emergence of new multidisciplinary centers of excellence for higher education and research on the French territory“ … read more 30.09.2014

Wage increase for Polish lecturers

WARSAW (wiadomosci) -- Polish university lecturers will begin the new academic year with higher salaries, which will be the second increase in the past two years. First, all lecturers will receive a mandatory wage increase. Second, an incentivised or discretionary bonus will be given to outstanding scientists … read more 26.09.2014

Lithuanian transport now discounted for all students

VILINIUS (kauno) -- Current Lithuanian transport regulation allows only full time students to have access to discounted travel. Now, due to the increasing diversity of study, the allowance has been extended to part-time and working students … read more 01.10.2014

German reform increases student subsidies

Denmark: Cap on student numbers, further cuts

COPENHAGEN (folktidende) -- Following the recent cap on the number of student places in Denmark, a huge shortfall in the university budget is expected by Danish rectors. The University of Copenhagen stated this cut could cause them a shortfall of 65 million kroner. Bachelor students are now concerned that they will not receive funding for the graduate or master programmes they are already enrolled in … read more 01.10.2014

Flemish student protest over enrollment fee rise

BRUSSELS (demorgen) -- On October 2, Flemish students were taking to the streets over government plans to increase enrollment fees from currently 620 to 900 or 950 euro. They protest against the wrong concept of students as consumers and the idea of education as an investment. In an open letter, student representatives urge education minister Hilde Crevits to devote herself to quality and fair access in higher education ... read more 02.10.2014

Your first EURES job: EC publishes evaluation report

BRUSSELS (ec) -- The European Commission has published a report evaluating Your first EURES job, a mobility scheme to help young Europeans between 18 and 30 to find a job, traineeship or apprenticeship in other EU countries. One of the results: With the reported 35 percent of the budgets, 55 percent of the targets have been achieved, a strong indicator that there are significant hidden costs ... read more 24.09.2014

Universities controlled by Ukranian militants evacuated

DONETSK (zn.ua) -- The Governor of Donetsk, Sergey Taruta, has announced that higher education establishments under the control of Ukranian militants will be evacuated and all students will be relocated. Taruta said that he wants to free to the city of Donbass of terrorists and this is the way to begin. All relocated students and teachers will receive accommodation and scholarships to ensure as little disruption as possible … read more 01.10.2014

‘Art in public space’ project of 12 Latvian universities

RIGA (lsm) -- The ‘Golden rabbit surrounded by vegetables’ has been unveiled in the botanical gardens of the University of Riga. It is the first exhibit of a joint project between 12 universities to install still life sculptures in urban environments. This project has been initiated by the Latvian cultural foundation Boris and Inara Teterev Fund … read more 29.09.2014

A brand new structure for the European Commission

BRUSSELS (aca) -- President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker announced the composition of his team, who will lead EU policy making for the coming five years. The main change, however, has been the introduction of a completely new structure with seven vice-presidents coordinating project teams composed of groups of Commissioners. Criticisms have already been raised toward Tibor Navracsics ... read more 30.09.2014

European University of Brittany launches digital campus

BREST (letudiant) -- The European University of Brittany has launched the first multi-site, digitally connected campus in Europe. The EUB c@mpus project was selected by the French education ministry in 2008 and aims to connect the 28 EUB institutions within the region by digitally reconciling all training and research sites … read more 30.09.2014

Hazing reaches the Spanish Senate

MADRID (elpais) -- The Spanish Senate is expected to approve the first motion against hazing at universities. This initiative calls on the Spanish government to work with universities, students and parents to prevent a tradition that causes humiliation, threats and maltreatment … read more 30.09.2014

Religious controversy at Parisian university

PARIS (le monde) -- The president of the Parisian Pantheon-Sorbonne University has personally apologised to a student after she was ordered out of her lecture for refusing to remove her Islamic headscarf. According to the student, the lecturer told her to attend a different class after her refusal. Although the French law of 2010 prohibits the wearing of the full face Islamic veil in public (the niqab or burqa), it does not forbid the wearing of the hijab headscarf … read more 25.09.2014

More and more Danish students need private tutors

COPENHAGEN (informationdk) -- One in four Danish students have resorted to private tutoring during their studies, a new study has found. Not only the increased pressure for performance and employability worries the authors of the study, but also the growing gap between who can and who cannot afford higher education in Denmark … read more 29.09.2014

Worries over UCLan Cyprus investment

PYLA (timeshighered) -- In October 2012, the University of Lancashire opened the first British university in Cyprus at a cost of €53 million. It has emerged that the pension fund of Cyprus’ telecommunications provider, Cyta, provided €20 million for the construction of the campus. Cyprus’ auditor general, Odysseas Michaelides, has expressed ‘concerns’ over this investment as Cyta is now at the centre of allegations that their former chairman took kickbacks in a different land deal … read more 25.09.2014

Nature Communications converts to open access

LONDON (timeshighered) -- Nature Communications, a ‘hybrid’ journal that allows authors to choose to pay to make their papers open access, will be the first top-end journal to go fully open access on 20th October. The article processing charge will remain unchanged at £3,150 and the journal will continue to be highly selective, publishing only around 18 percent of submitted papers … read more 25.09.2014

University of Leeds invests in young researchers

LEEDS (timeshighered) -- The University of Leeds is set to launch a recruitment initiative that it hopes will enhance interdisciplinary research and teaching by providing a five-year structured development programme for 250 early career researchers … read more 01.10.2014

Students at Leuven University launch mental health site

Funding for the best universities in Poland

WARSAW (wyborcza) -- In a planned reform for 2015, the Polish Minister for Science and Education has announced the funding for research units and universities will be based on current performance. It is hoped the plans will motivate researchers and academics into focusing more effort on their implementation of research results. The plans also suggest a 10 percent increase in investment into basic research … read more 01.10.2014

4,000 Danish courses with ‘poor job prospects’ to be cut

Google reveals most searched universities

UK academics in marking boycott over pensions

‘Silent selection’ abolished in France

Rise in paying students at Lund University

Malpractice in French student health insurance

Lund University abandons Gazprom

Norwegian government to pay sick students

OSLO (dagens stadsbladet) -- From next summer, part-time working students in Norway who take sick leave will also have access to a “sick scholarship”. The government proposes to make it possible to combine the sick pay national insurance with medical scholarship from the state educational loan fund Lånekassen, in an attempt to ensure that the students’ income is less affected by illness … read more 29.09.2014

Open Access no threat to publishers

LONDON (timeshighered) -- According to a report by Bernstein Research, unrestricted online access to peer-reviewed academic material “appears to inflict little or no damage on the leading subscription publishers” … read more 27.09.2014

EF Education First launches standardised English exam

INT (pienews) -- EF Education First, an international education company specialising in language training, has announced that it will move into standardised testing by launching the world’s first, free, standardised English exam. This test is desgined to rival the exams of EF’s business competitors, such as IELTS and TOFEL  … read more 25.09.2014

€80 million available for young entrepreneurs

BRUSSELS (europa press) -- The European Commission has initiated a programme which offers €80 million to companies using FI-WARE technologies. The FI-WARE accelerator programme invites graduates and young entrepreneurs to create business proposals and ideas using this technology and the most talented candidates will receive up to €150,000 in funding. Any business idea is welcomed by this initiative as the commission hopes to motivate young people in the world of innovation … read more 17.09.2014

University criticism prompts higher education reform

PARIS (uwn) -- After substantial critiscism from universities about lack of resources and the current budget not accommodating a rise in student numbers, the new French higher education minister, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, along with state secretary for higher education Genevieve Fioraso, have presented their plan to address these concerns. The plans include increased grants for more beneficiaries and government rental guarantees for students … read more 25.09.2014

Last German state to abolish tuition fees

Portugal face further education and science cuts

Bertelsmann buys shares of Udacity

GÜTERSLOH (pr) -- The German multinational mass media corporation Bertelsmann has announced that it will be expanding its activities in the education business. The company plans to exploit this fast growing sector by acquiring a stake in the online education provider Udacity. The online vocational training provider Udacity focuses on technology and IT and already has a consumer base of 2.8 million students spread over 119 countries … read more 24.09.2014

Catalonia affords universities more autonomy

BARCELONA (el economista) -- The government of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia has allowed university degrees to last three, rather than four years. The universities will be able to decide based on the subject area, what length the course should be. The Secretary for Universities and Research, Antoni Castellà, explained this would allow universities to have more autonomy ... read more 23.09.14

Students plan protest against loan system in Netherlands

THE HAGUE (Telegraaf) -- A dozen Dutch student organisations have called for protests against plans to change the basic loan system for higher education. The students oppose the government’s decision to introduce the (partial) repayment of tuition fees from next year. Unions and university organisations will also join the demonstration in the capital’s central park Malieveld on November 14 … read more 25.09.14

Portuguese universities internationalise using EU funding

German-Russian university cooperation

Finnish Foundation Day to award cultural ”Grants Now”

HELSINKI (hs.fi) -- On October 1st, Finland will celebrate its first Foundation Day. This celebratory occasion is an opportunity to inform the general public about the contributions that thousands of Finnish foundations make to research, art and culture with their funding. On the day, grants will be awarded by certain institutions for small but bold projects, designed to bring together researchers, artists and other cultural workers to plan new kinds of cross-disciplinary cooperation … read more 14.09.2014

Global universities overhaul economics curriculum

INT (financialtimes) -- In response to students’ complaints that existing economics courses are failing to address global financial issues and that professors are too narrow-minded in their teachings, universities from Europe and beyond are testing a new syllabus from the CORE project. University College London, Sciences Po in Paris and the Central European University in Budapest will be the first in Europe to trial this project … read more 22.09.2014

Oxford University admissions “more transparent”

UK (bbc) -- Mike Nicholson, the outgoing admissions head at Oxford University, has spoken about the Oxford admission process and has rejected preconceptions that “it's exclusive, that there's a trick or technique that allows you to get in”. Mr Nicholson then stated that he has managed to “open up the opportunity for more people to apply who in the past might have thought it wasn't for them . . . there are no backdoors, no private deals and no single person can make the decision to admit a student” … read more 22.09.2014

Southampton University condemns lazy Brazilian scholars

UK (curitiba) -- The University of Southampton has complained to the Science without Borders Programme (SwB) about a lack of commitment from certain Brazilian scholarship holders. The initiative, funded by the Brazilian government, awards Brazilian students with financial support to pursue international studies. The programme has attracted criticism since Brazil does not even demand exam results from scholars in exchange for funding ... read more 25.09.2014

Credits may lose value over time in Netherlands

Czech students go to court for their masters

PRAGUE (denik) -- Bacherlor graduates at the Technical University of Ostrava have threatened court proceedings against the dean of their economics department. Their course, a Master of Journalism in Economics and Law, is the only programme in the country with a focus on these subjects and was cancelled on short-notice at the start of the academic year. Dean Dana Dluhošová has defended her decision stating that the course was terminated due to low student numbers and that this practice is common nationwide … read more 25.09.2014

Salamancan universities announce Twitter campaign against gender-based violence

Think-tank proposal advocates Belgian selection tests

Online student forum causes plagiarism controversy

Bulgaria aims to increase investment into science

SOFIA (24 chasa) -- An initiative introduced by Bulgarian education ministry will change the face of Latvian higher education. The programme will set out to show current and prospective students which courses will be most financially beneficial for the coming academic year, in order to cater to the needs of the labour market. The programme also hopes to increase state investment into science to 1.5 percent of GDP by 2020 … read more 24.09.2014

European and Palestinian masters initiative

Unity protest in Ukraine

Greek students flock to Dutch universities

AMSTERDAM (thetoc) -- Over the past seven years, the number of Greek students studying in the Netherlands has quadrupled, from 450 to 2,100. This likely due to the low annual tuition fees for EU citizens which is only 1906 Euro. The most popular courses for Greek students are Financial programmes, Technical Sciences and Social Studies ... read more 22.09.2014

Italian University to extend access to online courses

Sweden ‘blatantly’ violating UNESCO principles

Study finds EU student exchanges boost employability

EU (europa.eu) --

Illegality of Italian student housing

ROME (contribuenti) -- In Italy only 24 percent of university students who live offsite have a legal housing contract or lease of the property. This number is down 5 percent from 2013 because more students have taken up contracts ‘in black’ as landlords attempt to dodge property tax … read more 21.09.2014

German-American skills initiative

New Dutch student loans bill for 2015

THE HAGUE (transport online) --

Czech companies help solve youth unemployment

University of Toulouse III turns away students

TOULOUSE (figaro) --

Scientists plan march on Paris

PARIS (liberation) -- A group of researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) are organising a march on Paris. One of them is Patrick Lemaire, CNRS director in Montpellier. The protest comes in aid of further state investment into university research and contractual certainty. The situation in laboratories and institutes, salaries and career prospects of PhDs is now more critical than ever, he said. “Sciences En Marche” is the name of the initiative to walk or cycle, in late September and early October, from different starting points across France to Paris … read more 03.09.2014

Chemical industry engages in Finnish universities

University of Ghent resists increase in tuition fees

“Dual degree programmes” on the rise in Germany

ISIS closes or controls universities in Irak

BAGHDAD (al-fanar) -- Eight universities across northern Iraq have been shuttered and appear unlikely to open soon after the sweep of extremist fighters through the region. But even when the Islamic State allows staff back to their jobs, they impose their vision on university curricula and policies, imposing gender segregation, forcing female scholars to cover their faces, abolishing fine art and foreign language departments and cutting European culture and history and similar subjects from coursework ... read more 22.8.14

Ancient Indian University reopens after 800 years

NEW DELHI (the diplomat) -- India’s Nalanda University has reopened after 800 years. The ruins of the old university and the new campus are located near India’s Bihar state close to the northeastern border. The university officials hope the reopening will revive the spirit of cosmopolitan learning that categorised the uni all that time ago … read more 04.09.2014

German universities most popular for Indians

BERLIN (business standard) -- The number of Indian students in Germany has risen by 200 percent to nearly 10,000 since 2008. Unlimited career opportunities are one of the main reasons as the German Parliament has implemented a new unlimited work and residence permit which grants foreign graduates at German universities unrestricted access to the job market. Indian students are also attracted by the heavy state subsidisation of fees and appealing immigration rules … read more 17.09.2014

Lithuanian Post invests in students

VILNIUS (vz.lt) -- The Lithuanian Post company has signed a cooperation agreement with the Gediminas Technical University in Vilnius. This will provide students with managerial and logistical work experience at the firm and a potential career opportunities ... read more 18.09.2014

Foreign students attracted by Hungarian medical degrees

BUDAPEST (romaniainsider) -- In the previous academic year, over 10,000 foreigners registered at universities and colleges in Hungary. Of these students, approximately 1300 undertook medicine degrees. The largest numbers of students arrive from Germany, Slovakia and Romania. Although the annual tuition fees can exceed 3000 Euro, students are drawn to the cheap living costs and the short waiting lists … read more 18.09.2014

Slovakian education minister empowers teachers

BRATISLAVA (topky) -- Slovak education and science minister Peter Pellegrini wants to give teachers the same status as public officials. Following an attack on a teacher, Pellegrini said they need more protection against physical and verbal assaults … read more 18.09.2014

Croatian President advocates university autonomy

SINJ (vecernji) -- Ivo Josipović, the Croatian President, has stated that developments in science and education will be the backbone of a successful Croatia. He specifically referred to the need to strengthen cooperation between scientific instituions in the economy. Josipović also affirmed his desire for more self-regulation within universities and his preference for providing universities with a lump sum financing model … read more 15.09.2014

Digitalisation of Estonian literature and research

Swiss conference advocates vocational training

One third of Greek students will request uni transfer

Commuting grant for students and teachers in Romania

EU to support education system in Azerbaijan

BRUSSELS (trend) -- The European Union has launched a new €19 million programme to help improve the quality and relevance of the education system in Azerbaijan. The new programme has a special focus on higher and vocational education and training, on civic participation, governance and inclusiveness. This will also help to make the education system more attractive and contribute to national and international recognition of qualifications, teaching and research in Azerbaijan ... read more 12.09.2014

Housing grant for Greek students studying abroad

ATHENS (news247) -- Following the recent increase in the number of beneficiary students in Greece, the Minister for Education, Andreas Loverdos, has today annouced a €5.5 million addition to the housing budget for students who study abroad. The money will be paid to the families of students who are living away from their permanent residence during the academic year … read more 17.09.2014

Which university courses will earn Spanish students the most money?

MADRID (europa press) -- According to the latest report by Randstad Professionals, those who choose to study Administration and Management, Industrial Engineering or computer careers in Spain are more likely to reap the financial rewards after graduating ... read more 17.09.2014

“Cuts destroying higher education” claims Portuguese student union

LISBON (publico) -- Snesup, Portugal’s national student union, has stated that over the past years teachers have been required to take on bigger class loads, there have been flaws in the maintenance of university facilities and it has been impossible to buy vital equipment needed for research and teaching. These comments come in response to the Portuguese Minister for Education claiming in an interview on Thursday that despite cuts, universities are functioning better than ever ... read more 12.09.2014

Proposed changes to the Italian Maturità

ROME (forexinfo) -- The Italian Education Minister, Stefania Giannini, has announced reforms to the Italian maturity exams. Her policies would both reintroduce internal exam commissioners and abolish the compulsory thesis, which would be replaced by individual projects. Giannini also plans to remove the university entrance tests for medicine, which has prompted resistance … read more 15.09.2014

Juncker’s expectations for education, R&D and skills

BRUSSELS (scienceguide) -- Jean-Claude Juncker surprises at the official presentation of the European Commission. Each member of his team received a letter with personal instructions about what can be expected for education, R&D, skills and employment. Three Eurocommissioners will be responsible for the European knowledge sector. One from Belgium, one from Hungary and one from Portugal ... read more 10.09.2014

Flemish universities in financial trouble

BRUSSELS (de redactie) -- Flemish universities are in dire financial straits, according to a new report. Over the past five years, the number of students has increased by 25 percent, while the operating budget has stayed the same ... read more 12.09.2014

Norway deems international university rankings unfair

OSLO (forskning) -- Norwegian universities consistently score low on international university rankings. Researchers from the independent social sciences institute NIFU in Oslo found both, the THE and the Shanghai ranking, scientifically insufficient. They show, among many other methodological flaws, that the rankings are biased by overwhelming commercial interest ... read more 10.09.2014

Serbian efforts to contain brain drain

BELGRADE (inserbia) -- In an attempt to draw young Serbian experts back home, the Serbian parliament has accelerated the recognition of foreign education diplomas ... read more 10.09.2014

Regional German education minister resigns

KIEL (fr) -- Following allegations of corruption, the science minister for the German state Schleswig-Holstein, Waltraud Wende, has resigned from her post. In August, the former university president was the target of investigations by the public prosecutor because the University of Flensburg had offered her the option to return if she resigned... read more 15.09.2014

Political animal for EU-education

BRUSSELS (scienceguide) -- The new EU-Commissioner for Skills, Youth and Multilingualism will be a Belgian powerhouse, Marianne Thyssen. She will bring lots of local and EU-experience, leadership qualities and her presidency of the EP Beer-club to the education-portfolio in Brussels. As the chairperson of the Belgian representatives in the EPP party she became one of the most influential people within the EP. She was active in the committee on monetary and economic affairs and on environmental, health and food safety issues ... read more 05.09.2014

Nine deaths after student initiation ceremonies in Portugal

Turkish education ministry violates civil rights

ANKARA (todays zaman) -- The Turkish Ministry of Education has excluded some private schools from government incentives without any justification. This move by the Erdoğan government comes in the wake of previous discrimination against the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by the Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. “By discouraging students from attending Hizmet-affiliated private schools ... the government is engaging in unlawful practices,” said Seyit Mehmet, the vice president of the Active Educators’ Union ... read more 14.09.2014

Crimean students protest Russian integration

SIMFEROPOL (kyivpost) -- Students at Crimea’s medical university have protested against Russian plans to combine five colleges into one federal university on the Peninsula ... read more 11.09.2014

University of Bologna sells historic buildings

BOLOGNA (il fatto) -- In an unprecedented move, the University of Bologna has put nine historic buildings up for sale, in order to fund a new university campus. Among the buildings for sale is Palazzo Malvezzi Campeggi in the old town. The new campus is to be built on 93,000 square meters of a former military factory site. “Bologna is practically redesigning the city structure,” a spokesman said ... read more 13.09.2014

EU court gives German unis power to grant student visas

Austrian universities need 1 billion euro

French State enters housing market

Second £60m graphene centre at University of Manchester

Religion stifles economic progression

New Czech Higher Education law empowers rectors

PRAGUE (zpravy idnes) -- The Czech education minister, Marcel Chládek, has revealed an amendment to the country’s Higher Education Act. If approved, rectors will be able to remove titles from deceitful students, the activities of foreign educational institutes within the Czech territory will become regulated and the social scholarship will rise. Previous attempts to reform the education sector have triggered student and teacher protests and this proposal has itself come under criticism ... read more 04.09.2014

Swiss made: Out with the old

BERN (bund) -- Plans by the University of Elfenau in Bern to purchase a retirement residence in order to transform it into student accommodation, has met with opposition from current residents ... read more08.09.2014 

World Higher Education Database (WHED) launched

PARIS (iau) -- The International Association of Universities is pleased to announce the official launch of the World Higher Education Database (WHED) Portal, the most comprehensive reference tool on higher education systems, degrees and institutions worldwide ... read more 01.09.2014

Is business education out-dated?

Žižek on self-plagiarism: What is the big deal?

LJUBLJANA (news week) -- Earlier this month, the New York Times complained about Slavoj Žižek re-using his work. The witty Slovenian philosopher shrugged his shoulders suggesting the newspaper should invest in plagiarism detection software, if it is so insistent about only publishing original material ... read more 10.9.14

New EU research commissioner

BRUSSELS (science) -- Carlos Moedas, secretary of state to Portugal’s centre-right prime minister, has been appointed European commissioner in charge of research, science, and innovation. If approved, he will take over from Máire Geoghegan-Quinn for a 5-year term. Moedas will oversee the use of funds from Horizon 2020, the European Union's €80 billion research program ... read more 10.09.2014

MOOCs change traditional structure of universities

Romanian higher education opens up

BUCHAREST (romania tv) -- The Romanian education ministry has announced changes to university admission requirements. Students without the typical college degree, a baccalaureate, will now be eligible. This means that students who choose alternative routes after school or fail this qualification will still have the opportunity ... read more 11.9.14

Ukranian higher education reforms: What will change?

KIEV (bbc) -- The recent educational reforms in Ukraine allow rectors to control their own quality assurance and manage the university funds independently ... read more 09.09.2014

Major reforms in Irish student immigration

DUBLIN (pienews) -- From January 2015, legislation will be imposed on Irish educational institutions to protect the international reputation of the region ... read more 11.09.2014

Housing shortage in Stockholm: Students in tents

STOCKHOLM (sveriges radio) -- As a new semester begins, students at Stockholm University are feeling the brunt of Stockholm’s notorious housing shortage, with many resorting to camping on university grounds. According to student representative Theo Strömdahl Ostberg, many students arrive for their first day and have not yet resolved their housing situation. “This is a problem for the vulnerable, for their classmates and for universities in general,” he said ... read more 03.09.2014

Norwegian students struggling mentally

OSLO (dn) -- According to a new nationwide survey, one in five Norwegian students suffers from serious psychological problems ... read more 03.09.2014

Misuse of higher education budgets in Lithuania uncovered

VILINUS (alfa) -- The national audit office of Lithuania has discovered that organisations such as Ministry of education and science have not returned their unused budget funds to the State, instead investing them into the next academic year. The money was used to cover fees and research or to purchase property ... read more 08.09.2014 

Cheating Dutch students are more likely to be caught

THE HAGUE (elsevier) -- New Dutch students are warned against the temptation of academic theft due to the high probability of detection with 95 percent of Dutch educational institutes using fraud prevention software ... read more 08.09.2014

Profits from natural gas for higher education

OECD: Social and educational mobility starts to slow down

PARIS (oecd) -- ‘Education at a Glance 2014’, released yesterday, says that educational mobility has started to slow down in the industrialised world. Of the adults surveyed with low-educated parents only 23 percent achieved a tertiary qualification. This is compared to 65 percent of adults with at least one tertiary-educated parent. The data suggests that the expansion in education has not translated into a more inclusive society ... read more 09.09.2014

Thirteen Sarajevo universities on strike

SARAJEVO (index) -- Thirteen universities in Sarajevo went on strike on Monday to force negotiations with the government. Lessons and exams were suspended. Berko Zečević, president of the university union of Sarajevo (UNSA), said that the government must address irregular payment of wages, hiring restrictions for academics and underfunding of scientific research in Bosnia and Herzegovina ... read more 08.09.2014

More temporary contracts at Dutch universities

THE HAGUE (dutch news) -- University staff in the Netherlands are increasingly being employed on temporary contracts, due to lack of university government funding. “Research is more competitive now,” Bastiaan Verweij, spokesman of the university association VSNU, told the Volkskrant. “There is uncertainty over jobs or whether a research group will stay together” ... read more 08.09.2014

Scientists urge government to fund basic research

PARIS (div) -- A survey of 12 countries shows that scientists are concerned about the drop in government support of basic science in favour of applied research that leads to short-term benefits. The report, from the French National Trade Union of Scientific Researchers (SNCS-FSU), showed that governments in Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. are shifting their funding away from basic research and “research institutions are being reformed to strengthen governments’ grip on science” ... read more | and here 05.09.2014

Downwards trend in EU research and innovation spending

Starbucks targets French universities

PARIS (figaro) -- With a campaign to enlarge its market share among student consumers in France, the American coffee house chain Starbucks has approached 300 universities, offering to open coffee lounges on their campuses. To accelerate the process, Starbucks sends lorries equipped with a coffe bar ... read more 04.09.2014

University of Zurich is testing Bitcoin

Moscow and Beijing universities agree on a joint University

Hungary nationalises its textbook industry

Turkish ‘young explorers’ arrive in Belgrade

Spain: Against uncontrolled proliferation of online courses

1st International Student & Youth Sport Festival in Moscow

MOSCOW (studentsport) -- 1500 athletes from 80 universities of Russia, Europe and Africa gathered at the Luzhniki Sports Centre. They came for the Moscow Games 2014, the first international student and youth sport festival in Moscow of its kind, featuring football, volleyball, basketball, rugby, cheerleading, swimming, table tennis, court tennis, and beach volleyball ... read more 05.09.2014

Rectors report chaos in Greek universities

Exchange students avoid Switzerland

UK more hostile against EU students

Academic career increasingly elitist in Germany

Innovation funding needs to be put to the test

France’s new education minister prompts rightwing protests

PARIS (guardian) -- French rightwing groups who mobilised against same-sex marriage have threatened further social unrest to protest against the promotion of Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, an outspoken proponent of gender equality, to the post of education minister in the new government unveiled on Tuesday. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, an outspoken proponent of gender equality, was promoted during French cabinet shakeup ... read more 27.08.2014

Warning over EU research budget cuts

Turkey struggles to benefit from study abroad

New Flemish accreditation scheme gets underway

European Centre for Power Electronics Consortium grows

Free online courses launched in Spain

Scottish government fees stance ‘incompatible with EU law’

Greek university administration jobs saved

Czech super computer launched

SPECIAL FEATURE: Free trade of higher education in Europe

The Euro-American free trade agreement TTIP from an education policy perspective


Societies have nothing to gain on either side of the ocean from the transatlantic free trade agreement TTIP. David Robinson, senior advisor to the education union umbrella organisation Education International, warned ... read more

Turkish universities condemn Israel

ANKARA (daily sabah) -- Turkish universities have released a joint declaration, which vehemently condemns Israel's aggression on Gaza and announcing that they will cut off all cultural, academic and social relations with Israeli universities that fail to condemn the Israeli government ... read more 22.07.2014

Bulgarian students head elsewhere

SOFIA (econ) -- Over 12,000 Bulgarian students have so far requested to have qualifications from outside the country authorised by the government. This number may double as more and more students head to other countries for their education, damaging Bulgarian universities ... read more 23.07.2014

Portuguese research review endangers employees

LISBON (the conversation) -- The Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation has contracted the European Science Foundation to carry out its review of research institutes. It is estimated that 5,000 jobs are now at risk and this follows dramatic cuts to the research sector in the country ... read more 22.07.2014

Spanish higher education reform underway

MADRID (eldia) -- Spanish minister for culture, education and sport has held talks this week with universities and local governments over a major reform of Spain’s higher education sector. Discussions will focus on the accreditation of university teachers and relations with the European Qualifications Framework ... read more 23.07.2014

Norwegian universities train for terrorist attacks

OSLO (nrk) -- Following the terrorist attacks of 2011 in Norway, students, staff and emergency services are undergoing training in Norway’s universities to prepare them, should such a tragedy happen again ... read more 22.07.2014

European research programme is launched

BRUSSELS (evertiq) -- The European Union’s 7th Framework Programme has launched a research project BASTION on future nanoelectronics manufacturing technologies. The research will be conducted in five European universities with cooperation with ccompanies ... read more 22.07.2014

€140 million loan for Turkish automotive industry

ANKARA (balkans) -- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a €140 million long-term loan to leading Turkish commercial vehicle maker Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş. This is part of a long-term investment project that will also work with universities in the research of new engine technologies ... read more 21.07.2014

Germany warms to the MBA

BERLIN (financial times) -- The number of MBA courses on offer in Germany is growing. As many German students opt to study abroad for their MBA programmes, Germany is seeing a loss in skills in key sectors, prompting action now from various institutions ... read more 20.07.2014

Polish students looking away from home

WARSAW (natemat) -- Polish universities are having to offer some lucrative deals to attract students. With universities declining, students have opted to head abroad such as to the Czech Republic, as universities offer free laptops or a free semester to entice students ... read more 21.07.2014

All affected by Ukrainian tragedy

HRABOVE (the) -- British students and international AIDS researchers have lost their lives in the crash of Malaysian airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine. Some passengers were travelling to the twentieth international AIDS conference in Australia, including former International Aids Secretary Joep Lange, whilst British students were on the way to start placements abroad ... read more 18.04.2014

Italian medical admissions labelled unlawful

ROME (orizzontescuola) -- The battle to reform the entrance to Italy’s medical universities continues, with Lazio regional court agreeing that medicine entry is currently unlawful ... read more 21.07.2014

New online opportunity for French graduates

PARIS (reussir ma vie) -- Social networking platform LinkedIn has launched a new sight - LinkedIn Etudes supérieures - to help French students find their first job. The platform is specifically aimed at higher education graduates to give them the help they need to get into the job market ... read more 21.07.2014

8,000 new Dutch student homes

AMSTERDAM (architectenweb) -- Dutch housing minister Stef Blok has announced that 3,000 new student homes are set for completion, bringing the total number to 8,000. This is the second wave of accommodation to be finished, as government aim complete 16,000 new student homes by 2016, but the Dutch students’ union are sceptical ... read more 17.07.2014

Stem cell research legal battle

BRUSSELS (phys.org) -- A human egg used to produce stem cells but unable to develop into a viable embryo can potentially be patented, a key EU legal chief said. The ethical discussion continues ... read more 17.07.2014

Portuguese rectors demand assessment

LISBON (tvi24) -- Rectors want to see a reassessment of supply and demand in universities. Antonio Rents believes the ratio of applicants to places needs to be looked into, in order to improve the value of qualifications. He feels that higher education is letting people down with the false promise of a future higher salary ... read more 17.07.2014

Austrian universities claim one billion

VIENNA (die presse) -- Austrian science minister Reinhold Mitterlehner wants to spend 615 million euro on universities from 2016 to 2019, but rectos claim that is simply not enough. They want to see him spending closer to a billion euro being directly invested into universities ... read more 16.07.2014

Germany: Law proposal for university funding

BERLIN (tagesschau) -- The German cabinet has proposed an amendment to their higher education law, meaning that universities could soon be federally funded. Discussions over university funding have been taking place for some time, and now the cabinet have made their proposal ... read more 16.07.2014

A walk through Bologna

SEOUL (korea times) -- Among the many prestigious universities in Europe, the University of Bologna is where the history of such institutions all began. Walking along the school walls and the arcades is indeed an experience ... read more 17.07.2014

New UK universities minister announced

LONDON (guardian) -- Greg Clark has been appointed the new minister for universities, with responsibilities for science and cities as well. The 46-year-old Member of Parliament for Tunbridge Wells will look to combine his fields to increase university involvement in society. But his time is limited with a General Election just 8 months away ... read more 15.07.2014

The legacy of David Willetts

LONDON (wonkhe) -- It is with mixed feelings that the higher education sector says goodbye to David Willetts. His fee hike should be remembered alongside his enthusiasm for the sector during his long political career in the education field ... read more 17.07.2014

Charity begins at CERN

MEYRIN (nature) -- CERN, Europe’s particle physic laboratory, has now registered a charitable foundation to raise funds for its educational, technology-transfer and arts activities. CERN is not the only big institution to go after donations to fund projects that fall outside the core research remit ... read more 15.07.2014

German universities: precarious and understaffed

BERLIN (der westen) -- The German Council of Science and Humanities has called for more 7,500 professors in universities, following the growing number of students. According to Manfred Prenzel, chairman of the council, this needs to take place along with a higher education funding reform. “Many tasks are permanent at universities,” he said. “There is no real justification for precarious employment.” 90 percent of German university staff have temporary contracts ... read more 14.07.2014

Polish students’ study abroad dreams evaporate

WARSAW (gazeta) -- Polish students are concerned that their opportunity to work or study abroad may be lost. Many higher education institutions are yet to sign the Erasmus+ contracts, leaving students in limbo ... read more 15.07.2014

UK universities minister loses job

LONDON (the) -- David Willetts has resigned as minister for universities and science as David Cameron carries out a major cabinet reshufffle that has also seen Michael Gove lose his job as education secretary. Willets will leave Parliament at the next general election in 2015. It is not yet known who will replace him ... read more 15.7.14

UK firm invests in French student housing

CHAMBERY (men) -- Manchester-based the Victus European Student Accommodation Ltd. has bought two buildings in Chambery. Its first move in France, the firm will be able to provide 144 studios for students in the Rhône-Alpes region, as it looks to expand further in Europe ... read more 14.07.2014

University of Cyprus to plough on

NICOSIA (incyprus) -- The University of Cyprus is set to continue building developments despite a lack of funding. A loan from the European Bank is one possible means of survival ... read more 14.07.2014

Power games in Greek Universities

ATHENS (financial times) -- As struggles and strikes continue in Greek universities, it’s the students who are being negatively impacted. Poor funding and a high level of bureaucracy have plagued the sector for many years and this strike is just the next in another long wave of protests. Yet now exams have been postponed and there is a real negative impact on the student body ... read more 13.07.2014

MOOCs start oppressing academic freedom

UK: Labour proposes ‘technical degrees’

The slow death of Turkish higher education

Number of Erasmus students hits record high

BRUSSELS (eu observer) -- The EU’s student exchange programme, Erasmus, funded the studies of nearly 270,000 students in 2012/2013 - a record 15,000 more than the previous year. Nearly €15 billion will be spent on the “Erasmus +” programme, bringing together the EU’s programmes for education and training, between now and 2020 ... read more 10.07.2014

Huge investment for Turkish internationalisation

ANKARA (daily sabah) -- The Turkish government is set to spend 70 million euro on creating an international education hub. The aim is to have 200,000 international students by 2023 ... read more 10.07.2014

Human Brain Project under fire from neuroscientists

BRUSSELS (nature) -- As a billion euro is be spent on the EU’s flagship brain research project, neuroscientists are urging the European Commission to think again. Following cuts, sections of the field are in danger of being alienated ... read more 07.07.2014

Danish university to solve football injury crisis

AALBORG (dr) -- Even on the football pitch, scientific research has an important role to play. More and more injuries are occurring at the end of football games and it has fallen to the University of Aalborg to look into this. Researchers intend to analyse the physiological effects of a ninety minute game on footballers’ bodies. Then they will be able to advise trainers and coaches on how to prevent injuries late into games ... read more 10.07.2014

Major investment in UK automotive research

WARWICK (insider news) -- A £65m research programme will be launched by the Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick with car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover. The research aims to further the use of low-carbon technologies to combat climate damage ... read more 11.07.2014

Four private universities close in Romania

BUCHAREST (romania insider) -- With the Romanian higher education landscape changing, four previously accredited private universities will be closed down. 135 specialisation and study programs will no longer be available, the Government has decided, following a period of monitoring ... read more 10.07.2014

US military investment in Austria

VIENNA (ad hoc) -- The US army has invested nearly nine million euro into Austrian military research since 2009. Nearly all Austrian universities have received money from the Pentagon for their work, with genetics expert Josef Penninger receiving over five million euro alone ... read more 08.07.2014

Agricultural sciences to rise in Portuguese universities

LISBON (cmjornal) -- A network of science centres and agricultural technologies from the North region will be created by the universities of Porto, Trás-os-Montes/Alto Douro and Minho, with an investment of four million euros by 2015 ... read more 08.07.2014

Greek rector election biased?

ATHENS (avgi) -- The election of rectors to two of Greece’s top universities, the University of Athens and Athens Technical, has been criticised. Critics say that only candidates who are on the side of the government have been elected to office ... read more 09.07.2014

Scientists protest EU’s $1.6bn brain-mapping project

BRUSSELS (rt) -- Nearly 370 neuroscientists and researchers across the world have signed an open letter to the European Commission, criticising the $1.6bn brain-mapping project. They want to see money invested in existing projects, as the Human Brain Project is “controversial and divisive” and “would fail to meet its goals” ... read more 08.07.2014

Plagiarism highlighted again in Serbia

BELGRADE (balkanist) -- Following the recent tidal wave of plagiarism accusations in Serbia, opposition official Aleksandar Šapić has become the latest victim. It has been discovered that the former international water polo player’s plagiarism is “more serious, more extensive and more shameless” than other cases ... read more 05.07.2014

43,000 new student homes in Bordeaux

BORDEAUX (vousnousils) -- Geneviève Fioraso, secretary of state of universities, confirmed the construction of nearly 43,000 student homes in Bordeaux by 2017. “Accommodation is the government’s priority to improve students’ quality of life” ... read more 08.07.2014

Education cuts affect Spanish research

MADRID (la razon) -- The liberal foundation CYD has warned that Spanish research could lose out due to education cuts. According to a recent CYD report, university funding in Spain has decreased by 20 percent or 1.3 billion Euro between 2009 and 2012 ... read more 07.07.2014

Hungarian universities lose autonomy

BUDAPEST (pesterlloyd) -- A vote in Hungarian parliament will see universities come further under the control of the government. Amongst other changes, a “Kanzler” for every university will be appointed by the government without consultation to oversee how institutions are run ... read more 07.07.2014

Academy ‘reform’ is stifling Russian science

La Sapienza throws away culture

ROME (republica) -- At the university La Sapienza in Rome, students have discovered that library books have simply been thrown away, with valuable texts ending up in the bin. Martha Mannarino, a student of Philosophy, defined this as “culture in the trash” ... read more 07.07.2014

Polish university teachers lose out to internet

WARSAW (express) -- There is a movement at the moment to replace in-class foreign language teaching in Poland teaching with more internet programmes. Nicolaus Copernicus University, for example, plans to release over half their language teaching staff ... read more 07.07.2014

New Danish higher education record set

COPENHAGEN (politiken) -- The number of applicants for Danish universities has increased to over ninety thousand for the coming academic year, as students look to a secure future. This is despite the fact that last year only about sixty thousand received a place, so many will miss out ... read more 05.07.2014

Ukrainian universities receive financial autonomy

KIEV (gazeta) -- As part of a reform package on higher education reform in Ukraine, universities have been granted financial authority, meaning they will organise their own budgets. Quality control has also been improved and the length of time any rector can serve has been defined, amongst a fleet of other reforms from the ministry ... read more 04.07.2014

Internationalisation the source for Finnish funding

HELSINKI (helsinki times) -- Internationalisation is one of the major factors for Finnish university funding decisions. This could explain why the number of foreign staff at Finnish universities has increased from roughly 10 to 20 per cent over the past few years ... read more 03.07.2014

Bosnian universities costing a fortune

SARAJEVO (radio sarajevo) -- Research by the Anadolu Agency has found that Bosnian universities are amongst the most expensive in Europe. Students at prestigious universities in France pay less for their studies, in France around two hundred euro for the first cycle, with the highest in Bosnia one and a half thousand  ... read more 03.07.2014

Swedish Prime Minister sorts student housing

STOCKHOLM (gp) -- Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has identified the problem with student housing in the country. Reinfeldt wants to launch a project creating 20,000 new homes by 2020, after recognising the problem that universities are sitting on large areas of land with student housing not being addressed ... read more 03.07.2014

Cheating rife amongst Czech students

PRAGUE (novinky) -- Nearly three quarters of Czech students surveyed said that they knew of an upcoming question in a test before sitting it. Twenty-two per cent said they would happily pay for answers, with technology one of the main causes of the cheating pandemic ... read more 02.07.2014

Shell sees solution for Dutch innovation

AMSTERDAM (nuzakelijk) -- A study put together by Shell has suggested that universities and companies need to increase their cooperation to accelerate innovation. Gerhard Schotman also believes that innovation shouldn’t be too much of a political objective ... read more 02.07.2014

Huge EU input into Macedonian research

SKOPJE (macedoniaonline) -- Macedonia will take part in the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation "Horizon 2020", having EUR 23 million at disposal for research and innovation in the science field. This is thanks to education minister Ademi signing the agreement, hoping to fund over a hundred projects ... read more 01.07.2014

Europe investing to boost electronics sector

BRUSSELS (cio) -- The European Commission is partnering with the private sector to invest €5 billion in Europe’s electronics sector. The initiative wants to bring together manufacturers, developers, designers, researchers and universities ... read more 01.07.2014

Swiss research reveals fading language

BERN (bote) -- An inter-university project on the use of Whatsapp has found a drop in the use of Romansh among young Swiss people. Requesting information from smart phone users, there is a lack of material in the language, as researchers aim to see whether Whatsapp affects communication styles ... read more 01.07.2014

Austrian students need to work

VIENNA (wiener zeitung) -- Figures have emerged revealing that Austrian students are turning to working to support their studies. 84 percent of students are working alongside their studies, while just under half said they need their parents' help ... read more 01.07.2014

Croatians taking up military placements

ZAGREB (glas-slavonije) -- Two new undergraduate study programmes at the Croatian Military Academy are expected to be incredibly popular. A hundred jobs will be created, with applications increase ... read more 02.07.2014

Russian rector selection still up to government

MOSCOW (ria) -- The Russian government is looking to increase powers available to university supervisory boards, but wants to retain some influence. Whilst supervisory boards will be able to nominate candidates to become a rector, the final decision lies with the government ... read more 01.07.2014

European project good news for Slovenia

LJUBLJANA (rtvslo) -- The European Space Agency is set to launch a major project to create the largest space telescope for X-rays. This European project will be a hundred times better than the NASA equivalent and will be researched primarily in conjunction with two scientists from the University of Ljubljana ... read more 29.06.2014

Lithuanian universities’ management questioned

VILNIUS (balsas) -- Barclays Technology Centre Lithuania CEO Giedrius Dzekunskas is convinced that Lithuanian universities need to change their management style. In his opinion, they need to be more aware of their goals and more orientated to their social responsibility ... read more 30.06.2014

Horizon 2020 proves popular in Poland

WARSAW (naukawpolsce) -- One hundred and ten reseach institutions have currently signed up to the Ministry of Science’s "Pact for Horizon 2020" in Poland. Universities are committed to working towards a broader participation, and the Ministry is keen to reward researchers applying for European grants ... read more 30.06.2014

Major upheaval for Romanian universities

BUCHAREST (romaniatv) -- The Ministry of Education in Romania is putting forward a major bill, which will see thirty-three universities in the country have courses cut. Plans suggest that over a hundred programmes could be lost if the bill goes through, with recruitment on hold for these courses in both private and public institutions ... read more 24.06.2014

Norwegian masters students have nowhere to go

OSLO (aftenposten) -- More and more students are studying masters programmes in Norway. Yet this is something that is concerning Norway’s top employers, as the posts they need to fill do not require graduates with a masters level of knowledge ... read more 30.06.2014

Italian minister to combat disparity

ROME (termometropolitico) -- Italian education minister Stefania Giannini wants to cut administration in Italian higher education, to try and boost standards in the south to match the north. She wants to take power away from “academic barons” who control spending ... read more 30.06.2014

Spain to offer new degree structure

MADRID (herald) -- The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports studies that, in an "optional" and "selective" universities can offer degrees in three years instead of four, to align with much of European countries. Minister Jose Ignacio Wert sees this as a way to improve internationalisation ... read more 24.06.2014

Thessaloniki universities heavily criticised

THESSALONIKI (news.gr) -- Universities in the Greek city of Thessaloniki have been heavily criticised by auditors, some even being described as a waste of public money. Amongst the problems uncovered by auditors were fraud and irregular recruitment ... read more 23.06.2014

French universities opt to fuse

MARSEILLE (le monde) -- In conjunction with Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research Geneviève Fioraso’s university reform package, the universities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence have decided to fuse. This decision will improve facilities as buildings and accommodation look set for a face-lift ... read more 24.06.2014

Europe’s big push in graphene research

BRUSSELS (electronics weekly) -- Europe’s Graphene Flagship research project is doubling in size. Research institutions and universities alike will team up with companies to further develop research in the graphene sector: Europe’s biggest research project worth a billion euros ... read more 23.06.2014

Denmark’s international rules too restrictive?

COPENHAGEN (dr) -- Foreign students are only permitted to work fifteen hours a week in Denmark, which a lawyer has referred to as simply too restrictive. This is the aftermath of a fine for a butcher who employed a student as a dishwasher, working illegally in the eyes of the state ... read more 24.06.2014

Fraud concerns over Serbian diplomas

BELGRADE (radio Sarajevo) -- Following a spate of damaging plagiarism accusations in the last weeks, figures now suggest that one in ten Serbian degrees could be fraudulent. Diplomas were found to either have been counterfeit or issued by unrecognised institutions ... read more 24.06.2014

EU students leave UK to pick up the bill

LONDON (huffington post) -- Figures have emerged from the Student Loans Company in the UK that EU students are failing to repay £380 million (474 million euro) in student loans. This has further sparked the debate on the UK’s EU membership, with the total amount of government expenditure on student loans more than tripling in the last year ... read more 24.06.2014

Portuguese students demand answers

LISBON (cmjournal) -- Portuguese students have demanded the government produces a report explaining the increasing drop-out rate in Portuguese higher education. The demands will go before Secretary of State José Ferreira Gomes, who will then be required to take action ... read more 23.06.2014

German students take to the streets

ROSTOCK (focus) -- Over a hundred students have begun to protest in Rostock over the quality of their education. As part of the national group “Bildungsstreik 2014”, the students wanted to say they are not happy with what they see as the lack of financial support for higher education institutions ... read more 25.06.2014

Bosnian professor hospitalised

MOSTAR (slobodnaevropa) -- Professor Slavo Kukić, a sociologist at the University of Mosta, was attacked at work so heavily he required hospital treatment. Men reportedly entered and attacked him with a baseball bat, according to the interior ministry. Kukić believes the attack was politically motivated ... read more 23.06.2014

Turkish universities affected by health reform

ANKARA (risalehaber) -- Turkey is planning a major shake-up of its health system. This will have affects for universities as minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu looks to invest more money into university health research, as well as creating new health institutions for research ... read more 24.06.2014

Dutch universities fail to make the grade

AMSTERDAM (nvao) -- Twenty-six universities have failed to be classed as sufficient for their humanities courses by the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation (NVAO). NVAO Chairman Anne Flierman is concerned that “13 percent of the courses in the humanities is not up to standard” ... read more 24.06.2014

Disaster for Romanian research

BUCHAREST (hotnews) -- Former National Research Council of Romania members have condemned the Ministry of Education for damaging Romanian research. Drops in funding and the elimination of university classifications have led the group to release their statement ... read more 23.06.2014

University application panic in Bulgaria

SOFIA (news.ibox) -- Panic is setting in for the fifty-two higher education institutions in Bulgaria, as they struggle to fill themselves. The problem is that less people are taking the admissions tests than there are places, representing a dramatic drop in applications ... read more 23.06.2014

Institution faces closure in Ukraine

KIEV (gazeta) -- The thirty-nine graduates of the School of Polish and European Law at Lviv National Ivan Franko University in Poland will be the last. Both nations hope that cooperation can continue in other forms ... read more 23.06.2014

Russian students funded to study abroad

MOSCOW (dp) -- Russian students will be funded by their home government to study abroad, thanks to a new bill entitled signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The budget for the project will be 4.4 billion ruble (ninety million euro) over the next three years ... read more 23.06.2014

Robbery in Italian university

CHIETI (ilmessagero) -- A robbery has taken place at the Annunzio University in Chieti, eastern Italy. Three people were reportedly drugged and tied up, with one man needing hospital treatment, as thieves entered. Police say that the value of stolen goods is as-of-yet unknown ... read more 22.06.2014

New European institution to open in Poland

CHECINY (gazeta) -- The European Centre for Geological Education, as part of the University of Warsaw, is set to open in Poland. There has been mass international interest in using the facility. The thirty-four million Polish złoty (eight million euro) should be finished open for the first classes in summer 2015 ... read more 22.06.2014

German states under funding strain

BERLIN (drk) -- The head of Germany’s rector conference, Horst Hippler, believes that German states cannot afford the cost of their universities anymore. As federal states become financially weaker due to tax losses, the burden needs to be taken up by the federal state, with Germany’s international competitiveness at risk ... read more 20.06.2014

Free universities dent Danish economy

COPENHAGEN (dailycaller) -- Danish students attend university for free, then don't go into high-paid jobs because of the high tax threshold. This means that the amount of money spent on students is not recuperated by the government, so they have to search for alternative solutions ... read more 18.06.2014

MOOCs can be the solution for Norway

OSLO (nho) -- A new report has pointed towards MOOCs as the potential way forward for Norwegian universities. This report, handed to the government by a Norwegian MOOC committee, advocates an aggressive use of online teaching platforms to enhance the learning experience ... read more 19.06.2014

French universities condemned by former PM

LONDON (figaro) -- Former French Prime Minister and potential Presidential candidate for 2017 Francois Fillon has denounced French universities as “hotbeds for Marxism”. In a bid to differentiate himself from Nicolas Sarkozy, Fillon has gone after universities as well as other institutions ... read more 19.06.2014

Swedish students against fee proposals

STOCKHOLM (offensiv) -- Sweden look set to introduce tuition fees for their universities. The education ministry believes that Swedish universities just cannot maintain standards without students having to bear some of the cost, to which students have reacted very negatively ... read more 20.06.2014

Vote on Ukrainian higher education reform

KIEV (wz.lviv) -- One of Ukraine’s major higher education reforms, Bill 1187-2, went before parliament on Thursday. Having gone through the first phase of its adoption, the second reading taking place last Thursday ... read more 19.06.2014

New Cypriot institution opens

PYLA (financial mirror) -- A new university has opened in the Cypriot town of Pyla, a branch of the University of Central Lancashire. President Nicos Anastsaiades wants Cyprus to become “an educational and research centre in the south eastern Mediterranean region” ... read more 18.06.2014

Greek entrance exams pressure unbearable

ATHENS (greek reporter) -- Famously tough, the Greek University entrance exams have reportedly led to one student taking their own life. Many students are struggling under the pressure with competition for places, with thirty thousand set to miss out on places ... read more 16.06.2014

Studying in Spain costing more and more

MADRID (excite) -- The Spanish university system is moving closer and closer to the British system, and gradually getting more and more expensive. A new study from the Centre for University Studies says Spanish universities now have "higher prices and fewer scholarships" ... read more 17.06.2014

Huge pharmaceutical funding package from EIB

BRUSSELS (out-law) -- The European Investment Bank will inject seventy-five million euro into Belgian pharmaceutical research. The money is for private company UCB in this "first-of-its-kind" transaction. The InnovFin Large Projects instrument could help many universities access the funds, as well as research organisations ... read more 17.06.2014

Scottish universities make UK break

EDINBURGH (the) -- Connected Scotland has been launched in conjunction with Scotland’s nineteen universities, separate from UK institutions. The aim is to improve their international reputation and increase their international revenue ... read more 17.06.2014

Czech crack down on fraudulent degrees

PRAGUE (tyden) -- A proposed amendment to the higher education act in the Czech Republic would have the power to strip people of fraudulent degrees. The proposals from the education ministry have been backed by rectors, including Tomáš Zima of Charles University ... read more 17.06.2014

New scandal hits Serbian universities

BELGRADE (rts) -- Following recent plagiarism investigations, it has emerged that Mića Jovanović, the rector of Serbia’s biggest private higher education institution Megatrend University, does not hold a PhD from the London School of Economics as he has claimed. Education minister Srđan Verbić has called for him to resign ... read more 12.06.2014

Swedish students struggle to balance the books

STOCKHOLM (dagenssamhalle) -- The current Conservative government in Sweden is making life difficult for students. On one hand, they believe students should be self-sufficient, but on the other if they start to work, the amount of financial support they receive drops dramatically. So no student can afford to get ill at the moment ... read more 12.06.2014

Russian students to combine study with army service

MOSCOW (kommersant) -- Starting this autumn, Russian students will given the opportunity to combine studies with army service, according to the Ministry of Defence. The ministry also intends to open inter-university centers of military training ... read more 16.06.2014

Ukraine: A new broom sweeps clean

KIEV (profi-forex) -- Sergey Kvit, Ukraine’s new science minister, said police are investigating all the activities of the former leadership of his ministry. Corruption has been detected in the business with textbooks for students. The minister also announced a reform aiming to reduce the number of  universities to 40 ... read more 15.06.2014

Ambitious Malta

FLORIANA (malta today) -- Prime minister Joseph Muscat wants Malta to be the world’s next education hub, just like “Singapore or Dubai” ... read more

Irish fears over potential research fraud

DUBLIN (irish times) -- The Irish Universities Association has called for a nationwide review of scientific fraud policy. As the sector grows and becomes more internationally prominent, policy is seen as not adequate to protect the quality of research ... read more 16.06.2014

Bolognese student housing corruption

Swiss eyeing EU research money despite referendum

Spain want more private money in universities

Hungarian universities on the short leash

BUDAPEST (delmagyar) -- The work of Hungarian human resources minister Zoltán Balog has been heavily criticised. He and the government are seen as far too intrusive into the work of universities. Other concerns are over the lack of inclusion for all ethnicities in Hungary ... read more 11.6.14

Irish universities facing funding nightmare

DUBLIN (irish times) -- As the staff to student ratio is set to rise and money spent on individual students is set to fall, Ireland are desperately searching for a solution. Doubling the number of international students from outside the EU is one of the proposed answers to this problem ... read more 12.06.2014

Croatian education ministers swap

ZAGREB (shanghai daily) -- Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović dismissed Željko Jovanović‏ without going into details, before announcing that Vedran Mornar would be his successor. This means that there have now been eight ministerial changes in thirty months of the Milanović cabinet ... read more 12.06.2014

Germany turning to talented immigrants

BERLIN (livemint) -- Germany has the lowest birth rate in Europe and its oldest population. Estimations say that over a million technical workers could be lost over the next decade, with concerns over how they will be replaced. One solution is to encourage the immigration of skilled students who can contribute to these technical fields, whether this be in big industry or even to small- and medium-sized businesses. Universities are increasing their programmes targeting overseas students ... read more 11.06.2014

Three-Day strike in Greek universities

ATHENS (greek reporter) -- University administrative staff will hold a three-day strike, starting Wednesday. Protesters are asking the Greek Education Minister, Andreas Loverdos not to lay off the employees who were placed in the mobility-availability scheme, expiring on June 13 ... read more 11.06.2014

Polish tuition fees unconstitutional

WARSAW (rp) -- Students in Poland have recently held a meeting with science minister Lena Kolarska-Bobińska to discuss the future of higher education. Piotr Müller, president of the Students’ Parliament, claims that the fees for the study of a second degree are unconstitutional ... read more 11.06.2014

Higher education strengthens local economy

OSLO (forskning) -- Universities contribute strongly to the regions’ economic development, a new study in Norway shows. Students largely find work in the region where they studied, and this is of great importance for local businesses. Employment rates of locally educated graduates are on the rise ... read more 09.06.2014

Austrian university-industry cooperation lacks transparency

VIENNA (zeit) -- Following the incorporation of the science ministry into the department of economy, university-industry partnerships and private research funding are thriving in Austria. One hundred million Euro of industry money is said to be flowing into universities. But contract details become less and less transparent, Luise Gubitzer, economics professor in Vienna says. And concerns of more results-led science are growing ... read more 05.06.2014

Finland in need of a stronger technology policy

HELSINKI (talouselama) -- There are major concerns in Finland over international competition in high level research. This has led to a call for a new targeted policy programme. What is needed, says Martin Tiuri, professor emeritus from Aalto University, is a re-evaluation of technical universities with the possibility to offer PhDs ... read more 09.06.2014

Prominent plagiarism case sparks debate in Serbia

BELGRADE (rts) -- Following the allegations that Serbian interior minister Nebojša Stefanović plagiarised his doctoral thesis, a parliamentary commission has stated the need to strengthen plagiarism control ... read more 06.06.2014

Dutch students struggle to pay back loans

AMSTERDAM (utnieuws) -- After converting the system of student grants into student loans, the Dutch government is facing highly indebted students. Degrees can now cost up to 73,000 Euro, meaning that payback time may extend to over 11 years ... read more 05.06.2014

Student houses in Zagreb falling apart

ZAGREB (index) -- The conditions of some student accommodation in Zagreb has shocked both the media and government in the Croatian capital. For the sum of 350 Kuna (46 Euro) per month, hundreds of students live in decaying buildings, without without hot water ... read more 09.06.2014

15 years of Bologna Process

BRUSSELS (WENR) -- World Education News & Reviews from New York gives an overview of the process that led to the European Higher Education Area ... read more
In a special feature, editor Nick Clark highlights how the European higher education reform project has been applied and modeled by other regions, and indeed how the EHEA has engaged world regions directly by offering regionalisation advice based on its experiences ... read more 03.06.2014

Modern voting at Austrian student union

VIENNA (ots) -- Student representatives will now be elected directly by students through postal voting, thanks to an amendment to Austria’s student union law. The reform is expected to increase democracy at universities due to more transparent rules and the greater involvement of student representatives in negotiations ... read more 04.06.2014

IBM partners with universities in big data

US (computer world) -- IBM will collaborate with 28 universities and business schools in the US to help expand and launch a new curriculum, giving students the necessary knowledge and skills to build successful IT careers in the field of big data ... read more 05.06.2014

Turkish university hospitals facing closure

ANKARA (turktime) -- Turkish university hospitals are at risk due to the financial crisis. The university hospital sector is on the brink of bankruptcy with debts of 322 million Turkish lira (112 million euro). Some vital departments have already closed across the country, leaving many doctors and nurses in limbo regarding their futures ... read more 02.06.2014

Students picket Ukraine’s parliament over reforms

KIEV (pressorg24) -- Students and activists have protested outside Ukraine’s parliament, demanding that a reform bill adopted over a month ago be implemented immediately. The bill will reduce the workload of students and teachers, increase student mobility and student choice and improve quality and transparency ... read more 05.06.2014

Bulgaria punishes poor quality universities

SOFIA (standart news) -- The Bulgarian State will limit student intake for university faculties that are churning out graduates who are poorly trained and unable to find jobs in the labour market. Subsidies per student will also increase, but they will only be given to universities that provide quality training ... read more 04.06.2014

Belgian rectors demand refinancing

LIÈGE (la libre) -- The rectors of six French universities across Belgium are calling for a refinancing, demanding an additional 20 million Euro a year for the next five years. Without this money, universities feel they no longer have the ‘necessary minimum’ to fulfil the tasks entrusted to them in terms of teaching, research and serving the community ... read more 03.06.2014

Increased dissatisfaction among UK students

LONDON (THE) -- More than 20,000 UK students lodged complaints with their universities last year, according to statistics from the BBC. The universities minister, David Willetts, has welcomed has welcomed these figures, seeing it as positive that students are demanding more from institutions under the new regime ... read more 03.06.2014

France: Hollande disrupts university plans

PARIS (l’etudiant) -- Whilst universities in France are working hard to adhere to Geneviève Fioraso’s consolidation law, François Hollande may have just thrown a spanner in the works. The French President announced plans in early June to reduce France to 14 regions, which could disrupt the university reconciliation work already in progress ... read more 03.06.2014

Plagiarism accusations against Serbian minister

BELGRADE (index) -- The Serbian interior minister, Nebojsa Stefanovic, is under mounting pressure over accusations that his doctoral thesis is plagiarised. Mister Stefanovic strongly denies the accusations. Some are calling for the immediate resignation of the minister, despite the fact that there are no legal ramifications if he is found guilty ... read more 02.06.2014

Polish universities to cooperate on missile project

WARSAW (wnp) -- The Military University of Technology and Warsaw University of Technology will unite with industry forces to start research on a new missile. Warsaw University of Technology specialises in rocket technology, so is seen as an ideal partner. The work on the missile is part of a larger defence project known as Polish Shield ... read more 02.06.2014

Transfers not permitted for Greek students

ATHENS (yahoo) -- Greek universities are set to prevent international transfers, as said recently by education minister, Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos. He is concerned that those studying abroad will request a permanent transfer to the host university. He doesn’t want Erasmus students coming to Greece to stay either ... read more 31.05.2014

Slovenian academia slams Commission

LJUBLJANA (euractiv) -- Slovenian educators and students are ringing the alarm, after the Commission initiated a legal case against the country’s education legislation, which ‘could undermine education quality’ and ‘set a dangerous precedent’ in the light of EU-US trade deal negotiations ... read more 30.05.2014

Portuguese students struggling to pay back loans

LISBON (publico) -- Students in Portugal are finding it increasingly difficult to pay back the 200 million Euro worth of loans they took out under the mutual guarantee system launched six years ago. These 20,000 students will have to start paying 300 Euro per month from October 2014 ... read more 01.06.2014

Denmark to revise admission policy

COPENHAGEN (borsen) -- Danish universities will introduce a new admission system comprised of interviews, applications and tests, which will reduce the importance of a candidate’s grade point average in high school. The proposed changes follow the call from Education Minister, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, to lower the dropout rate ... read more 02.06.2014

Dutch government scraps student grants

AMSTERDAM (dutch news) -- The Dutch government will abolish student grants from the start of the 2015 academic year, which will free up 1 billion Euro to spend on improving educational standards. However, student unions say the move towards a feudal system will add at least 15,000 Euro to the average student debt ... read more 28.05.2014

Austria: Financial boost for university renovation

VIENNA (der standard) -- The Federal Real Estate Company in Austria is allocating 200 million Euro to university restoration until 2017. The construction of new buildings is not permitted in the initiative ... read more 30.05.2014

Foreign students in Latvia victims of discrimination

RIGA (nra) -- 25 per cent of foreign students in Latvia have experienced discriminatory treatment, according to a survey conducted by Riga Technical University. Students have encountered negative comments and offensive remarks related to ethnicity, nationality, social status and religion ... read more 29.05.2014

More young researchers in Swiss universities

BERN (bz) -- New regulations brought in by the Swiss government will make it easier and more attractive for young people to become researchers. Funding for doctorates is set to increase by seven per cent and it will be guaranteed that PhD students will spent sixty per cent of their time on their thesis. Universities and the rectors’ conference support these measures as both want to see more young researchers entering the field ... read more 29.05.2014

Polish government on a mission against plagiarism

WARSAW (wiadomosci) -- Academic work in Poland already has to undergo a plagiarism scrutiny test, but the new government wants to improve the process by 2016. Universities say they cannot cope with the quantity, especially because many files were originally scanned in and would need to be converted ... read more 27.05.2014

Slovenia students fight for subsidised transport

LJUBLJANA (siol) -- Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek’s promises to spend €13 million on transport subsidies for students have been empty. The Student Organisation of Slovenia is concerned by the lack of action and is planning a protest for the third of June ... read more 29.05.2014

Albanian higher education at a dead end

TIRANA (mapo) -- Albania’s proposed higher education reform is facing fundamental difficulties, according to a report. The neoliberal recipe to bring in private capital following state incentives fails: the state is financially weak, but the large Albanian businesses, potential investors, are as well ... read more 28.05.2014

Academic strike disrupts Croatia

ZAGREB (sd) -- Universities and scientific institutions in Croatia held a one-day strike on Thursday, organised by the Independent Union of Research and Higher Education. The strike drew attention to pay cuts as well as imposed restrictions and conditions that threaten the system ... read more 28.05.2014

Transfer woes for Crimean students

CRIMEA (radiosvoboda) -- So far, 1,500 Crimean students have successfully transferred to universities on Ukraine’s mainland. But at Lviv University in western Ukraine, students are being asked to pay tuition fees before gaining admission, despite having already paid their Crimean institutes ... read more 28.05.2014

Russia to prepare international HE rankings

MOSCOW (rn) -- Russia plans to produce an official international ranking of higher education institutions, including universities in the CIS, BRICS and SCO countries, by June 2015, the Russian Government said Tuesday. The call for rankings follows instructions given by Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, on priority national projects ... read more | background27.05.2014

Replacement funds for Swiss research

BERN (nzz) -- The Swiss National Fund (SNF) is offering grants to researchers in order to mitigate the lost EU funding following Switzerland’s immigration referendum. Researchers with seven to twelve years of experience are eligible to receive over 1.5 million Euro per project ... read more 28.05.2014

‘Education programmes’ to stop TTIP concerns

BRUSSELS (access now) -- US lobby groups are planning to implement an ‘education programme,’ in order to reassure Europeans on the benefits of TTIP. The TTIP is a free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the United States and the European Union ... read more 26.05.2014

German government takes over student loans

BERLIN (noz) -- From 2015, the German federal government will completely take over the cost of publicly subsidised student loans (BAföG), which will free up over 1 billion Euro per year for states to spend on education and science. A comprehensive student loan reform is also set for 2016. Until now, the federal funding of regionally controlled universities had been banned. Although this is a step forward, opposition parties say it is a step too late ... read more 27.05.2014

Spain: Industry advises university consolidation

MADRID (europa press) -- Industry representatives are urging ‘corporate universities’ in Spain to follow the global trend of consolidation. Corporate universities are schools, usually linked to universities, which foster technical and operational training tied to business, management skills, a corporate culture and employability ... read more 27.05.2014

Italian rectors fear widening access in Medicine

ROME (im) -- University rectors in Italy warn against the opening up of medical degrees as universities would be unable to cope with vast numbers of incoming students. Education Minister, Stefania Giannini, suggested the admission test for medicine be abolished from 2015 ... read more 25.05.2014

First “Fairtrade University” in Germany

SAARBRÜCKEN (fd) -- Universities in Germany are taking part in a new campaign, “Fairtrade-Universities” by TransFair, which promotes the use and selling of Fairtrade products on campus. Saarland University, in southwest Germany, has won the prize of Germany’s first ‘Fairtrade-University’ ... read more 19.05.2014

EU universities not proactive enough

BRUSSELS (europa) -- Not enough countries are using the information they collect on higher education to improve their universities and the opportunities they offer for students, according to a new EU report ... read more 22.05.2014

Mergers ahead for Finnish universities?

HELSINKI (sk) -- In the eyes of Chancellor Emeritus of Helsinki University, Kari Raivio, Finnish universities are of poor quality because of their small size and fragmented courses. A possible solution would be to regionalise higher education in Helsinki and Tampere ... read more 27.05.2014

British universities turn to capital markets

LONDON (NYT) -- Facing government funding cuts and sharp spending increases, some British universities are turning to a new source of money — the bond market. To help cover the costs, they plan to borrow £560 million in the current academic year, raising their total debt to £6.83 billion by July 31, equivalent to 27 percent of their combined total income ... read more 25.05.2014

Full power of free market for Australian higher ed

SWINBURNE (conversation) -- In the 2014 Australian federal budget, plans were announced to bring the full power of the free market to the Australian higher education sector. From 2016, universities will have their budgets reduced but be free to charge undergraduates literally whatever they like! ... read more 22.5.14

Public consultation on the Europe 2020 strategy

BRUSSELS (ec) -- The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the Europe 2020 strategy. The consultation will be open until 31 October 2014. Policy Fields: Economic and financial affairs; competitiveness; industry; single market; employment; research, development and innovation; the digital economy; climate, energy and resource efficiency; education and training; poverty and social exclusion ... read more 21.05.2014

Frankfurt University celebrates Jewish founders

FRANKFURT (SZ) -- The Goethe University in Frankfurt is commemorating its Jewish founders and scientists with a three-day symposium, on the 100th anniversary of its creation. The symposium remembers persecuted Jewish scholars, among which are founder Wilhelm Merton and philosopher Theodor Adorno ... read more 24.05.2014

Ukraine: Volyn universities expect reform

VOLYN (volyn news) -- Universities in the Volyn region in northwest Ukraine may be subject to a future higher educational reform. The proposed bill allows students to have more of an impact on the learning process, whilst granting universities greater autonomy ... read more 24.05.2014

UK: New cost cutting open access scheme

LONDON (THE) -- A publisher has launched a pilot with 21 UK universities to reduce their subscription costs in proportion to the amount of open access fees. Other countries have also expressed an interest in negotiating similar deals ... read more 23.05.2014

Research universities push for joint EU science policy

BARCELONA (europa press) -- The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is calling on the EU to form a concrete and solid commitment to research cooperation in Europe. “Voluntary initiatives are not enough” according to Secretary General of LERU, Kurt Deketelaere. He urges the European Commission to take control and adopt obligatory legislation ... read more 21.05.2014

Fears raised over new Welsh HE bill

CARDIFF (THE) -- Universities in Wales have expressed concerns over the new higher education bill that will see the government gain more control and subject universities to “micro-management” ... read more 20.05.2014

Italy to model admission system on France

ROME (tgcom24) -- Italy’s education minister, Stefania Giannini, plans to revamp the university admission system. Modelled on the French system, she suggests students have free access to university for their first year and then at the end of the year, selection will take place based on merit ... read more 21.05.2014

Slovakian rector ‘crucified’ over conflict

RUŽOMBEROK (sme) -- The rector of the Catholic University in Ružomberok in northern Slovakia, Tadeusz Zasępa, has resigned over a conflict after six years in the position. Zasępa decided to leave after uncovering a string of illegal activities conducted by the university, such as borrowing money for advances and travel. He also found the Faculty of Arts to have paid 85 employees more than 243,000 Euro worth of bonuses and he criticised the disparities in average wages across faculties, with the Faculty of Health receiving 1,070 Euro per employee per year and the Education Faculty only receiving 667 Euro. In a letter to SME, Zasępa likened his situation to a ‘crucifixion’ ... read more 19.05.2014

Interest free loans for Greek students

ATHENS (dikaiologitika) -- Greek students will now have access to interest free loans that are only repayable upon completion of studies, the Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, has announced. The new law stipulates that institutions will provide students with financial aid based on individual or family circumstances and academic performance ... read more 20.05.2014

Students make millions for Russia

MOSCOW (rn) -- The commercialisation of inventions by Russian students and postgraduates led to revenue of 2.7 billion Ruble (58 million Euro) in 2013, Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, has announced ... read more 20.05.2014

French universities resist reform law

PARIS (l’etudiant) -- The ‘anti-Fioraso’ petition in France against the restructuring of universities has reached over 11,000 signatures, representing 11 per cent of the university community. Academics criticise former higher education minister, Geneviève Fioraso, for her law reform, which calls on universities to merge, associate or form a community by 22 July 2014 ... read more 19.05.2014

Flemish universities call for shorter holidays

LEUVEN (dm) -- Flemish university rectors and the student association VVS have proposed a major higher education reform, which would see the academic year lengthened at the cost of shorter holidays ... read more 20.05.2014

Norway faces a class divide among students

OSLO (ba) -- Norwegian students are getting more financial help from family than ever before, which can create social divisions and upset the ideal of equal access to education. 63 per cent of students receive financial support from home ... read more 20.5.14

Tablets are failing in higher education

US (beta news) -- Tablets are failing to make an impact in higher education, with only 29 per cent of students owning one, according to the latest statistics from the Institute for Mobile Media Research. Institute Director, Michael Hanley, says ‘tablets are for entertainment purposes, not for writing papers and doing class projects’ ... read more 18.05.2014

New academic innovation centres for Germany

AMSTERDAM (dc) -- SAP will soon open the first two centres for Big Data and innovation in collaboration with universities in Magdeburg and Mannheim, Germany. Researchers and students will benefit from access to state-of-the-art software, as well as knowledge and expertise ... read more 17.05.2014

Turkish students protest mining disaster

ISTANBUL (altaposten) -- 1,000 Turkish students have occupied Istanbul’s technical university in protest of the mining disaster in Soma that claimed 301 lives. Students object to the university’s links with the company that operates the mine in Soma ... read more 18.05.2014

Danes’ education dependent on postcode

COPENHAGEN (jv) -- Young people’s access to higher education in Denmark is determined by their postal code, according to new statistics. Those in municipalities north of Copenhagen are much more likely to pursue higher education compared to those in remote municipalities, such as Norddjurs on the East coast.
Ironically, this is no news and not exclusive to Denmark. “It is a curse to be born in Ackerstraße,” the German publicist Kurt Tucholsky wrote in 1931. “Why did these children come from this hole? A few holes further and they would have been sure to make the law exam.” ... read more 15.05.2014

Lithuania expands Nordic cooperation

VILNIUS (bns) -- Lithuania has increased its participation in the NordPlus programme, with twice the number of applications from higher education institutions compared to last year. The programme, which includes eight Nordic and Baltic countries, allows educational institutes to learn, develop and share best practices ... read more 15.05.20.14

Georgia to fund students’ education abroad

TBILISI (messenger) -- The Georgian government will provide financial support to talented students who receive admission from leading universities abroad. The aim is to improve Georgia’s welfare and further its progress ... read more 16.05.2014

UK universities fight to stay in the EU

LONDON (times) -- Vice chancellors from 23 of the UK’s leading universities have written a letter campaigning for Britain to remain a part of the European Union. Amongst their fears include a potential loss in millions of pounds of funding as well as a reduced attraction to international students, if the UK were to leave the Union ... read more 19.05.2014

Reverse discrimination at Swedish universities

STOCKHOLM (aftonbladet) -- Accusations are rife in Swedish universities over gender discrimination, but it is men who feel they are losing out. Various projects to promote female mobility in the higher education hierarchy have been said to compromise the position of men, with women being favoured too much ... read more 15.05.2014

Honorary doctorate next for Snowden?

ROSTOCK (berliner zeitung) -- Edward Snowden, the world-famous whistle-blower, could be set to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Rostock. Gesa Mackenthun, vice dean of the philosophy department in Rostock, said that Snowden “has rendered outstanding services to our right to freedom”, one of the reasons Mackenthun feels Snowden deserves this honour ... read more 14.05.2014

Polish students ready to celebrate

WARSAW (wp) -- Polish university students are ready to take to the streets as part of the Great Parade of Students in the Polish capital. The parade will begin from the Palace of Culture and wind its way through the city, with students mixing with locals in what is sure to be a brilliant atmosphere ... read more 14.05.2014

Russian minister cancels Italy visit after protest

VENICE (the local) -- Russian minister for culture, Vladimir Medinsky, has cancelled a planned visit to collect an award at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice following a protest by students and professors over his nationalist views ... read more 14.05.2014

‘Barons’ reign over Italian universities

ROME (l’espresso) -- The reform introduced by former Italian science minister Mariastella Gelimini has failed – at least regarding its objective of putting an end to nepotism at Italian universities. The reform is estimated to have cost 120 million Euro, which has led to numerous appeals and protests. Italy’s appointment of researchers, professors and even Nobel Prize winners has been surrounded by nepotism controversy for years, and cases of unfair selection have been reported in various disciplines ... read more 12.05.2014

Russian universities see licences stripped

MOSCOW (moscow times) -- 77 Russian universities have lost their licences since January 2014, in conjunction with a new law which was implemented last September. The law, signed by President Putin in December 2012, seeks to increase the level of scrutiny upon Russian universities and improve quality across the spectrum. Luckily for students they will be moved to other institutions ... read more 13.05.2014

U-Multirank officially launched

EUROPE (euractiv) -- The European Commission has officially launched U-Multirank, a new global university ranking system. The system, which was funded with 2 million Euro from the European Union, ranks 850 higher education institutions according to five criteria, including research excellence and quality of teaching ... read more 13.05.2014

Belarus embrace Bologna for brighter future

MINSK (THE) -- Belarussian universities are set to adopt measures of the Bologna reform, walking a diplomatic tightrope between neighbouring Ukraine and Russia. Belarus’ education minister Sergey Maskevitch said “[Belarus] needs graduates to help us build our economy” ... read more 15.05.2014

German university does not permit burka

GIESSEN (fr) -- A Muslim teaching student from the University of Gießen in central Germany has agreed not to wear her burka during lectures and seminars, due to communication concerns. She is the first reported case of a woman wearing a burka to attend a German university ... read more 12.05.2014

Norwegian students lack danger awareness

STEINKJER (nrk) -- Students in Norway have a relaxed attitude towards fire safety, according to the Fire Protection Association.a survey. In a survey, many students said that they never had a fire drill or don’t know where the exinguisher is ... read more 11.05.2014

Swiss seniors are highly educated

BASEL (bz) -- Swiss citizens attending senior universities hold an above average education, according to a survey. Three in five attendees are women, and the main reason seniors enrol is because it gives them pleasure to learn new things and make new contacts. Over 7000 seniors are registered ... read more 12.05.2014

US-EU agreement threatens HE in Ireland

DUBLIN (irish times) -- Irish universities fear that they will become powerless in protecting students from incoming education providers and in defending and maintaining a high quality of education, if a planned commercial trade agreement between the EU and the US goes ahead. The TTIP agreement would subject higher education to the commercial rules of trade agreements for the first time ... read more 10.05.2014

Turkish universities are desperate for academics

ISTANBUL (cihan) -- The president of the Higher Education Board (YÖK) prof. Gökhan Çetinsaya has announced the findings of a new report, which claims that Turkish universities need 45,000 more academic staff ... read more 12.05.2014

Basel to rescue the Italian language

BASEL (tl) -- The University of Basel is working with seven Swiss media associations to relaunch the Italian language in Switzerland. The ‘Basel Declaration 2014’ states that the current globalisation process presents an opportunity to exploit the diversity and potential of a multi-lingual Switzerland, in a world of ‘digital citizenship’ ... read more 11.05.2014

Dutch companies demand science policy change

AMSTERDAM (the post) -- The research directors of eleven major companies, including Unilever and Philips, have sent a letter to Dutch science minister, Jet Bussemaker, calling for a change in science policy. They argue for more attention to be paid to science and technology and for less focus on publication numbers ... read more 11.05.2014

Danish students falling into depression

COPENHAGEN (jv) -- Danish students are being pushed into depression by education reforms, according to the Red-Green Alliance opposition party. They say the reforms are forcing young people to make a quick decision about higher education, leading to many choosing the wrong path. Over the last ten years, there has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of students seeking counselling ... read more 11.05.2014

Romanian President pushes for regional university

TIMIȘOARA (yahoo) -- Romanian President, Traian Băsescu, is in talks to merge all universities in the Timișoara region, a large city in western Romania. The creation of large and powerful universities should allow Romania to compete internationally in research and education ... read more 12.05.2014

Few Crimean students turn to Ukrainian universities

CRIMEA (vn) -- The Ministry of Education in Ukraine has reported that about 2,000 (of 60,000) Crimean students have requested a transfer to Ukrainian universities through their hotlines. These students will be distributed in 124 universities on the mainland, the majority as first year students. This follows on from the numerous transfer requests received in March and April 2014 ... read more 08.05.2014

Greece: University administrators on strike

ATHENS (enet) -- The Greek federation for university administrators have announced a 48-hour strike on 13 and 14 May in an act of solidarity against redundancies and mobility issues ... read more 08.05.2014

European students condemn Spanish education minister

MADRID (ibercampus) -- The delegates of the 47 national members of the European Students Union (ESU) have condemned Spanish education minister, José Ignacio Wert, for not consulting students about the most important policies of higher education in his recent manifesto ... read more 08.05.2014

Education Minister slates Norwegian universities

OSLO (ua) -- Norway’s Minister for Education, Torbjørn Røe Isaksen, has expressed concern over the progress of higher education institutions, many of which are struggling to attract students and to publish research. He called for a restructuring of Norwegian higher education, which may lead to fewer institutions ... read more 07.05.2014

Spring for private universities in Germany

WIESBADEN (the local) -- Private German higher education providers saw a ten percent increase in applications reaching about 135,000 this year. However, 94 percent of students still prefer public institutions ... read more 7.5.14

Universities promote more drug research freedom

INTERNATIONAL (nature) -- Many drug researchers fear an increasing level of restriction on their early work by companies. Therefore universities are looking to further co-operate with these researchers as an alternative, by offering funding and the freedom to conduct experiments in a less restrictive manner ... read more 08.05.2014

Zagreb University in trouble over taxes

ZAGREB (jutarnji) -- The University of Zagreb in Croatia is under police investigation, following reports that three of their faculties have accumulated 46 million Kuna (6 million Euro) worth of tax debt ... read more 08.05.2014

Burgeoning market for MOOCs in France

PARIS (les echos) -- Universities in France have experienced success with online courses with their first MOOCs attracting 250,000 Francophones in three months. Universities are now looking to pool efforts and share production and marketing costs by creating joint platforms, such as UNF3S, which brings together 37 universities ... read more 07.05.2014

Milan university to teach degrees in English

MILAN (the local) -- The rector of Milan’s Polytechnic University, Giovanni Azzone, is pushing forward a plan for degree courses to be taught in English, although 150 professors rallied against the move and despite a previous Lombardy court ruling. 29 out of 36 courses will soon be taught in English ... read more 06.05.2014

Saxony-Anhalt students take to the streets

HALLE (tagesspiegel) -- Thousands of university students in Halle and Magdeburg, two of Germany’s oldest universities cities, are protesting against cutbacks to higher education, whilst other regions are looking to expand. State support is set to drop by 5 million Euro per year ... read more 05.05.2014

Denmark boosts basic research

COPENHAGEN (jv) -- The Danish government will allocate three billion Kroner (400 million Euro) to the National Research Foundation. The money will be used to create new Centres of Excellence and research labs by 2026 ... read more 5.5.14

New Serbian minister sets out plan

BELGRADE (kurir) -- Serbia’s new Minister of Education, Science and Technology Development, Srđana Verbič, chooses responsibility as his key word. Minister Verbič looks to use his new role in order to improve the national opinion of education, with cooperation a necessity for the future ... read more 06.05.2014

Bulgarian General to shake up university education

SOFIA (focus) -- Bulgarian General Simeon Simeonov wants to introduce military training into higher education institutions. The army official believes that military education will “contribute to the development of valuable orientation and adjustment towards patriotism, dignity, debt, honour and responsibility towards the country,” as he stated in an interview on the Day of Bravery and the Day of the Bulgarian Army … read more 06.05.2014

Polish science ministry mismanaged public funds

WARSAW (gazeta) -- The Polish science ministry improperly issued 7.5 million Złoty (1.8 million Euro) worth of university funds between 2010-2013, according to the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau. The money was intended for student scholarships and grants but was instead used for other purposes ... read more 05.05.2014

Romania struggles with brain drain

BUCHAREST (dr) -- Romania is facing a serious outward mobility problem, with 15 per cent of the population leaving the country in the last ten years. Young people are leaving due to poor job prospects ... read more 06.05.2014

First global protest against mainstream economic teaching

MANCHESTER (guardian) -- Economics students from 19 countries have joined forces to call for an overhaul of the way their subject is taught. The students, who have formed 41 protest groups in universities from Britain and the US to Brazil and Russia, say research and teaching in economics departments is too narrowly focused and more effort should be made to broaden the curriculum. They want courses to include analysis of the financial crash that so many economists failed to see coming, and say the discipline has become divorced from the real world ... read more 04.05.2014

New teaching app tested at German university

HOHENHEIM (uni) -- A German university is experimenting with smartphone apps for didactic purposes. A pilot project from the University of Hohenheim is seeking to link campus maps and news with teaching materials and other virtual tools for their students ... read more 05.05.2014

Russian rector fired for plagiarism

MOSCOW (moscow times) -- The science minister has fired the rector of the Russian State Social University, Lidia Fedyakina, after she was alleged to have heavily plagiarised her doctoral thesis ... read more 29.04.2014

More fees for foreign students in Austria?

VIENNA (presse) -- As the number of foreign students in Austria stands at an all-time high, universities demand more favourable immigration rules for their overseas graduates. Economic concerns over the fees charged to international students were also raised in a recent statement ... read more 04.05.2014

Costs drive UK students abroad

LONDON (new york times) -- A sharp rise in university fees has encouraged students in Britain to consider studying overseas, while worries about high costs and debt are deterring US students from going abroad, according to a study by the British Council ... read more 04.05.2014

Kazakh university corruption worth $100 million

ASTANA (tengri) -- Corruption in higher education in Kazakhstan has grown to $100 million per year, according to the science ministry. Minister Takir Balykbaev acknowledged that Kazakhstan’s university sector is not transparent ... read more 30.04.2014

Austrian budget swindles science?

VIENNA (der standard) -- Austria’s Budget for 2016-2018, announced Tuesday by Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger, has duped universities according to representatives from the Green Party. Universities will not receive any additional funds in this time, meaning, “basic research is frozen, and science and research are further starved” ... read more 29.04.2014

Turkey to change university entrance system

ANKARA (star gazete) -- The Turkish government is making changes to the way students are admitted to universities. Universities will be divided into three groups, each with different selection criteria. The aim is to provide a more precise evaluation of prospective students ... read more 29.04.2014

Open Access campaign shines a light on paywalls

LONDON (guardian) -- Since its launch last year, the Open Access Button project has tracked more than 6,500 paywalls that deny open access to scientific research. The campaign is now in a second phase, attempting to help people find alternative routes to blocked content ... read more 29.04.2014

Czech State to reduce research-business funding

PRAGUE (e15) -- The Czech State wants to slow down funding for the construction of new research centres, following a boom in R&D expenditure that lasted from 2005 to 2012. Although construction is subsidised by the EU, the costly job of operating and sustaining such centres is left to the State ... read more 30.04.2014

Slovaks have a taste for several careers

BRATISLAVA (sk) -- Slovaks seem to try their hand at a number of careers according to a survey by Focus. It reveals that almost 50 per cent of respondents work in a completely different field to what they studied and 40 per cent would still opt for a change in career ... read more 29.04.2014

Further weakening of Spanish universities

VALENCIA (las provincias) -- The Spanish government has put universities in an even worse position with spending cuts, fewer grants, more stringent academic requirements and fees that have increased by over a third in a year and a half. Rectors have now gone on the offensive with a manifesto denouncing such policies ... read more 30.04.2014

Lithuania doubles student numbers

VILNIUS (penki) -- The Education Ministry in Lithuania has made changes to the target funding for higher education studies, which will see twice as many students accepted compared to last year. The target funds will be allocated to specific specialist courses, such as the information, energy and agricultural sectors ... read more 29.04.2014

The future of higher education in Latvia

RIGA (reitingi) -- In order to secure a successful future, Latvia needs to focus on academic exchanges, the development of humanities and scientific progress involving clusters, universities and business incubators, according to Mārcis Auziņš, rector at the University of Latvia ... read more 28.04.2014

Serbian education in crisis

BELGRADE (24sata) -- Serbia’s newly appointed Education Minister, Srdjan Verbić, believes that their education sector is in crisis, with students only learning for exams rather than for knowledge. He calls on the need to increase the responsibility of all stakeholders, not just those paid to work in education ... read more 28.04.2014

Corruption allegations in Kazakhstan

ASTANA (tumba) -- Shadow turnover in the higher education system of Kazakhstan may exceed 72 million Euro a year according to reports from the Ministry of Education. The Ministry has called university management “opaque and unaccountable”, citing corruption in many areas ... read more 29.04.2014

Czech universities turn to South Korea

PRAGUE (pl) -- Czech universities are looking to strengthen cooperation with South Korean counterparts, in an attempt to increase student and teacher exchanges as well as developing joint research projects. They hope to capitalise on the “diligence and tenacity” with which Korean students approach their studies ... read more 28.04.2014

Bulgaria lagging behind in education

SOFIA (sn) -- Bulgaria lags behind in educational reform and has not absorbed enough European funding into the sector, according to George Valtchev, of the civil initiative for Bulgarian revival. He suggests the introduction of a dual professional training system ... read more 28.04.2014

Scholarships proving problematic for Spanish students

MADRID (nt) -- Students in Madrid called for a demonstration to protest delays and possible cuts in scholarships, which has lead to a feeling of uncertainty. They have asked for an urgent meeting with the Minister to establish a State Emergency Plan, which will ensure that no student is expelled for financial reasons ... read more 27.04.2014

Ukrainian students picket Russian Embassy in Belgium

KIEV (pohlyad) -- Students of Ukrainian descent gathered in the Russian Embassy in Belgium on Saturday to protest against Russian aggression towards Ukraine. They urged governments to resort to diplomatic mechanisms for interference ... read more 27.04.2014

Kosovo’s diaspora unmoved by ‘brain gain’ fund

PRISTINA (scidev) -- Kosovo’s 600,000 Euro ‘Brain Gain Grant’ programme, aimed at rebuilding research and teaching by supporting experts’ return to the country, has proved unsuccessful. The scheme has had no eligible applications since it began four years ago, possibly due to low pay and the unstable political and economic situation ... read more 24.04.2014

Danish students warn against elitist track

COPENHAGEN (jv) -- The Danish Students’ Confederation has warned against the trend towards an elitist track in the country’s universities, which they fear will create A and B programmes. This follows the government’s decision to allow institutions to make special offers, such as talent programmes, to elite students ... read more 25.04.2014

Italy subject to further education cuts

ROME (corriere) -- Italy’s Education Minister, Stefania Giannini, has announced a new bout of “savings” in higher education, that will result in funding cuts of 15 million Euro ... read more 24.04.2014

Go-ahead for major HE reforms in Finland

HELSINKI (iltalehti) -- The Finnish State has revealed a major higher education reform that will see a new kind of applied sciences universities. These universities will be formed as limited companies, in an aim to increase workplace orientation and create business ... read more 23.04.2014

Ireland braces itself for radical reforms

DUBLIN (bbc news) -- The Irish education minister, Ruairi Quinn, has met with harsh criticism by higher education teachers. They oppose his ideas to introduce courses that run on a 12-month cycle, merge institutions and increase the minimum requirements for teachers ... read more 23.04.2014

Bulgarian State enters university management

SOFIA (actualno) -- The Bulgarian government will increase its participation in university management as part of a new higher education strategy. A Board is supposed to monitor the way in which universities spend state subsidies ... read more 23.04.2014

Romania and France secure cooperation

BUCHAREST (rfi) -- Romanian-French relations are more intense than ever thanks to a growing number of French students choosing to study in Romania. Their medical universities are proving most popular amongst the French, with some even offering studies in the French language ... read more 23.04.2014

Scottish universities quit employers’ federation in protest

EDINBURGH (guardian) -- Three of Scotland’s leading universities have quit the employers’ group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), following CBI’s decision to register as an anti-independence campaign for September’s referendum. The decision conflicts with the universities’ need to remain neutral in the independence debate ... read more 21.04.2014

Universities in Milan say no to paper

MILAN (milanotoday) -- Milanese universities have rolled out a new initiative to reduce the amount of paper used and to streamline bureaucratic procedures. Under the scheme, exams will be verbalised and books and reports will no longer be printed but will instead be available online ... read more 23.04.2014

Slovenia launches scheme to open up education

BRUSSELS (europa) -- Slovenia has adopted a new initiative, ‘Opening up Slovenia’, as a part of a national strategy to promote open educational resources. The aim is to make the most of the opportunities created by digitisation and new technologies ... read more 22.04.2014

Poland to enfranchise scientists

WARSAW (natemat) -- The Polish science ministry may enfranchise scientists as a solution to the ‘shockingly poor co-operation between business and science.’ The initiative would transfer property rights to the researchers in an aim to increase motivation and commercialise research ... read more 23.04.2014

Slow Dutch students may lose credits

AMSTERDAM (punt) -- The Dutch government may start to subtract university credits from students who are taking too long to finish their degree. They hope it will motivate students and solve the problem of aging knowledge ... read more 

Belgian universities face underfunding

LEUVEN (rtbf) -- The Catholic University of Leuven (UCL) has accused the government of Belgium’s French community, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, of under-subsidising students following a merger. If successful, the university will gain an additional 14 million Euro by 2016 ... read more 23.04.2014

Too few leading women in Danish research

COPENHAGEN (information) -- Denmark is lagging behind when it comes to the proportion of female professors, placing 17th out of the 24 EU member states. Initiatives, such as the ‘Younger women devoted to a university career’ (YDUN) programme, try to help women ... read more 22.04.2014

Russia to offer creative degrees for free

MOSCOW (en) -- The Russian government has prepared a draft decree that will offer students a second degree in a creative field, such as film or composition, free of charge, funded by the State ... read more 22.04.2014

Swedes paying off debt well into retirement

STOCKHOLM (the local) -- The Swedish government is moving further away from its social-democratic legacy by making student loans more expensive. It is planned to scrap the 25-year span for repayment and to double the fee for late payment reminders. The reforms will likely see Swedes paying the money back well into retirement ... read more

Red alert for research in Bologna

BOLOGNA (cdb) -- The Emilia Romagna region in Northern Italy is at risk of losing 560 research contracts and large amounts of funding due to a lack of resources to renew negotiations with the European Union and delays in actions ... read more 22.04.2014

Greece shows the door to ‘eternal’ students

ATHENS (pathfinder) -- The Ministry of Education in Greece has introduced a new law that states that students admitted before 2006 must get their degree within a year or risk losing their student status. 180,000 students have already been removed ... read more 22.04.2014

Spanish government owes universities billions

TENERIFE (eldia) -- According to the rectors’ conference in Spain, the Spanish government is in debt by more than 2.2 billion Euro worth of committed capital and investments to universities all over the country ... read more 22.04.2014

Reflections on the tech sector in Ireland

DUBLIN (rte) -- Ireland is entering a golden age of innovation with a booming technology sector according to Will Goodbody, who recounts his first year working as a Science and Technology Correspondent for RTE ... read more 10.04.2014

Rankings for European digital competitiveness

LOUVAIN (in) -- Munich, London and Paris are the top three most dynamic regions in digital technology in Europe, a new study finds. Among the keys to success is access to the best universities and major research centres as well as funding opportunities such as venture capital ... read more 14.04.2014

How the top UK universities use Twitter

LONDON (THE) -- UK universities are mainly using Twitter accounts to broadcast university specific and industry news and do not generally interact with others, with the exception of Manchester University, according to a new analysis by Brandwatch ... read more 15.04.2014

Swiss students find solace in Africa

BERN (20min) -- After several top European universities, including Cambridge and Sorbonne, have rejected a student exchange with Switzerland, Swiss universities are now looking to alternatives in Africa and Asia. The University of Basel is already in talks with universities in Cape Town and China ... read more 13.04.2014

Slovenia rise up against new higher education laws

LJUBLJANA (mladina) -- The Student Society Initiative in Slovenia has called for a protest against a new law that will introduce tuition fees for students who fall short of entry conditions and those who cannot complete their studies within a given time limit ... read more 14.04.2014

Austria launches 17 new Research Studios

VIENNA (ots) -- Austria’s science minister, Reinhold Mitterlehner, has launched 17 new Research Studios, or temporary applied sciences associations. The studios will support the production of innovative prototypes as well as increasing the efficiency of applying and implementing research results ... read more 16.4.14

Brutal staff cuts endanger Italian universities

ROME (il manifesto) -- Structural cuts, a reduction in hiring and the lowering of the retirement age will cause the number of university professors in Italy to drop to only 9000 by 2018 according to the National University Council ... read more 15.04.2014

Belgian universities concerned for embryo research

BRUSSELS (rtl) -- Rectors of Flemish universities in Belgium have voiced concerns about consequences on future scientific progress if a ban on funding for scientific research that destroys human embryonic stem cells is put in place by the European Commission ... read more 10.04.2014

Norway: Open access improves university accountability

OSLO (science20) -- Norway could achieve a competitive advantage in the European context through higher compliance with open access publishing requirements according to Curt Rice, head of the Board at the Current Research Information System ... read more 15.04.2014

Finns are “over-educated underperformers”

HELSINKI (ht) -- A major problem of the Finnish economy is that young people are over-educated, according to renowned professor Bengt Holmström. “Young people should get into working life sooner. For many, studies could end in a Bachelor’s degree, and the Master’s thesis should be abolished,” he proposes ... read more 14.04.2014

Latvian education ministry fights for student loans

RIGA (nra) -- Aware of the reluctance of Latvian banks to lend to students, the Latvian Ministry of Education is pushing for an amendment to loan legislation. They hope the change will see eligible students enrolled in state-accredited programmes gain access ... read more 12.04.2014

Parisian students protest against merger

PARIS (mce) -- Students and staff at the University of Paris 8 have gone on strike, in protest against the planned merger of their university with that of Nanterre. They claim the merger would see the closure of courses, a reduction in student rights, and several cutbacks ... read more 13.04.2014

German student wins case to attend Swiss university

BERN (nzz) -- A German student has won a study place in Switzerland by going to the Federal Court for help after being turned down by two Swiss universities due to insufficient grades. The Swiss fear that this will endanger the quality of education ... read more 13.04.2014

Luxembourg: Students go on the offensive

LUXEMBOURG CITY (tageblatt) -- Students and student organisations in Luxembourg are planning to strike on April 25 against proposed budget cuts that will see state study aid considerably reduced ... read more 13.03.2014

Malta: Student data requests may breach laws

VALLETTA (malta independent) -- A legal notice authorising Maltese Education Minister, Evarist Bartolo, to request personal data on students from educational institutions may be in breach of European and even national laws. Student information can only be handed out if it is in the subject’s interest and with consent ... read more 12.04.2014

German universities to offer sample study courses

THURINGIA (mdr) -- The German parliament has passed a new law allowing universities in Thuringia to offer sample study courses to students who do not hold the necessary qualifications, such as a high school diploma, but instead have at least three years of work experience. After a maximum of three semesters, the university must then decide whether the student can continue the course ... read more 10.04.2014

Italy: Sword of Damocles hangs over entrance test

ROME (gdm) -- Investigations are being carried out in Italy following reports that an envelope containing the entrance exams for medical university was tampered with. An envelope in Puglia was missing one exam and was sealed differently from others, which suggests theft and could lead to the withdrawal of the test all over Italy ... read more 10.04.2014

Swiss universities find costly alternative to Erasmus

BERN (der bund) -- The University of Bern in Switzerland is attempting to organise individual exchange agreements for students hoping to study abroad. This is a temporary but very costly and highly bureaucratic solution to Switzerland’s expulsion from the Erasmus programme. However, Swiss universities still face being blacklisted by other countries, which are rejecting bilateral agreements, for example, Spain and the UK ... read more 11.04.2014

Sweden creates meeting point for research

UPPSALA (unt) -- Sweden’s Uppsala University has opened a new ‘hub’ as part of the SciLifeLab research centre, which will act as a national meeting point to facilitate meetings and joint problem solving. The aim is to provide and share technical resources and expertise from across the country ... read more 09.04.2014

Mutual recognition for Ukraine and Slovakia

KIEV (un) -- Ukraine and Slovakia have arranged the mutual recognition of education documents, including certificates, examinations and internships. The agreement will equate qualifications in each country, allowing for greater mobility in both directions ... read more 10.04.2014

Danish universities need to modernise

COPENHAGEN (jv) -- Universities in Denmark need to transform current education methods and adapt them to today’s students, according to Hanne Leth Andersen, chairman of the Danish Network for Educational Development in Higher Education. Some universities, such as Aarhus University, are already moving away from old-fashioned lectures, engaging students with smartphones and tablets ... read more 10.04.2014

Funders punish open-access dodgers

INTERNATIONAL (nature) -- Two of the world’s largest research funders, the US National Institutes of Health and the UK's Wellcome Trust, are now withholding grant money from researchers who do not make publications openly available. The policy has seen an increase in researchers following the rules, with the Wellcome Trust’s compliance rate rising by 14 per cent since 2012 ... read more 9.4.

World-renowned Polish scientist accused of plagiarism

WARSAW (pch24) -- Zygmunt Bauman, a prominent scientist from Poland, has been accused of plagiarism by Peter Walsh, a student from the University of Cambridge. Bauman strongly denies having copied statements available on Wikipedia without fully citing them in one of his books ... read more 8.4.2014

MedCity creates UK science ‘golden triangle’

LONDON (bbc news) -- Mayor Boris Johnson has launched MedCity, a new research initiative aimed at strengthening links between hospitals, universities and businesses in South East England. He claims that the ‘golden triangle’ of London, Oxford and Cambridge could host the “world’s most powerful life sciences research” ... read more 08.04.2014

Western science severs ties with Russia

INTERNATIONAL (nature) -- Scientific relations between Russia and the West have reached a low point after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and NASA both cut ties with Russia last week. If Russia were to push any further into Ukraine, cutbacks on all sorts of academic exchange programmes and scientific collaborations would inevitably follow ... read more 08.04.2014

Belarus and UK sign memorandum of understanding

MINSK (belTA) -- The Belarusian Education Ministry and the UK Association of Business Executives (ABE) have signed an agreement that will work towards the conformance of the two education systems. Belarus will be granted the ability to get education certificates recognised while the UK will develop its business ... read more 09.04.2014

French academics disappointed with new Secretary of State

PARIS (rlt) -- Former Higher Education Minister in France, Geneviève Fioraso, has been appointed Secretary of State in the same position despite a petition by over 8,000 academics contesting this decision. They blame Fioraso for their deteriorating working conditions and regard her university and research policies as failures ... read more 09.04.2014

Greek families fork out thousands for university preparation

ATHENS (greek reporter) -- Despite the harsh financial crisis, Greek families are estimated to be paying at least 14,000 Euro to prepare their children for entrance examinations to universities, particularly spending on extra curricular tutoring and foreign language classes ... read more 06.04.2014

Universities ‘challenged’ by globalisation

EUROPE (research) -- Universities are struggling to incorporate the skill sets needed to cope with the challenges of globalisation in their teaching and research, according to the European University Association’s annual conference. Institutions need to offer alternatives to the traditional full-time classroom degree and teach skill sets such as leadership, business practice and intercultural understanding ... read more 04.04.2014

UK to build new universities in ‘cold spots’

LONDON (telegraph) -- David Willets, the UK’s Universities Minister, will create new university campuses in areas identified as higher education ‘cold spots’, such as county towns and coastal resorts. The plan is aimed at increasing the number of school leavers attending university as well as boosting local economies ... read more 04.04.2014

USA funds Creationism and pseudoscience with $1 billion

SAN DIEGO (tvm) -- Nearly $1 billion in public funds will be handed to hundreds of private schools in the United States that teach creationism as science this year. These schools promulgate the ideas that the earth is less than 10,000 years old and that mankind existed simultaneously with the dinosaurs. Unfortunately, movements are afoot to expand these programs ... read more

Open access ‘leads to higher research paper correction rate’

LONDON (THE) -- Discussing potential flaws in peer-reviewed research online can lead to a higher rate of corrections to the scientific record, according to a study ... read more 03.04.2014

China counts on closer research cooperation with Europe

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Housing and higher wages to stop Russian brain drain

MOSCOW (rian) -- “If we confine ourselves to solely academic goals, like international university rankings, we will face a brain drain,“ said Viktor Tolokonsky during the All-Russian Forum of Young Scientists in Tomsk. “We should create better conditions so that our young scientists are motivated to build their career here in the country,” he added ... read more 02.04.2014

Belgian girl works as prostitute to pay studies

BRUSSELS (rtl) -- A former student from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) admitted working as a prostitute to pay her tuition. “Hearing this kind of thing, I find it surprising, but there are many people for whom it might be the only way to pay for housing or education,” said one student. This year, 8,000 students applied for financial support at the ULB. A figure that is increasing ... read more 03.04.2014

New minister to foster university concentration in France

PARIS (educpros) -- The French science ministry wants to restructure the national higher education landscape in a way that only 30 administrative centres remain. The institutions have to merge or engage in partnerships. The new minister in charge of universities will be Benoît Hamon who replaces Geneviève Fioraso in a cabinet reshuffle. Hamon, member of the Socialist Party (PS), is a historian and former professor of European economy in Paris ... read more 02.04.2014

UK universities’ contribution to economy rises 25%

LONDON (FT) -- Universities add £73bn to the country’s economy, an increase of nearly a quarter in five years, research has shown ... read more 01.04.2014

Rankings and Bologna Process in CIS countries

MINSK (belTA) -- In a university rating in the former Soviet Republics, Lomonossov University in Moscow and the Belarus State University in Minsk were the two best among 153 institutions. The main trend in the CIS was the transition to a two-tier scheme “bachelor - master”, consistent with the Bologna Process ... read more 03.04.2014

National student protest in Belgium

ANTWERP (le vif) -- Across Belgium, students are taking to the streets in protest against the underfunding of higher education. Looking ahead to the national elections on May 25, they demand quality education for all, a more knowledge-oriented education rather than one for the labour market, housing for students at democratic prices, full funding of higher education, an adequate budget for infrastructures, a stop to wrangling between institutions, that library schedules and study spaces be adapted and finally club facilities for all students ... read more 01.04.2014

Finnish universities given incentive to find private financing

HELSINKI (yle) -- The Finnish government will encourage universities to source private funding for themselves by promising three Euro to every self-acquired Euro ... read more 01.04.2014

Slovenian education minister cleared of corruption allegations

LJUBLJANA (demokracija) -- Jernej Pikalo will remain Slovenia’s education minister following a vote on his dismissal. The vote came about after the opposition accused Pikalo of irregularities and corruption in a Ministry of Education’s Civic Education public tender in 2009 ... read more 31.03.2014

Austria’s ‘homemade’ brain drain

VIENNA (nzz) -- Austria is experiencing a massive brain drain, with 25,000 Austrians moving away in the past decade and only 15,000 coming back. This is due to poor incentives to return, high taxes, uncompetitive wages, low funding, a demographic imbalance and a lack of courage to reform ... read more 01.04.2014

Troika attempts to divide and manipulate Greek students

ATHENS (enetenglish) -- The Troika has intervened at Greek universities in order to favour politically adapted students. Officials at the education ministry in Athens, who have been presented with a rough outline of the Troika proposals, say certain students would be able to earn their degree within a year provided they sign up to a pledge committing themselves to market reforms and increased competiveness ... read more 01.04.2014 (An April Fool)

Danish scientists feel shackled by University Act

COPENHAGEN (information) -- Researchers in Denmark are criticising university research policy, claiming it gives too much power to individual department heads. These managers reportedly use threats, verbal assaults and continually redefine rules and deadlines to push out the employees they no longer want ... read more 01.04.2014

Ireland rejects European Students’ Union

DUBLIN (university times) -- Irish students are claming that the European Students’ Union (ESU) is not only costly, but also lacking in “meaningful consequences”. As a result, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union will propose a motion that would see their separation from ESU ... read more 31.03.2014

UK revises open access policy

LONDON (wellcome) -- The UK’s newest open access policy, published on 31st March, will force all UK-based researchers in receipt of public funding to make their research outputs open access ... read more 31.03.2014

Belarus President proposes single scientific body

MINSK (belTA) -- Belarus President, Alexander Lukashenko, wants to develop a single scientific regulatory body, for example the Education and Science Ministry, in order to improve the state management and budgeting for science ... read more 01.04.2014

Protesting Italian students risk 15 years of prison

MILAN (tgcom) -- In 2008, students have occupied the Università Statale, Milan’s biggest university. Today, the process against 19 students accused of looting and vandalism has terminated. They could be punished with 8-15 years of imprisonment ... read more 27.03.2014

Spanish university group cooperates with Euronews

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (ep) -- The Spanish university association Grupo Compostela de Universidades and the French broadcasting company Euronews SA want to improve online learning opportunities together. Their first joint action will be an international student video competition with the participation of 19 universities in 11 countries ... read more 26.03.2014

Public-Private university cooperation in Portugal

LISBON (universia) -- The engineering school ISEL in Lisbon has signed a memorandum of partnership with Universidade Europeia, a branch campus of the U.S. education corporation Laureate International Universities. Joint research projects and other activities are planned ... read more 27.03.2014

Elsevier blocks road to open access

LONDON (THE) -- Publishing house Elsevier seems to persist in its sabotage of the progress towards open access, following reports of charging people to reuse articles published with open licences ... read more 27.03.2014

Spanish student protests continue

MADRID (the local) -- Students in Madrid occupied offices at a top university in protest against spending cuts and fee rises. Over fifty students have been arrested for putting up barricades and burning bins ... read more 26.03.2014

EU enhances university engagement in Africa

BRUSSELS (europa) -- The European Commission hopes to double the scope of the Africa-EU ‘tuning’ scheme from 60 to 120 African universities by 2015. The scheme, launched in 2011, aims to improve competences, degree relevance, and the recognition of qualifications ... read more 26.03.2014

Professor sacked for criticising Russia’s Crimea policy

MOSCOW (enca) -- One of Russia’s most prestigious universities is facing accusations of “political censorship” after it sacked a prominent professor. Andrei Zubov, professor for philosophy, compared Russia’s takeover of Crimea to Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria ... read more 25.03.2014

Hungarian opposition promises free tuition

BUDAPEST (politics) -- In the run up to the Hungarian elections set to take place on April 6 this year, five-party opposition Unity alliance turns to students, promising free tuition to undergraduates ... read more 25.03.2014

Polish Academy of Sciences under fire

WARSAW (gazeta) -- The Polish Academy of Sciences is under investigation following suspicions of irregularities in bookkeeping, unreliable data transfer to the science ministry and overdue subsidies ... read more 25.03.2014

Germans against Kissinger professorship

BONN (amerika21) -- The University of Bonn’s civil initiative against the planned professorship for Henry Kissinger has already received over 300 signatures from numerous organisations and prominent scientists. Opponents say the professorship would be “intolerable” considering Kissinger’s role in the bombings of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in 1973. The initiative also rejects the co-financing of the professorship by the Federal Ministry of Defence ... read more 24.03.2014

Call for European reform convention

VIENNA (ots) -- Othmar Kara, Vice President of the European Parliament, wants to hold a convention on the further development of the EU following the elections in 2015, on the 200th anniversary of the Congress of Vienna. He hopes all educational institutions, universities and civil society will participate in creating reforms to invest in education ... read more 24.03.2014

Swiss universities stake their claim

BERN (le nouvelliste) -- Swiss universities are demanding that they be included in future decisions on quotas, following Switzerland’s vote to restrict mass immigration in February, which led to their exclusion from the Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 programmes ... read more 23.03.2014

UK student loans face ‘timebomb’

LONDON (bbc) -- The UK coalition government is facing a growing deficit according to forecasts that 45 per cent of university graduates would not earn enough to repay student loans ... read more 24.03.2014

Dublin builds city flats for students

DUBLIN (irish mirror) -- A student housing project in Dublin is to become the biggest construction scheme in the city this year. When finished it will provide an extra 1000m² of enterprise office space for the inner city technology enterprise centre as well as apartments for 470 students ... read more 24.03.2014

Scotland: Student recruitment warning

EDINBURGH (herald) -- Scottish universities are concerned that it will be harder to recruit lucrative fee-paying students from the rest of the UK from next year, which may lead to a funding deficit. This follows news that universities in England will no longer face restrictions on student recruitment numbers ... read more 25.03.2014

Polish universities strengthen ties with Ukraine

WARSAW (gazeta) -- Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, the Polish education minister, is increasing efforts to support Ukraine through further cooperation schemes. This includes the launch of an intervention pool of scholarships for Ukrainian students who were expelled during the riots ... read more 18.03.2014

Low student workload in Norway

OSLO (norway post) -- There is “no culture for hard work among Norwegian students”, complains University of Oslo professor Bernt Hagtvedt. With an average of 29 hours per week, he claims Norwegian students study much less than in other countries ... read more 24.03.2014

Denmark to review scientific fraud rules

COPENHAGEN (jv) -- Danish education minister, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, has asked officers to conduct an international comparison of research guidelines. Her aim is the drafting of a new ‘code of integrity in research’ ... read more 23.02.2014

Europe faces research divide

EUROPE (science business) -- The innovation and knowledge divide in Europe is increasing according to a new report. Industry orientated advisors recommend revising policies to bridge the divide and expand Europe’s international collaboration footprint ... read more 20.03.2014

Russia to set up federal university in Crimea

MOSCOW (voice of russia) -- Russia has announced plans to create a tenth federal university in Crimea a year from now. The aim is to unify higher education institutions and expand higher education programmes, which is expected to involve several mergers ... read more 19.03.2014

German government divided on federal science funding

BERLIN (welt) -- The governing coalition of the Social and the Christian Democratic Party have come out of hibernation. A fierce debate has ensued on how to spend nine billion Euros of federal funds, waiting to be used for research and education in the hands of the finance minister. The hot topic: If the money goes to the federal states, how will it be spent? ... read more 17.03.2014

Italy: University drop out rate reaches all time high

ROME (the local) -- A report by educational agency Anvur has found that 40 per cent of students that enrol in an Italian university fail to graduate in their chosen course, choosing instead to switch courses or drop out altogether. Anvur puts the high figure down to the difficulty students have in moving from school to university life ... read more 19.03.2014

Male Finns fall back in higher education

HELSINKI (ht) -- In Finland, women have overtaken men in the race for degrees. The gender gap has widened by over 17 per cent in the 30-34 age bracket, with one in two women holding a higher education degree compared to less than one in three men ... read more 20.03.2014

Third level fees cut for Irish emigrants’ children

DUBLIN (irish times) -- Irish minister for education, Ruairí Quinn, has announced that children of Irish emigrants will now pay much lower fees if they return to Ireland for university. Citizens of the European Union who spend five or more years in primary or post primary school in Ireland will also be entitled to lower fees ... read more 18.03.2014

France boosts student entrepreneurship

PARIS (e-orientations) -- The French Education Ministry has launched several new projects aimed at promoting student entrepreneurship and supporting student projects. They hope to increase competitiveness by promoting project management training, creativity and risk taking ... read more 18.03.2014

Swiss research partners run in fear

BERN (le temps) -- Swiss research partners have abandoned projects with Switzerland following the European Union's decision to freeze EU-Swiss talks. The first reported case is the EPFL transport centre, which removed Switzerland from its consortium, fearing that Swiss presence could derail its EU funding ... read more 17.03.2014

Norway: State funds new student housing

OSLO (news in english) -- Norway’s education minister, Torbjørn Røe Isaksen, has agreed to allocate 359 million Norwegian Krone (43 million Euro) to help fund student housing projects around the country. Currently, more than 14,000 students are on waiting lists for state-subsidised housing ... read more 17.03.2014

Dutch minister calls for open access

AMSTERDAM (utnieuws) -- Henk Kamp, Dutch minister of economic affairs, has stressed the need for scientists to share their research with companies in order to improve innovation and entrepreneurship. He even suggests changing science law to force open access publishing ... read more 18.03.2014

EU-US free trade ‘threatens’ European education quality

EUROPE (euroactiv) -- The European Students’ Union (ESU) has raised concerns over the EU-US trade deal, demanding that education be excluded entirely from negotiations. They worry that public education could be treated as an ordinary economic service, which would lead to increased commercialisation and privatisation ... read more 17.03.2014

Renowned scientists petition for Austrian budget

VIENNA (der standard) -- Many distinguished scientists have signed a petition asking that Austrian science minister Reinhard Mitterlehner's budget demands for 1.6 billion Euro be met. The money would be used to expand universities, improve student-teacher ratios and protect research funding amongst other things ... read more 17.03.2014

Swedish U-turn on cuts to student grants

STOCKHOLM (the local) -- The Swedish government has pulled back from a much-criticized proposal to cut student grants, a budget saving that they will now make up for with even higher alcohol taxes ... read more 14.03.2014

Helsinki University faces security threats

HELSINKI (yle) -- Helsinki University has launched three criminal investigations following suspicions of a planned explosives attack, the stabbing of a lecturer and the sudden death of a researcher in an on-campus laboratory ... read more 14.03.2014

GM lobby plays the ‘science card’ against the EU

LONDON (science) -- British researchers are criticising the EU on its approval process on the use of genetically modified (GM) crops, claiming it is “influenced by political considerations that do not have a scientific basis.” This is not the first time that British GM researchers have complained about EU red tape ... read more 13.03.2014

Turkey: Green light for politically motivated school closure

ANKARA (reuters) -- Turkish President Abdullah Gul approved the law closing private preparatory schools, many of which are a source of income and influence for an Islamic cleric accused by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of seeking to topple him ... read more 12.03.2014

UK universities whimper over training schemes

LONDON (telegraph) -- UK universities feel threatened by on-the-job training schemes offered to school leavers, according to David Bell, vice-chancellor of Reading University. Such schemes are seen as “an attractive option to 18 year olds who want a good wage without being saddled with debt” ... read more 16.03.2014

Crimean universities cautious to take sides

CRIMEA (dailybeast) -- Crimeans have voted in a contentious referendum on whether or not to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. But the region’s universities decline even to discuss what the ramifications will be for the region after breaking with Ukraine. “No one wants to risk their tenure or promotion by speaking out of turn,” confides a senior professor from the Crimean Economic Institute of Kiev ... read more 15.03.2014

Dutch universities lure UK students

THE HAGUE (the australian) -- Dutch universities are scrambling to attract British students by offering low-cost degrees taught in English. British teenagers are also being lured with low admission thresholds and the chance to graduate with international experience ... read more 14.03.2014

Nations chasing Harvard merge colleges to ascend rankings

INTERNATIONAL (chicago tribune) -- Ten miles from King Louis XIV’s Palace of Versailles, twenty colleges and research institutes are combining to create Universite Paris-Saclay, soon to be one of France’s largest universities. Countries from Finland to Portugal are shaping their higher education policies based on outside rankings, eager for the validation and attention the annual lists bestow ... read more 15.03.2014

Possibility of open access fee threshold

LONDON (the) -- Research funders worried about high open access fees charged by “hybrid” journals- subscription journals that allow authors to pay to make their articles open access- could refuse to pay fees above a set threshold or only pay a certain proportion of fees, a report suggests ... read more 12.03.2014

Finland reforms research funding policy

HELSINKI (svenska) -- The Finnish government is preparing a comprehensive reform on research institutions and research funding ahead of the next general election. The reform will see greater political control over research with the creation of a new strategic council for research with state-appointed members and state-determined guidelines ... read more 10.03.2014

Denmark debates elitism at universities

COPENHAGEN (information) -- Copenhagen University will increase the minimum grade requirement for school leavers hoping to go to university. Whilst academics believe this will improve professionalism and eliminate the mass production of graduates, Jacob Ruggaard, president of the Danish Students’ Union, believes it will lead to an elitism that sieves out talented prospective students ... read more 10.03.2014

High-tech park to be built in Bulgaria

SOFIA (media pool) -- The Bulgarian government is funding 50 million Euro project to build “Sofia Tech Park”. The park will include a laboratory complex to create new technologies and innovative products, an interactive museum to present these products, an innovation forum to discuss results and a business incubator to help develop start-ups ... read more 12.03.2014

Student dissenters unite in Bern, Switzerland

BERN (der bund) -- Students have formed a right-wing political party at the University of Bern to fight left-winged politicisation. The group wants to ensure that the university fulfils its bridging function between French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland as well as finding alternative exchange programmes to Erasmus ... read more 11.03.2014

Germany deepens cooperation with Russian universities

BONN (bildungsklick) -- The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is building an information centre in Kazan, Russia. The centre will provide information and advice on funding opportunities from the DAAD for Russian students, academics and researchers, and will organise interdisciplinary meetings, conferences and seminars ... read more 11.03.2014

Slovakia invests millions in online courses

BRATISLAVA (ekonomika) -- Slovakian Education Minister, Dušan Čaplovič, has allocated 28 million Euro to the creation of e-learning courses, ranging from breeding goats and sheep to facial massage. The courses are designed to give around 5000 people the chance to retrain without giving up their jobs ... read more 11.03.2014

New research network for Serbia

BELGRADE (rts) -- 50 young scientists from Serbia and other EU states have formed a research network in Belgrade that will last three years. The idea is to connect young researchers from varying disciplines in the hopes of rejuvenating scientific staff and creating innovation incentives ... read more 11.03.2014

Tackling youth unemployment in Bulgaria

SOFIA (tech news) -- The Bulgarian government will launch this year an EU subsidised programme called “First Job”, aimed at tackling youth unemployment. The programme will help graduates who have been unable to find a job for four months by giving them temporary subsidised employment ... read more 11.03.2014

Austria seeks private university funding

VIENNA (kurier) -- Following Austria’s poor performance in recent university rankings, Science Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner is looking to break new ground by bringing in private funds to co-finance universities and research. Universities are estimated to need around one billion Euro in order to maintain their status quo ... read more 08.03.2014

New Spanish university reform in the works

MADRID (la informacion) -- The Secretary of State for Education in Spain, Montserrat Gomendio, has announced a planned reform on the regulation of universities. Included in the reform are new and improved assessment systems that will measure scientific production, the quality of teaching and knowledge transfer to companies ... read more 10.03.2014

Swiss students stand up against EU

LAUSANNE (20 minutes) -- 200 Swiss students have piled up stacks of laboratory equipment, computers and textbooks outside a learning centre in Lausanne in protest of Switzerland’s exclusion from Erasmus and Horizon 2020. The protesters wanted to show their disagreement with the EU’s decision and demonstrate what will be lost ... read more 10.03.2014

UK universities risk losing right to sponsor foreign students

LONDON (guardian) -- More than 100 universities and higher education institutions face losing their right to sponsor overseas students under a fresh drive by Home Office minister James Brokenshire to arrest the latest unexpected rise in net migration to Britain ... read more 06.03.2014

Russia: plans for new university consortium

ULYANOVSK (73online) -- Russian governor Sergey Morozov has announced a new agreement to be signed in late March between scientific and educational institutions in the Ulyanovsk region. The main objectives of the research community will be to increase innovation and the quality of scientific education and training ... read more 10.03.2014

New student ‘think tank’ in France

PARIS (le monde) -- The National Front, a French nationalist party, has created a new student collective called Marianne. The group, which wants to be platform for youth discussions and proposals rather than a student union, denounces the “massification of higher education and the depreciation in the value of degrees” ... read more 10.03.2014

Ukraine: New education minister at the helm

KIEV (tsn) -- The newly elected Minister of Education for Ukraine, Serhiy Kvit, wants to merge the Ministry of Education and the National Academy of Sciences. He hopes the merger would better develop national science ... read more 04.03.2014

Estonian universities to become more demanding

TALLINN (err) -- Estonia’s science minister Jaak Aaviksoo has signed a memorandum aimed at improving the quality of universities. “We need to raise the requirements for admission to universities and increase demands for the entire period of training to ensure that all students are receiving a decent education,” he said ... read more 04.03.2014

Asylum for Ukrainian students in Poland

KRAKOW (dp) -- Krakow universities are waiting for the education ministry’s approval of a new scheme that would adopt free studies for young people from Ukraine, stricken with the military conflict with Russia. “It would be a great investment and advertising for the university,” said Wiesław Banyś, chairman of the Polish rectors' conference ... read more 06.03.2014

Danish U-turn on English language stance

COPENHAGEN (university post) -- Danish education minister, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, has gone back on her suggestion from 2011 that Danish universities declare English as their corporate language. Back then she argued that international talent was systematically being kept out by the language barrier. Now, she said, she will still go as far as she can go in promoting internationalisation, but without making English obligatory ... read more 03.03.2014

Lithuania increases doctorate funding

VILNIUS (balsas) -- Lithuania’s government has approved a proposal to increase state funding for doctorates by 10 per cent, with a strong focus on biomedical, natural and technological sciences ... read more 05.03.2014

Serbia: students rise up against tuition fees

BELGRADE (e-novine) -- Serbia’s student union has invited students to protest against the education ministry’s recent proposal to increase tuition fees. The union has said in a statement that they are fighting for the rights of students and they want to show a categorical disagreement with this proposal ... read more 04.03.2014

London students rally against police presence on campus

LONDON (independent) -- Students stormed the University of London on Friday in protest against police presence on campus and university management’s plans for the union. Demonstrators were calling for vice chancellor Adrian Smith to be sacked. The protest comes after months of demonstrations on similar matters, which started at the end of last year ... read more 03.03.2014

Indians discover Germany

MUMBAI (dna india) -- Germany outsmarts the US and UK by offering affordable and high quality education to international students. In Indian cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, applications for German universities increased by 15-20 per cent in a year, while UK and US figures have fallen considerably ... read more 03.03.2014

Persian on the rise in Turkey

ANKARA (presstv) -- There has been a recent rise in interest for the teaching and studying of the Persian language and literature in Turkish universities. More than a dozen universities are in the process of setting up their own department for Persian ... read more 04.02.2014

Luxembourg forced to reform student finance

LUXEMBOURG CITY (wort) -- Following a European court order that found Luxembourg’s student finance system to be discriminatory, higher education minister Claude Meisch has announced reform plans. Soon, students from low-income or cross-border worker families will be able to apply for additional funding ... read more 03.03.2014

EU roadshow for research jobs

BRUSSELS (europa) -- The European Commission launched an information campaign to help researchers find career advice and work through the EURAXESS gateway. The “EURAXESS – Researchers in Motion” roadshow will visit 29 European cities in 22 countries ... read more 03.03.2014

Malta’s educational north-south divide

VALLETTA (malta today) -- Malta’s educational north-south divide has been confirmed by the 2011 census which revealed glaring contrasts between 30 and 3 per cent attendance in different regions ... read more 04.03.2014