Latvian EU presidency prioritises research and innovation

BRUSSELS (aca) -- The priotities of the new Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union bear no change in comparison to those of its predecessor, Italy, indicating a high place on the agenda for research and innovation. Latvian education and science minister, Mārīte Seile, in office since January of this year, presented her work programme to the European Parliament’s research committee last week … read more 26.01.2015

France considers cashing in on international students

PARIS (sauvons l'universite) -- State secretary of higher education, Geneviève Fioraso, has proposed an astronomical rise in tuition for overseas students coming to France, potentially soaring from 183 to 6,000 euros and 254 to 12,000 euros for Bachelors and Masters respectively … read more 30.01.2015

European Commission compliments Dutch system

BRUSSELS (neth-er) -- Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, expressed his appreciation for the Dutch system saying, “The Netherlands is definitely at the cutting edge of European educational policy” … read more 26.01.2015

UK student housing market promises high profits

LONDON (select property) -- Compared to other property investments, student accommodation stands out by consistently offering high returns. Investors in the UK are able to expect an average of over 7 percent as a rental yield, which far exceeds typical values of 5.3 percent for residential properties. This is spurred on by a continuous growth of international student input, increasing year on year … read more 28.01.2015

Foreign researchers unsettled in Saxony

DRESDEN (tagesspiegel) -- Following weeks of protests by a xenophobic group calling itself ‘Pediga’, foreign students and researchers living in Saxony no longer feel safe in the region. Saxony’s science minister, Eva-Maria Stange, described the atmosphere as a “tremendous feeling of uncertainty among international scholars and students” … read more 27.1.15

London attracts cybersecurity start-ups

LONDON (techcrunch) -- As cyber security rises on the international agenda, launch of Cyber London (CyLon) marks “Europe’s first business accelerator program and incubator space dedicated to developing and supporting cyber security start-ups”. The launch coincides with announcements from UK intelligence agency, GCHQ, that £3 billion (€4 billion) will be invested in national cyber intelligence over the next 9 years … read more 28.01.2015

Flemish fears over Dutch students calmed

FLANDERS (nog) -- After Flemish unversities voiced their worries about a possible wave of incoming students from the Netherlands as tuition refugees, Dutch education minister, Jet Bussemaker, assured that the introduction of a new loan system will prevent that from happening … read more 26.01.2015

Romanian students complain about ‘oppressive universities’

BUCHAREST (monitorrul) -- The Romanian national student union, ANOSR, has drawn attention to the worrying trend of universities trying to silence students expressing dissatisfaction with the state education system, sometimes resorting to “communist” practices … read more 26.01.2015

Ukrainian students call for Russian students’ solidarity

KIEV (radio liberty) -- Students from Kyiv universities have released an emotional video urging students in Moscow not to believe what Russian state-controlled media are saying about Ukrainians ... read more 28.01.2015

Italian government accused of ‘patent robbery’

ROME (wired) -- Italian universities and research universities have accused their government of robbing the rights to their patents, after new legalisation will centralise the science market. By passing patent rights to government affiliated ‘Italian Institute of Technology’, the government aims to maximise profits and efficient management of research, however Presidents of the Conference of Rectors and National Research Council have taken a tough stance against the decree, saying it will deprive them of access to their own inventions … read more 27.01.2015

Over half of Ukraine’s universities closed

KIEV (dt) -- As part of his radical overhaul of the Ukrainian education system, education minister Serhiy Kvit has announced that he will continue with ruthless closure of substandard universities, falling from 817 to “well below 300”. The reforms, which will give full autonomy to educational institutions, “will not give universities any opportunities to shy away from solving their urgent problems,” he said … read more 28.01.2015

University returns to Friesland after two hundred years

FRIESLAND (rug) -- 200 years after the closure of Friesland’s only university, in the far north of the Netherlands, the opening of University of Gronigen’s Friesland Campus will be widely welcomed. Board president, Sibrand Poppema, says it represents an “upgrade for the region” … read more 24.1.15

Swedish uni plugs into MOOCs

LUND (hd) -- As MOOCs continue to grow in popularity across the globe, Sweden’s Lund University becomes the latest to tune into the programme. They will trial three free online courses this spring … read more 23.01.2015

Seville, the cycling capital of southern Europe

SEVILLE (guardian) -- Cycling has increased 11-fold in Seville in the space of a few years. Not only can passengers of public transport rent bikes free of charge, the city’s university also provides students with bikes for the academic year ... read more 28.01.2015

German universities must face their history

BERLIN (wsws) -- At a meeting of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) held at Berlin Humboldt University, the role played by universities in the Third Reich was highlighted and more still their active part in the nazification of education. Sociologist Bruno Reimann was quoted, “Universities still have difficulty in recognising their ‘Gleichschaltung’ (voluntary adaption) to national socialist ideology, because it would shake their self-esteem” … read more 21.01.2015

Female students keep on rising in UK

LONDON (the) -- As well as being achieving the highest grades, female students outnumber male students by around a fifth, as the gender gap in UK education keeps on growing. The subjects showing the greatest difference are social subjects, education and arts and design … read more 21.01.2015

Sustainable campuses showcased

“Poor consolation” funding for Slovenian universities

LJIUBLJANA (rtv) -- Following a crisis meeting between Slovenian Prime Minister, Miro Cerar, and university rectors, the promise was made that the chronically underfunded universities wouldn’t receive less funding than last year. However one of the rectors responded saying this was “a very poor consolation”, considering they are already running on reserves to cover deficits … read more 09.01.2015

Turkey strengthens African connections

KHARTOUM (uwn) -- Following a collaboration and education fair earlier this week, plans have been unveiled to set up a Turkish-Sudanese joint institution and thus enhance student and academic mobility … read more 23.01.15

Berkeley lacks inspiration at Davos

DAVOS (huffpost) -- UC Berkeley, guest at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, proved disappointing, bringing old and worn out ideas to the table. Instead of addressing the deficit of basic education in low income countries —needing an additional $26 billion, according to a UNICEF official at the forum— Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks used the opportunity as a plug to promote his university’s new Global Branch Campus project “at home, less than 10 miles from the main campus” where “some of the world’s leading universities and high-tech companies will work side by side”. Dirks also failed to impress, with old-hat ideals, parleying about “a new, global alliance of academic and private sector partners that have the collective means to conduct the necessary multidisciplinary research” … read more | video 22.01.2014

11,000 Bulgarian university spaces will go unfilled

SOFIA (manager) -- Around 59,000 Bulgarian students are expected to leave school this year, whereas 70,000 university places are available across 51 universities. With such a high number of university places to go unfilled, the race is on for student recruitment … read more 19.01.2015

Flanders fears grant-less Dutch student influx

FLANDERS (trajectum) -- Following the student-grant abolition in the Netherlands, Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits has expressed concerns that thousands of Dutch students will flock to Flanders with 50 percent lower tuition fees. Crevits wants to meet this week in Brussels with her Dutch colleague Jet Bussenmaker to discuss her worries … read more 22.01.2015

More academic mobility between Visegrád countries

BRATISLAVA (aktuality) -- Mobility between V4 countries for Slovak students has been further reinforced, as scholarships are made more accessible for students between the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Living costs and travel expenses can be covered for undergraduates, graduates, academics and researchers and funding is also available for 10-month study and research stays … read more 24.01.2015

Greek students describe social crisis facing youth

ATHENS (wsws) -- According to the results of a recent study by the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, many of those who left the country were highly qualified students unable to find suitable work in Greece. The exodus began in 2011, peaked in 2012, and has continued ever since. 89 percent of the émigrés had degrees in such diverse fields as engineering, finance and business management, information technology and computer sciences. 48 percent were under the age of 30 ... read more 26.01.2014

Dutch research council overhaul

THE HAGUE (science guide) -- The Dutch government is pushing to reform the national research council, NWO, the body responsible for the annual distribution of 650 million euros public research funding. Acting on the counsel of a consulting firm, the government wants to do away with the organisation’s ‘patchwork’ structure by reducing institutional autonomy and regional influence to centralise control ... read more 23.01.2015

Lithuania clamps down on underperforming universities

VILINUS (baltic course) -- The Lithuanian Minister of Education and Science has addressed universities, saying that the quality of higher education must improve in order to compete on the international scene. Science minister, Dainius Pavalkis, said that admission requirements will be raised and entry exams introduced to tackle low-performing institutions … read more 20.01.2015

French want regional autonomy at university level

PARIS (localtis) -- Since January, President François Hollande’s decentralisation plan, legally reorganising French territory, has been well under way. Under these reforms, six associations made up of mayors and city and regional representatives have banded together to demand that more autonomy be allocated to universities within regions. Also demanded is an effective local and regional innovation plan … read more 19.01.2015

€36.9 million for Norwegian postgrad system

OSLO (kooperation international) -- In a move set to raise the caliber of researcher training and increase the amount of students achieving doctorates, the Research Council of Norway will shortly announce the huge investment to the sector … read more 22.01.2015

A case for a university happiness ranking

LONDON (nature) -- A blog post by structural biologist Jenny Martin that calls for new researcher-friendly metrics for ranking universities —including a happiness index— is drawing enthusiastic reviews on social media ... read more 15.1.14

Hungarian minister to pay respects at Auschwitz

AUSCHWITZ (hungary today) -- Polish and Hungarian education and science ministers, Lena Kolarska-Bobinska and Zoltán Balog, will meet in Poland this weekend to pay their respects at the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp … read more 22.01.2015

Switzerland and Luxembourg rank most ‘talent ready’

FONTAINEBLEAU (insead) -- Ranked first and third respectively, Switzerland and Luxembourg are current World leaders in ‘attraction and incubation talent’. Published this week, the Global Talent Competitiveness Index ranks countries based on their abilities to acquire and produce talent (input), the skills which are available to them as a result (output). Europe once again topped the charts, with 16 European countries among the top 25 … read more 20.01.2015

University without students

LJUBLIANA/PORTOROZ (rtv) -- The Euro-Mediterranean university EMUNI, based in Slovenia, has received over 4 million euros in state funding since 2007, despite not having enrolled a single student. Created as a joint project between Slovenia, Tunisia, Italy and Israel, the funding went instead towards just keeping the centre open: staff salaries; site-rental and preparation courses … read more 23.01.2015

Spain rushes three-year-degree legislation

MADRID (el pais) -- Set to pass through parliament next week, Spanish education minister, José Ignacio Wert, is pushing hard for the introduction of three-year degrees. Believing this will creative a more ‘homogenous’ system and bring Spanish universities in line with their European counterparts, despite warnings from State Council over the hasty nature of proceedings … read more 20.01.2015

Russia faces ‘university-excellence plan’ difficulties

MOSCOW (the) -- The ambitious project of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin to place five Russian universities in the world’s top 100 by 2020, is facing difficulties. Sanctions imposed by Western governments and the annexation of Crimea last year have subtracted focus from the project ... read more 22.01.2015

Erasmus goes global

BRUSSELS (corriere) -- Almost 30 years after its launch in 1987, a €121 million injection will bring about a renaissance of ‘Erasmus’. Starting this academic year, the EU mobility programme for students and teachers will cease to be restricted to Europe and become an international competitor, up against the high-priced UK, US and Australia to attract the best young minds to Europe and thus revitalise the labour market. In a bid to make Europe the world leader for studies and innovation, the rejuvenated initiative will offer considerable bursaries to overseas students as well as to outgoing European students. Such a bold move by Europe will surely cause international shockwaves and a response from competitors … read more 14.01.2015

Danish universities hit hard by cuts

SØNDERBORG (shz) -- Recent Danish austerity measures hit universities hard, institutions have to cut study places and even close down some departments altogether. Particularly wounded is Sønderborg campus, a pioneer in the field of education and work with industry. This university of Southern Denmark is forced to reduce undergraduate admissions by a third … read more 20.01.2015

Serbia links universities with business in Arabia

ABU DHABI (ansamed) -- In addition to the first business investment forum organised by Serbia in the United Arab Nations this month, a study-exchange programme between the two nations will be established … read more 15.01.2015

Islamists attack Charlie-march at Ankara University

ANKARA (hurriyet) -- Police intervened with tear gas earlier this week as a commemorative march in homage of Charlie Hebdo victims and murdered Turkish Journalist, Hrant Dink, was swarmed by a group of Islamists throwing bottles and rocks. Ankara University Campus had previously received online threats of “unprecedented violence” by Islamists if pro-Charlie Hebdo posters put up by students were not taken down … read more 19.01.2015

British unis feel green without ranking

GLASGOW (guardian) -- Students at several UK universities showed their outrage this week, protesting against their universities’ apparent indifference toward the ‘Green League’ initiative. Set up in 2007 by students, ‘Green League’ ranks universities based on their environmental and ethical ratings, however, in an apparent boycott of the programme, 82 universities omitted to provide data this year … read more 20.01.2015

Education excluded from TiSA?

STRASBOURG (euractiv) -- Alongside the highly mediatised trade agreement TTIP, a much bigger negotiation involving nearly 50 countries, called TiSA, is moving along quietly. “You will hear a lot about TiSA in 2015,” former EU commissioner Viviane Reding told journalists. The agreement excludes sensitive areas like intellectual property rights and ISDS, she said, the audio-visual sector and public services like water, health and education are also excluded, as she insisted: “These are not for sale,” ... read more 16.01.2015

Austrians won’t chip in for university science

VIENNA (studium) -- Only 8 percent of Austrians would be willing to help fund research within their universities, a study shows. With over half of those asked perceiving the main role of universities as training centres, their willingness to financially support institutions is very low … read more 14.01.2015

Swiss history given the boot

ZURICH (szs) -- Following the University of Zürich’s announcement of plans to abolish Swiss history studies, historians and politicians debate about the place of the country’s past in contemporary society … read more | and here 14.1.15

Corruption isolates scientists in Kosovo

PRIŠTINA (euobserver) -- The combination of Hashim Thaçi’s corrupt regime and visa restrictions isolate science in Kosovo. It is also preventing Kosovar students, hundreds of whom are being educated in some of the EU’s best universities, from giving back to the EU economy … read more 20.01.2015

Dutch PhD student not allowed to thank God

WAGENINGEN (practical ethics) -- The University of Wageningen prohibited a PhD student from thanking God in his thesis acknowledgments. The student, Jerke de Vries, wrote, “My Father God, thank You, it’s the most wonderful thing to be loved and honoured by You.” The university refused to grant him his thesis unless he deleted this reference to God arguing that science should be independent from politics or religion. The student refused to delete God from his acknowledgments and instead tore the whole page of acknowledgments out altogether ... read more 20.01.2015

German Education Union demands researcher job security

BERLIN (sz) -- The fact that 90 percent of young German researchers work in precarious conditions is, according to education minister Johanna Wanka, unacceptable. After concerns raised by the German Education Union (GEW) highlighted the exploitation of scientists, who almost always work under temporary contracts, proceedings are being carried forward to make permanent contracts the rule, not the exception … read more 19.01.2015

German researchers complain of poor working conditions

BERLIN (zeit) -- Despite contributing to the country’s sterling reputation in research and innovation, many researchers in German universities complain of unacceptable working conditions. Lack of funding and materials, unstable working contracts and unfair pay leave some of Germany’s best researchers doubting if they have a future in science … read more 13.01.2015

Russian universities launch international recruitment centre

MOSCOW (rbth) -- In a move set to “promote the brand of Russian universities”, a new unified  recruitment centre seeks to attract highly motivated students from across the globe. Director Maxim Khomyakov said that the 15 participating institutions will see “serious results by 2016” … read more 15.01.2015

Education reforms need follow up, warns OECD

PARIS (conversation) -- Across Europe and further afield, only 10 per cent of the constantly implemented education policy reforms are followed up. Findings of the Education Policy Outlook 2015 … read more 19.01.2015

Lithuanian university to be digitalised

VILINUS (balsas) -- Recently piloted in Kaunas University of Technology, the institute predicts that rapidly evolving technology on campus will lead to every classroom being equipped with a live broadcast and recording equipment. But concerns are being raised about the subsequent the lack of human contact in universities … read more 19.01.2015

Protest against Austrian fraternity ball

GRAZ (wiener zeitung) -- Ball-going frat members in Graz were met on Saturday night by almost a thousand protesters from ‘Offensive Against Steiermark Right’ movement, demonstrating against the “racist, sexist, anti-Semitist and misanthropic” nature of their fraternity… read more 17.01.2015

Czech President lacks understanding of inclusion

PRAGUE (radio prague) -- President Miloš Zeman stirred considerable controversy this week, suggesting that handicapped children ought not to share classrooms with non-handicapped students. In his statement demonstrating “extraordinary lack of understanding”, Zeman claimed classroom sharing was “unfortunate for both groups” … read more 16.01.2015

€13 million French innovation centre opened

COMPIÈGNE (les cles de demain) -- Officially opened last week, the futuristic Innovation Centre Compiègne University of Technology (UTC) will work as a creative hub where skills and ideas will be transformed into original and pioneering projects … read more 14.01.2015

EU to fund Romanian anti-corruption classes

BUCHAREST (adevarul) -- Romanian education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu has revealed plans to enrol all teachers into anti-corruption courses starting in September of this year. The classes, funded by the EU, will strengthen educational institutions to prevent “exploitation by employees or third parties”. Who will lead the classes remains uncertain … read more 16.01.2015

€5 million regeneration for Norwegian culture and media

OSLO (koop-int) -- Norway’s Research Council announced the huge budget increase as part of an initiative to strengthen the media and cultures sectors and galvanise multi-disciplinary projects. As digitalisation brings dramatic changes to all aspects of society, this investment will ensure Norway’s culture and media sector advance with it … read more 16.01.2015

EU science budget plundered

BRUSSELS (science business) -- The scientific community has reacted with dismay as the European Commission reallocated €2.7 billion from the Horizon 2020 research investment fund to another project.
The EIT in Budapest is the largest casualty, with €350 million to cut, the European Research Council (ERC) faces losses of €221 million, the budget for ICT research will be reduced by €307 million, nanotechnology and advanced material projects by €170 million. Overall, Horizon 2020 will lose €860 million of its planned budget in 2016, €871 million in 2017 and €479 million in 2018 … read more 15.1.15

Student debt to cost Britain billions

LONDON (independent) -- With jobless and low-paid graduates unable to repay student loans, the British government is now facing billions of pounds worth of debt, according to Labour’s former universities minister John Denham. The sharp rise in tuition fees and operation of a “loan now, pay later” system, have created an “unsustainable” situation with damaging effects on education spending for years to come … read more 11.01.2015

Macedonian students “bury” university

SKOPJE (blic) -- Students and staff in Macedonia expressed their outrage at recent amendments to education policy with a symbolic “burial” of their university. Changes to the law, which would see the creation of a new, external body for examinations, has led to mass protests with students announcing they will continue to “boycott, blockade and occupy” university until changes are reversed … read more 15.01.2015

MOOC-free Switzerland

ZURICH (bote) -- Swiss universities still offer only few ‘Massive Open Online Courses’. Lino Guzella, President of ETH Zürich, is convinced that distance learning courses cannot be a substitute for traditional degrees. “Real learning,” he says, cannot be found on the internet … read more 28.12.2014

Portugal strengthens university-economic co-operation

LISBON (ionline) -- Portuguese Minister for Regional Development, Miguel Poiares Maduro, expressed his satisfaction at the settlement of 17 cooperations between higher education institutions and the agency for regional development (CCDR). The agreements, signed this week, are set to strengthen knowledge transfer from universities to companies and increase internationalisation of institutions … read more 14.1.15

Questions remain over EU Chief Science Advisor

Swiss doing fine without Erasmus

BERN (tageswoche) -- Swiss students continue to go abroad to study, despite their country being excluded from the Erasmus programme last year. 3.500 Swiss globetrotters per year are not funded not by Brussels, but by a domestic mobility programme … read more 15.01.2015

EU approves Open Science Commons framework

BRUSSELS (hpcwire) -- The European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) has been given the green light by Brussels. 43 project partners from Europe, the US and the Asia-Pacific region will collaborate on a framework for the Open Science Commons to provide researchers with convenient access to digital services, data and expertise ... read more 15.1.15

100,000 Romanians study abroad

BUCAREST (zf) -- With Romania’s population at its lowest since 1968, concerns have been raised about 100.000 citizens studying abroad. Despite the clear advantages of student mobility to gain a quality education, many students don’t return … read more 16.01.2015

Flemish ‘Student Spotify’ counters online piracy

DEURNE (sudinfo) -- Dubbed ‘Spotify for students’, a Flemish enterprise this week launched an online platform giving students access to low-price learning software. The technology comes as part of an anti-piracy initiative and is already used by around 5,000 students in the Dutch-speaking Belgian region … read more 14.01.2014

German universities increasingly international

BERLIN (bmbf) -- In the last eight years, the amount of foreign teachers and researchers at German universities has seen a 20 percent increase. Foreign student numbers are also on the rise, especially in music and art schools, where exchange students often make up more than two thirds. A new report also shows a growth in German teaching staff mobility … read more 13.1.15

French masters students excel in job market

PARIS (l’étudiant) -- 9/10 French masters graduates find a job within two and a half years after leaving university, a recent study reports. Of them, two thirds find themselves in a position of leadership and 23 percent have temporary contracts. Not included, however are those who opt to further their academic studies … read more 07.01.2015

New research funding system in Poland

WARSAW (nauka) -- With the new year comes another way of funding Polish research. The new method will allocate funding proportionally to quality of research, e.g. PhDs, patents and publications. The law also gives development of practical skills more importance ... read more 09.01.2015

The major worries of Spanish students in 2015

MADRID (europapress) -- Speaking at an annual rectors’ assembly, President of the national student union, Luis Cereijo outlined Spanish students’ biggest concerns: the new unjust grant system, the badly implemented course structures of the Bologna Process and the imminent approval of the law that will change the structure of university degrees … read more 14.01.2015

EU student fee loophole enrages Welsh politician

CARDIFF (wales online) -- Conservative Welsh politician, David Davies expressed his outrage at EU student mobility law. The law permits students from EU countries, but not the other three UK nations, the same tuition fee subsidies as Welsh nationals. Mr Davies outlined this “ridiculous EU rule” as yet another reason why David Cameron should renegotiate the UK’s membership ... read more 08.01.2015

A race for higher tuition by decree?

ROME (il fatto quotidiano) -- Issued last December, the new decree for funding Italian universities aims to reward university’s financial performance. But the new system also results in a 50 percent reduction of tenured staff. More problematic still is the rewarding of financial “virtues”, which are measured in proportion to the tuition fees universities charge. Critics fear this could lead to a race between universities to increase fees, ultimately worsening social inequality, access to education and the North/South divide … read more 13.01.2015

Ukraine: studying in a war-zone

DONETSK (zeenews) -- Students in the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ have more than grades and exam-stress to worry about. After the rebel takeover earlier this year, some universities up and moved West into government-held territory, but those who stayed are left asking if their degree will actually be worth anything … read more 03.01.2015

French journalism students pay their respects

PARIS (e-orientations) -- As three million copies of the magazine’s latest issue fly off the shelves, young journalists all over France put pen to paper in memory of those killed last week. L’École de Communication Visuelle (ECV) is one of many schools whose students are creatively expressing their solidarity with the fallen … read more13.01.2015

Turkey’s foundation universities: model for the region?

ISTANBUL (al—fanar) -- As Turkish universities rise in global rankings and seek to draw students from around the world, academics say an important alternative to the public higher educational system has helped raise the quality of Turkish education: foundation universities ... read more 13.01.2015

Europe’s first Confucius institute shut down

STOCKHOLM (ecns) -- In the wake of rising concerns regarding the exportation of Chinese ideologies into Western academic institutions, co-operation between Stockholm University and the Confucius Institute will not be renewed. Sweden is not alone in this decision and several other universities … read more 13.01.2015

Italy lures non-Europeans with special startup visa

ROME (fastcompany) -- Started in June of last year, Italy’s startup visa is specifically for non-Europeans with innovative business ideas. With the Mediterranean country’s GDP consistently declining throughout 2014, the Italian government has been looking for new ways spur economic growth. The programme was recently expanded and requires only 50,000 euros of funding from an angel investor … read more 12.1.14

British universities losing out on Irish talent

DUBLIN (irish times) -- Deterred by the sharp rise in tuition fees, the numbers of Irish students choosing to study in the UK has fallen dramatically to about 2,000, opting instead for continental Europe … read more 13.01.2015 

FPÖ accuses overseas students of visa abuse

WIEN (ots) -- The Austrian right-wing party FPÖ insinuates that non-European students are using university studies to obtain stay permits. A parlamentary hearing had shown that non-European students abstained from almost half of all exams, compared to their European and Austrian classmatres who missed only 38 and 25 percent respectively … read more 13.01.2015

French students lose privilege in Canada

Global survey on strategic international partnerships

Are you responsible for international partnerships at your institution? If so, please take a few minutes to participate in a new survey. The results will be synthesised into a chapter in an upcoming IIE/DAAD publication in May 2015. Deadline January 30.

Academic deforestation in Hungary

BUDAPEST (pester lloyd) -- By limiting the access to secondary education and slashing university budgets, Fidesz, governing party headed by PM Viktor Orbán, is reducing the level of scientific literacy in the Hungarian population. With emphasis on technical professional schools, loyal university chancellors and limited student mobility, Hungary’s higher education community has arrived at a turning point ... read more 12.01.2014

UK: Anti-terror bill a threat to academic freedom

LONDON (independent) -- New anti-terror laws requiring universities to tackle extremism on campus threaten to stifle freedom of expression, the British government has been warned by MPs and peers ... read more 12.01.2015

Bulgarian education minister pledges new law

SOFIA (novinite) -- Minister Todor Tanev has pledged a new Education Act instead of patchy amendments and insertions to the existing one. The education minister spoke in favor of radical changes to the curriculum involving the introduction of cutting-edge technology into the sphere. He also underscored the need for “a radical upward revision” of teacher salaries ... read more 04.01.2015

Romania gets its own university ranking

BUCAREST (romania insider) -- The Romanian education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu announced a university ranking for his country. It will “take into account both research and education, the university’s role in regional development and the employers’ opinions on educational services,” he said ... read more 09.01.2014

Bavarian Conservatives reject English as only teaching language

MUNICH (aa) -- Economically successful, highly dynamic industry, agriculture, technology education, high rate of employment — that’s Bavaria, home of car manufacturer BMW and governed by the Christian Social Party (CSU). Bavarian universities are eager to become more international, but party members of CSU disapprove with nearly all Master courses being offered in English ... read more 07.01.2014

Obama proposes plan to make community college free

WASHINGTON (L.A.Times) -- US President Obama rolled out a new plan Thursday to make two years of community college free, or nearly so, for millions of students across the country, a major investment that the White House cast as changing the face of higher education.
The programme, inspired by new initiatives in Tennessee and Chicago, could benefit up to nine million students, advisors said. At its heart is dedicated federal funding to cover 75 percent of tuition, with the states picking up the rest of the tab ... read more | video 08.01.2015

Excessive power of rectors in Turkey

ISTANBUL (hurriyet) -- A group of academics have compiled a report on widespread rights violations at universities in Turkey, claiming that rectors have turned into dictators. The report put the arbitrary appointment of deans and college directors, without taking into consideration merit or faculty opinions, at the top of the list. This was followed by ... read more 11.01.2015

Dutch universities fight for open access

THE HAGUE (inside highered) -- Dutch universities have vowed not to soften their groundbreaking demands for publishers to permit all papers published by their academics to be made open access for no extra charge. A deal that meets the universities’ requirements was recently made with Springer, discussions have begun with Wiley, Sage and Oxford University Press, but in November, negotiations with Elsevier had broken down ... read more 09.01.2015

Russia invests into top universities

MOSCOW (ria) -- The Russian government will allocate 12 billion rubles (165 million Euros) to support the country’s leading universities in 2015. The objective is placing at least five Russian universities among the top 100 in international rankings ... read more 09.01.2015

European jobs wanted

BRUSSELS (ps) -- The EU has said that young people should not be out of employment or education for more than four months; but no progress has been made toward making this a reality. The EU Youth Employment Initiative, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted, has so far been a failure ... read more 09.01.2015

Universities pay homage to Charlie Hebdo

PARIS (le monde) -- Universities and schools across France paid homage to the victims of the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris with a minute of silence, candles and letters ... read more 09.01.2014

Greek science haunted by hydra of problems

ATHENS (nature) -- In 2014, budgets for research centres and universities in Greece were just ¼ of their 2009 levels, and salaries had been sliced by around one-third. This year begins with yet more cuts ... read more 6.1.15

Finnish researchers claim more freedom

HELSINKI (ht) -- Adopted in 2010, the Universities Act no longer defines universities as government agencies but rather as corporations governed by public law or private foundations with statutory financial and administrative autonomy. Petri Koikkalainen, chairman of the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers, believes now is the right time to determine the extent to which the state can intervene in the administration of universities ... read more 10.12.2014

Three Norwegian colleges want to become one university

BØ (nrk) -- Three higher education institutions in southern Norway want to merge. The three colleges Telemark, Vestfold and Buskerud, would unite 14.500 students and offer seven doctoral degrees, yet they are not sure if government will grant them university status ... read more 08.01.2015

University of Copenhagen aspires to be world’s greenest

COPENHAGEN (cp) -- The University of Copenhagen has signaled its intention to become one of the most sustainable universities in the world with 65 percent less CO₂ emissions and half of today’s energy consumption by 2020, rector Ralf Hemmingsen said ... read more 22.12.2014

Horizon 2020 deepens European research inequality

EDINBURGH (nature) -- The goal of EU research funding has always has been to develop closer, deeper ties across Europe’s diverse research community. But the benefits of Horizon 2020 are unevenly spread, it will mainly finance countries and regions that are already doing well, but the other half of Europe is left behind ... read more 07.01.2015

EC launches international pension scheme for researchers

BRUSSELS (science business) -- Allowing academics to move their pensions from country-to-country when taking up jobs at institutions across the EU has broad support. But there is a swathe of technical and legal detail to sort out and universities need to sign up ... read more 07.01.2014

Solidarity with victims of Charlie Hebdo attack

PARIS (huffpost) -- More than 15,000 students, journalists and sympathisers congregated in the Place de la Republique in Paris on Wednesday evening, many holding up pens in solidarity with the writers and cartoonists slain in the newspaper attack. Similar gatherings were held in Toulouse and Lyon, while in London hundreds assembled in Trafalgar Square for a silent vigil. Demonstrations were also held in Germany and Spain ... read more 07.01.2015

The teaching challenge after the attack

LONDON (tes) -- After the barbaric assault on Charlie Hebdo, educators discuss on social media how teachers should respond to the atrocities committed “in the name of religion”. There’s a danger here of getting into a defensive tangle ... read more 09.01.2014

Aligning Europe’s approaches to open access

BRUSSELS (research information) -- Open Access is a very hot topic across the EU. In part, this is in response to policy announcements in 2013 from the European Commission mandating that outputs from research funded under Horizon 2020 must be made open access. An input by Mafalda Picarra, from PASTEUR4OA ... read more 8.1.15

Turkey: A university near the mosque

ISTANBUL (bianet) -- A parliamentarian inquiry asks for the relation between mosques and universities in Turkey after statements released by President Erdoğan and the Director of Religious Affairs ... read more 07.01.2014

French economy professors don’t like news

PARIS (le monde) -- The decision of French science minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem to create a second section of economic sciences —called “Institutions, Economy, Territory and Society”— has upset some deans of the economics faculties. One of them, Alain Ayong Le Kama, even invited his colleagues to tender their resignations collectively. Marc Neveu, general secretary of the higher education union Snesup, reminded that even after the financial crisis in 2008 “certain heterodox economists are still being obstructed in their careers” ... read more 04.01.2015

Plagiarism increasing among Latvian scientists

RIGA (baltic-course) -- A study conducted in the United States reveals that plagiarism has been increasing among Latvian scientists. Latvia is listed among various other countries, such as Bangladesh, Belarus, Moldova, Colombia, and Pakistan ... read more 31.12.2014

Crowd science is making it possible!

GEORGIA (gt) -- Crowd science is making possible research projects that might otherwise be out of reach. Also known as “citizen science”, these efforts in the Unted States to involve ordinary people in research projects have attracted interest from policy makers, scientific agencies and others ... read more 05.01.2015

Belgian university open 24 hours

NAMUR (rtbf) -- Overcrowded libraries? The University of Namur, in the French-speaking part of Belgium, has a solution: certain services will be available 24 hours a day, Sunday included ... read more 04.01.2015

Northern Portuguese universities form consortium

PORTO (observador) -- Four universities of Northern Portugal —Minho, Porto, Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro— are joining forces in a consortium named UNorte. The universities will stay autonomous, but work together in the fields of student mobility, internationalisation, research, teaching, online learning, staff and infrastructure ... read more 05.01.2015

Poland to restore PhDs voided by Nazi Germany

WROCŁAW (i24) -- The Polish University of Wrocław will restore doctorate degrees to 262 people, most of them Jewish, decades after Nazi Germany annulled them in the run-up to World War II. “We want to underline that notion by condemning totalitarian regimes’ attempts to subject universities to ideology, be it Nazi, communist or whatever else”, university spokesman Jacek Przygodzki said ... read more 06.01.2014

International students add €1.6bn to French economy

PARIS (pie news) -- A new report estimates that the 300,000 foreign students who studied in France in 2013-14 cost the state around €2.84bn in tuition subsidies and €55m in scholarships. But these costs are far outweighed by an estimated €4.6bn in living costs, travel and tourism ... read more 05.01.2015

New research facility for Luxembourg

LUXEMBOURG (wort) -- With the start of the new year, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) opened its doors, following a restructuring of the country’s public research institutes. LIST brings together two public research centres, giving more international visibility to innovation made in Luxembourg ... read more 06.01.2015

US students pay more for university than the state

WASHINGTON (the bulletin) -- The money public colleges collect in tuition surpassed the money they receive from state funding. In 2012, tuition accounted for 25 percent of school revenue, state funding 23 percent. That’s a far cry from the 1970s, when state governments supplied public colleges with nearly 75 percent of their funding ... read more 06.01.2015

UK universities hide how they spend their student’s cash

LONDON (rt) -- The policy think tank HEPI invited leading English universities to explain how they spend the £9,000 (€11,500) they receive from students every year for their degrees. All of them refused. Still, they are still heavily reliant on government subsidies ... read more 05.01.2014

New funding mechanism of Italian universities

ROME (messaggero veneto) -- Italian universities will be funded based on a new mechanism from now on. 20 percent of their budget (7 billion Euros in 2014) has been allocated according to the institutions’ expenditure per student. 18 percent of the budget is linked to the research, recruitment and internationalisation performance. “With the new parameters, the distribution of public funding is more equitable,” says education minister Stefania Giannini ... read more 28.12.14

Swiss universities defend their PhD monopoly

BERN (srf) -- Swiss universities defend their exclusive right to grant doctoral degrees. But the universities of applied sciences demand “equality”. Cooperative models seem to be a solution. Starting in 2015, all three university types in Switzerland —universities, universities of applied sciences and universities of education— will be represented by one body, “swissuniversities” ... read more 03.01.2015

University of Vienna to celebrate 650 years

VIENNA (presse) -- In 1365, Rudolf IV issued the foundation deed of the University of Vienna, seeking to match Charles IV’s founding of the Charles University of Prague in 1348. The Alma Mater Rudolphina is the oldest continuously operating university in the German-speaking world ... read more 03.01.2015

German students oppose military research at universities

HALLE (volksstimme) -- Students at the University of Halle-Wittenberg demand a ban of armaments research at universities. Universities should commit themselves to exclusively civil research purposes ... read more 09.12.2014

Coalition to protect universities from war

BRUSSELS (esu) -- Between 2005 and 2014, armed forces have used schools and universities in at least 25 countries during armed conflict. The European Students’ Union (ESU) strongly urges all countries to endorse and implement Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict into their domestic military doctrine, policies, and trainings ... read more 16.12.2014

Global participation in higher education continues rising

LONDON (learnu) -- Higher education participation rates across the world are set to soar further despite more than doubling over the past two decades, a study shows. The rise of an aspirational middle class in developing countries, particularly China and India, will also further fuel participation rates, Simon Marginson, the author of the study says ... read more 01.01.2014

Science exodus from Ukraine’s rebellious East

DONETSK (science) -- In early autumn, Ukraine’s science ministry hurriedly began moving 11 universities out of rebel territory. Most relocated to nearby towns that the central government still controls, in some cases leaving the original campuses in the hands of separatists ... read more 02.01.2015

Scottish universities urged to sever links with Confucius Institutes

EDINBURGH (herald scotland) -- Human rights groups have urged Scottish universities to sever links with Chinese language centres that have sparked worldwide fears over academic freedom. Students and other activists have questioned why the institutes in Scotland have not proved controversial despite a growing backlash elsewhere in the Western world. Major universities in the United States have pulled out of deals with Confucius Institutes in recent months ... read more 03.01.2015

Tighter control of Chinese universities

EIJING (voa) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for greater “ideological guidance” in China’s universities and urged the study of Marxism, as the country tightens control on Western ideology ... read more 29.12.2014

Universities’ expansion drives wider gentrification

PHILADELPHIA (al jazeera) -- While the city’s colleges have pulled back on expansion into low-income areas, locals say the damage is already done. “In the last five years, we had an 80 percent jump in rent,” a barber just a few blocks from Temple University says ... read more 31.12.2014