Right-wing hardliner as new Polish science minister
WARSAW (wsws) -- After winning the elections in October, the nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS) now commands a comfortable majority in both houses of parliament. It includes several anti-Russian hardliners. The new minister for science and higher education is Jarosław Gowin, a well-known ultra-reactionary, homophobe and opponent of the right to abortion. In his first statement he expressed his intention to reduce bureaucracy and foster innovation in Polish higher education ... read more 25.11.2015
Security measures at French universities
PARIS (vousnousils) -- Following the terrorist attacks of November 13, new security measures will be applied at French universities. In particular, this includes entry controls, more security staff ... read more 26.11.2015
Thousands of doctors leave Romania
BUCAREST (new europe) -- In the last eight years, over 36,000 Romanian doctors, dentists and pharmacists sought work in another EU country. Only about 55,000 doctors were left in the country in 2014. Vasile Astarastoae, head of the Romanian College of Physicians, said that this dangerously lowers the health quality standards for the Romanian patients. “If you think that the situation is bad in Bucharest, in the rural areas it’s tragic” ... read more 24.11.2015
Educated Germans avoid social media
BERLIN (dw) -- The quality of education is on the rise in Germany. And that implies, uniquely amongst its peers, that fewer people in Germany will be using social media in the future ... read more 25.11.2015
Student immigration creates jobs
CARDIFF (pienews) -- A report released by Universites Wales shows that one Welsh job was created for every three non-EU students and every five EU students in the country. The consulting firm behind the study was able to demonstrate how economic impact flows further afield from areas that do not have a university through “ripple effects” ... read more 25.11.15
South Italian universities dwindle
NAPLES (uno) -- In four years, the Italian student population has shrunk by 6,8 percent. The southern universities record the highest losses: -40% in Reggio Calabria, -31% in Naples or 28% in Messina/Sicily ... read more 19.11.
Hungary’s brain drain
BUDAPEST (bb) -- Hungary’s brain drain is getting worse. Singles are more likely to seek work abroad and to go to the United Kingdom, whereas skilled workers and older Hungarians are much more likely to go to Germany. There are 86,000 “first generation” Hungarians employed long-term living abroad. Prior to the world financial crisis of 2008, only 17,000 Hungarians lived in the UK. By 2011 this number had already increased to 44,000 ... read more 20.11.2015
Uni Zurich trusts in technology against attacks
ZURICH (nzz) -- To enable students to lock class rooms from the inside in case of an attack (like in the US), the University of Zurich plans to add panic locks to a new alarm system ... read more 23.11.2015
OECD drums up for tuition fees
BERLIN (tagesspiegel) -- The fact that the German federal states have abolished tuition fees altogether, is hard to digest for the liberal think-tank OECD. Its general secretary, Stefan Kapferer, took the opportunity during the annual presentation of the international report “Education at a Glance” in Berlin to complain about the lack of tuition fees. Dropping out (deciding to change career) is too easy for a student without the burden of cost, he said ... read more 24.11.2015
Ryanair makes university history
BERGAMO (messaggero) -- With its established airport for low-cost companies nearby, the University of Bergamo has changed. Rector Remo Pellegrini has reached out to other ‘airport universities’ to forge a long-term development plan ... read more 19.11.2015
New European legislation for non-EU students
BRUSSELS (esu) -- The European Commission, Parliament and Council have reached an agreement regarding new EU rules of entry and residence for non-EU students. This directive will merge and replace two existing directives and ensure that students have the right to stay at least 9 months after finishing their studies, the right to move within the EU during their stay and the right to work at least 15 hours a week ... read more 18.11.2015
Belgian imams must have a degree
LIÉGE (rtl) -- The permission of preaching and the official recognition of mosques in Belgium will soon depend on an obligatory diploma for imams. After signing the agreement with the president of the Executive of Muslims, Noureddine Smaili, justice minister Koen Geens said: “We must evolve towards a European Islam” ... read more | and here 25.11.2015
Holland gets serious about open access
THE HAGUE (nwo) -- The Dutch national research organisation NWO will tighten its granting conditions in the area of Open Access with effect from 1 December. All publications emerging from NWO funds must be immediately accessible to everybody from the moment of publication ... read more 26.11.2015
Occupation in Lausanne for refugees
LAUSANNE (swissinfo) -- Around fifty members of a group engaged in helping migrants have occupied a building of the University of Lausanne. Their aim to find support by the academic community was successful as 500 lecturers and students signed their petition within one day ... read more 23.11.15
European university mergers accelerate
BRUSSELS (bbc) -- Almost 100 mergers have taken place since the beginning of the
century, according to the European University Association (EUA). And the pace is accelerating, with eight super-universities or clusters identified in 2012; 12 in 2013 and 14 in 2014. Mergers are a way of “streamlining”, says EUA director Thomas Estermann. Bigger universities can gain higher profiles and boost global reputations, he says ... read more 25.11.2015
Dutch students pull a nazi prank
LEIDEN (arutz sheva) -- As part of an apparent hazing ritual, students of the University of Leiden redecorated a Jewish freshman’s dorm room to look like a Nazi death camp, Dutch media reported ... read more 19.11.2015
Further concentration of UK science policy
LONDON (science) -- The governing Conservative Party proposes do create a head organisation on top of the seven research councils called Research UK. It would take over administrative duties and should be run by “a highly distinguished scientist, capable of delivering a managerially efficient organisation and of interacting effectively with Government” ... read more | and here 19.11.2015
Austria to be open access by 2025
VIENNA (economy austria) -- All publicly funded scientific research in Austria ought to be freely accessible online by 2025. This is the recommendation of the expert group Open Access Network Austria ... read more 19.11.2015
Secrets of medieval Europe’s large-scale publishing industry revealed
LONDON (independent) -- New research is revealing the trade secrets of Europe’s very first large-scale commercial publishing industry. Animal skin ‘paper’ that was just 1/15th of a millimetre thick enabled craftsmen in the 13th century to mass produce the world’s first lightweight books – an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 handwritten bibles. The market that created the demand for it was the huge expansion at that period in the number of so called ‘mendicant’ friars and in the number of university students. The first dozen great European universities were all set up in Italy, France, England and Spain between 1088 and 1243 ... read more 23.11.2015
Brussels universities closed
BUSSELS (la libre) -- Universities, schools and the metro in Brussels will remain closed on Monday, as Belgium’s Prime Minister fears “an attack line in Paris”. Belgium has been the centre of investigations into to the Paris attacks, after it was discovered two of the suicide bombers lived in the district of Molenbeek, one of Belgium’s poor districts ... read more 22.11.2015
Belarus and Slovenia prepare university cooperation
LJUBLJANA (mfa) -- On her trip to Slovenia, Belarus deputy foreign minister, Alena Kupchyna, visited the economics faculty of the University of Ljubljana, where she met with administrators and students. They agreed on connecting the economic universities of both countries soon ... read more 19.11.2015
All eyes on Amsterdam
AMSTERDAM (scienceguide) -- The Committee for Democratisation is the achievement of the university protest of the year: in a six-week occupation, students and lectureres of the University of Amsterdam forced the management to accept this new body’s powers. Now politicians and academics all over the country wait impatiently for its proposals of decentralisation and more participation. The stakes are high, says newly appointed committee head, Lisa Westerveld ... read more | interview 19.11.2015
Arbitrary university closures expected in Turkey
ISTANBUL (today’s zaman) -- A draconian new regulation that paves the way for the arbitrary closure of private universities and allows the vindictive seizure of their properties has come into effect, deepening concerns over the deterioration of the rule of law in Turkey ... read more 20.11.2015
Open University regional centre closures
LONDON (bbc) -- Almost 500 jobs could disappear from seven Open University centres in England under controversial plans described as ‘catastrophic’ by the unions which represent staff at the institution. Thousands of students could be affected by the move, which would see the removal of vital services, such as careers counselling, study advice and support for disabled students. The seven affected centres with 494 staff are Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Gateshead, Leeds, London and Oxford ... read more | petition 05.11.15
UNESCO Science Report shows global disparities
PARIS (chronicle) -- The number of researchers has risen by 21 percent to 7.8 million since 2007 with a corresponding explosion in scientific publications, according to the UNESCO Science Report: Towards 2030. But nearly three in four of the world’s researchers reside in the European Union, China, Russia, the United States and Japan ... read more 18.11.15
More foreign students in Sweden despite fees rise
OSLO (uwn) -- This year, the number of fee-paying students from outside Europe in Sweden rose by 30 percent. Tuition fees for non-European had been introduced in 2011 ... read more 18.11.2015
Michael Moore looks to Europe for education policy ideas
BETHESDA (edweek) -- Michael Moore, the director of provocative documentaries such as Bowling for Columbine, has a new film coming soon that explores solutions to various U.S. policy problems, including several in education, by heading to Europe ... read more 18.11.2015
US universities already tired of MOOCs?
HERLEEN (eadtu) -- Engagement to offer free online courses or MOOCs is increasing in Europe, studies show. In the US, the attitude of universities is more critical and their interest is shrinking ... read more 18.11.2015
9 in 10 German lecturers on temporary contracts
BERLIN (faz) -- Last week, an law amendment on working contracts at German universities and research institutions was discussed at an official hearing in Berlin. It is expected that the government will propose legal changes in December to stop abusive short-term contracts (e.g. cases like a lecturer working in 15 subsequent contracts in only six years). However, experts noted that the mellow changes continue to satisfy academic employers keeping the “flexibility” in their employment customs unchanged. Currently 92 percent of staff in German higher education is temporary ... read more
| video 11.11.15
Catalonia: Rising fees deter students
BARCELONA (economista) -- Spending 25 percent of their income for university puts Catalonian students and their families worldwide into the top 5. The OECD average family pays 15 percent for higher education. Since fees have been increased in 2011, student numbers in Catalonia have fallen ... read more 13.11.2015
Vatican addresses ‘educational emergency’
ROME (repubblica) -- Marking the anniversaries of two critical Vatican documents on education, the Congregation for Catholic Education is holding an international congress to address the growing “educational emergency” in Catholic education. The Congretation sees the emergency in a “decline of authority”, the shrinking number of teachers who are believers and the need to oppose a merely market-oriented education at Catholic schools and universities ... read more | video 11.11.2015
French student union demands more controls at universities
PARIS (mce) -- In a gathering of students after the terrorist attacks in Paris, the national student Union UNEF has been quoted demanding that “universities must be better controlled as it was the case after the Charlie Hebdo killings”. The science ministry estimates “several dozens” of students among the victims ... read more | and here 17.11.2015
Difficult balance of medical data protection
BRUSSELS (neth-er) -- The new EU General Data Protection Regulation will have a significant impact on how medical research is conducted and how a patient’s privacy is protected. Lawmakers disagree on what is the perfect balance between these two ... read more 05.11.2015