EU funds research commercialisation in Serbia
BELGRADE (n1) -- A ‘Technology Transfer Program’, co-funded by the EU, has been launched in Serbia. The main objective of the programme is the commercialisation of research and development (R&D) by bringing together researchers from academia and the private sector and by strengthening the local technology transfer organisations at universities … read more
Luxembourg increases university and research funding
LUXEMBOURG (l’essentiel) -- The government of Luxembourg has increased university and research funding by 3 percent. The total amount, 1.15 billion euros for 2014-2017, contains 150 million for higher education per year. Education minister Marc Hansen assigned additional 30 million euros for university cooperation and doctoral training in 2017 ... read more 30.03.2016
French student protests pay off
PARIS (les echos) -- Student protests in France against the new labour law go on, but student union UNEF has won a concession from the government to compensate students for more precarious working conditions. The one third of students who receive a maintenance grant will continue to receive it for at least two months after graduating … read more 05.04.2016Google is everybody’s darling
ANKARA (yeni şafak) -- Turkish education minister Nabi Avcı has announced a partnership between Google and the country’s universities. The scheme will provide new training tools for students, guides to choosing universities and data collection on students’ progress. This rapprochement comes as a surprise only two years after the government was found to be blocking Google’s DNS service in order to prevent people from circumnavigating a ban on sites like YouTube and Twitter. At the time, Google reportedly ignored requests from Turkish officials to remove YouTube videos that alleged government corruption … read more 6.4.16
Poland’s next education law for more competition
WARSAW (rzeczpospolita) -- Polish science minister Jarosław Gowin has announced a competition to draft a new education law, which should achieve a broad consensus and direct policy for years to come. The law should aim to reduce university bureaucracy, increase efficiencies in the sector and change the funding model for student loans … read more 4.4.16
Georgia: ‘Stalinomania of the 21st century’
TBLISI (dfwatch) -- A lecturer at the University of Gori in central Georgia claims she was fired for opposing a new statue of Stalin in the city, which she blames on ‘Stalinomania’ at the university. Education minister Tamar Sanikidze said she cannot comment because it is an internal issue for the university … read more 06.04.2016
Discover Russian student life in photographs
MOSCOW (moscow times) -- An exhibition in Moscow has just taken place showcasing student life in the Soviet Union between the 1930s and 1990s. Among other insights, the exhibition shows how Russian students help with the harvest or how they have come up with ingenious ways to cheat on their exams over the decades … read more 01.03.2016
Graduate job market woes in Croatia
ZAGREB (glasslavonije) -- Three quarters of students intend to work abroad, a survey by the Student Council of Polytechnics and Colleges of Croatia shows. 67 percent want more careers advice and more business involvement in education policy and teaching and 35 percent think university is preparing them poorly for work … read more 03.04.2016
Austrian universities score unevenly in rankings
WIEN (apa) -- Austrian universities have good research and international orientation but less good teaching, shows an EU- commissioned rankings ‘U-Multirank’. For example the Technical University of Vienna scored As and Bs for research but scored poorly for teaching. Vienna’s Modul University scored very highly for student mobility ... read more 04.04.2016
Barriers to refugees accessing European higher ed
BRUSSELS (pie news) -- Many European universities have been welcoming and enrolling refugees. The European University Association (EUA) has found that the two biggest barriers to access are recognition of degrees and a lack of documentation of qualifications … read more 31.03.2016
Free education for Gambians in Italy
BANJUL (the point) -- Gambian migrants have been given the chance of free education at several leading Italian universities. The scheme, which includes migrants from eight countries including Afghanistan and Iran, aims ‘to enhance integration and promote career building for migrants’ … read more 30.03.2016Three challenges for science publishers
FRANKFURT (boersenblatt) -- Three new developments threaten the traditional business model of science publishers: pirate sites like Sci-Hub where millions of research articles can be accessed free of charge, social media pages of reseachers like Academia.edu where articles are made widely available, and upcoming EU rules on text and data mining ... read more 31.03.2016
German excellence initiative expanded
BERLIN (heise) -- Education minister Johanna Wanka has announced the extending of Germany’s ‘Excellence initiative’ to smaller universities and technical universities. Further details will be given following negotiations between the federal government and the states. The funding for universities already in the excellence programme, around 500 million euros per year, will not be reduced. 4.6 billion euros have been invested in this extra-budgetary scheme since its inception in 2006 ... read more
Illegal Croatian research
ZAGREB (slobodnadalmacija) -- 25 of Croatia’s research institutes have technically been operating illegally for the past two years after the government failed to complete their re-accreditation three years ago ... read more 29.3
‘Highly pernicious’ university rankings
WASHINGTON (atlantic) -- There is growing resistance to university rankings in the United States, which have been branded ‘highly pernicious’ by one university president since they allegedly cause universities to focus on meeting criteria not ‘in the best educational interest of their students’ and push students towards the wealthiest institutions ... read more 30.03.2016
Finland cuts back student aid
HELSINKI (esu) -- The government of Finland has decided on historical cutbacks to the student financial aid, reducing it by 20 percent or 150 million euro. The amount of social security for students is to be cut by close to 100 euro per month and the study loan compensation is to be reduced. As a consequence, student loans are increasing, so that graduates may face a debt burden of up to 30,000 euro ... read more 09.03.2016
Germany: Science work below minimum wage
BERLIN (telepolis) -- Low wages are no exception in German science and higher education, recent studies show. A sample of 60 typical employments at German universities showed 20 with a salary below the minimum wage of 8,50 euros. But the employees of the Botanic Garden in Berlin show how to unite, to strike and to exert pressure on the institutions ... read more 29.03.2016New EU rules for foreign students and researchers
BRUSSELS (aca) -- The European Council has adopted its position on a draft directive aimed at making the EU more attractive for students and researchers from third countries. In May 2016 the European Parliament is expected to vote on these harmonised conditions for entry and residence ... read more 31.3.16
Russian science funding shifts
MOSCOW (nature) -- Russian funding Concerns have been raised over future support for civilian basic research under a science and technology strategy that the Russian government plans to launch this year. Despite mounting budget pressure, the government’s overall spending on military and civilian science is to remain stable, deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich told the Russian Academy of Sciences last week. But scientists fear that priority research programmes set to be introduced by the end of the year will favour commercial research over fundamental science ... read more 31.03.2016Ukraine signs deal with Elsevier
KIEV (interfax) -- After two years of negotiations, Elsevier and the Ukrainian science ministry have signed a memorandum of understanding in order to provide access to the science publisher’s databases for Ukrainian research institutions (Scopus/ScienceDirect) ... read more | and here 23.03.2016
European education union starts to crumble
BERLIN (esna) -- After a Constitutional Court decision about the accreditation of bachelor and master’s courses, the German Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) has urged the federal government in Berlin to take control over quality standards. This would mean that education ministries take (back) the responsibilities from external accreditation agencies, and a head stone of the Bologna Process would be removed ... read more 18.03.2016