A journey along the frontiers of science

HILVERSUM (neth-er) -- The Dutch broadcasting organisation VPRO, the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and UNESCO plan a ten-episode television series: The Mind of the Universe. Thinkers and scientists will be portrayed and questioned about the boundaries of their discipline and the future state of knowledge. The material will become available as open content ... read more 28.04.2016

Artificial Intelligence drains scientific talent

LONDON (nature) -- The laboratories of tech titans Google, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM and Baidu (China) are stuffed with ex-university scientists, drawn to private firms’ superior computing resources and salaries. But some are concerned about the more subtle impacts of the industrial migration, which leaves universities temporarily devoid of top talent, and could ultimately sway the field towards commercial endeavours at the expense of fundamental research ... read more 26.04.2016

Dutch research agenda in good hands

AMSTERDAM (science guide) -- Dutch science body the National Research Agenda will lobby the next Dutch government for one billion euros in extra funding for universities after the elections next year. Half the money should cover a funding shortfall and the other half provide for new initiatives. Head of the organisation, Louise Gunning, was formerly president of the University of Amsterdam, but had to resign after proving unable to deal with the protests and occupations by students and professors … read more 21.04.2016

Black hole in Madrid’s university finances

MADRID (20 minutos) -- Madrid’s public universities have debts of 445 million euros resulting from investments made between 2007 and 2011. President of the Conference of Rectors of Madrid Universities (CRUMA), Carlos Andradas, said the region needed a long-term economic plan and to draw up a plan with investors who will invest in their infrastructure … read more 26.04.2016

Quantum leap in EU funding

BRUSSELS (science) -- The European Commission has picked a third research area where it hopes to have a major impact by spending a massive amount of cash. Research groups across the continent will receive up to €1 billion over the next 10 years to develop quantum technologies … read more 22.04.2016

‘Witch hunt’ against Spanish scientists

MADRID (science) -- Trade union the Workers’ Commissions has accused the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) of a ‘witch hunt’ after it proposed new measures to deter staff from gaining long-term contracts by suing them. For several years scientists have been suing the council, 677 have already been successful to obtain indefinite employment status; another 112 cases are still pending, and new ones keep coming … read more 22.4.16

Vulnerable universities

WASHINGTON (wp) -- Universities are not training enough cyberdefenders, which are needed in the light of growing cyber attacks. This is particularly the case in the US, where none of its top 10 computer science programmes require graduates to take even one cybersecurity course. The dramatic increase in data breaches in recent years has highlighted the need for cybersecurity skills in the workforce … read more | and here 11.04.2016

Hungary welcomes Pakistanis

BUDAPEST (hvg) -- Despite its hardline approach to the European refugee crisis, Hungary has signed an agreement with Pakistan to allow 240 Pakistani students to study in the country over the next four years … read more 25.4.16

Sicily: Limits to university business

PALERMO (repubblica) -- Students occupied the rector’s office of the University of Palermo, Sicily, to protest the introduction of parking fees along the Viale delle Scienze, administered by private companies. The deal was agreed in 2009 under the leadership of the previous rector. The new rector, Fabrizio Micari, said although he would not have agreed to the deal, the university would face a heavy fine if they now pulled out of it … read more 20.04.2016

Bulgarian tourism degrees not fit for purpose

SOFIA (dnevik) -- Sometimes the job market can’t absorb graduates even if there is demand for skilled personnel. This is the case in Bulgaria’s tourism industry where four in five tourism graduates are either in different sectors or unemployed. Many are overqualified for what is often low paid and seasonal work … read more 25.04.2016

German union demands 4000 extra professorships

BERLIN (tagesspiegel) -- The Education and Science Worker’s Union (GEW) has demanded 5000 tenure track positions be created at German universities. The federal government declared that 1000 new positions would be funded with one billion euros to cope with more students and rectify serious problems with staff-student ratios. The GEW's plans would cost another four billion euros … read more 21.04.2016

Swiss pharma funnels millions into university

BERN (swissinfo) -- The independence of Swiss universities from the corporate world has again been called into question as details of pharmaceutical sponsorship deals were broadcast by Swiss public television, SRF. The programme shows financial links between pharma giants - such as Roche, Novartis, Merck-Serono and even the industry lobby group interpharma – and several leading universities. The most damning revelation is that Merck-Serono demanded to see research every three months and reserved the right to make “acceptable alterations” to results ... read more 20.04.2016

Veil not to be banned in French universities

ALGIERS (el watan) -- French prime minister Manuel Valls has admitted the impossibility of banning the veil in universities despite being keen to do so. Education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem however reminded citizens of the right to free expression at university, whilst student union UNEF said the prime minister should focus on more important issues facing universities … read more 19.04.2016

Spain among most expensive countries for Master’s

MADRID (el pais) -- Spain is the sixth most expensive country in the EU to study for a master’s, with prices reaching up to 3,950 euros a year … read more 15.04.2016

Corruption in East Russian university

Student grants to be cut short in Denmark?

COPENHAGEN (tv2) -- Danish students should only receive three years' worth of grant to study at university, declared Karsten Dybvad, CEO of industry lobbying group Danish Industries. After this students should receive loans instead, he proposes. The money saved should go towards improving the quality of higher education. Almost half of Denmark's 40 billion kroner (3 billion euros) budget goes on grants … read more 16.04.2016

Tie in Belgian fight between ministers and academics

BRUSSELS (la libre) -- After three years of deliberation, the constitutional court of Belgium has validated Higher Education Minister Jean-Claude Marcourt's bill to reform universities in the country. Universities and academics had contested the bill's curtailment of their independence in relation to course content, which they have retained, thanks to the court's amendment of the bill. However the court approved a rule allowing unions to choose which staff represent the institutions in the national federation, despite many professors not being unionised … read more 21.04.2016

Oman-Belarus educational partnership

MUSCAT (muscat daily) -- Oman and Belarus are planning to establish joint education centres in Belarus and offer internships in addition to training vocational specialists. Omanis will study in-demand specialisms in Belarus, while Belarussian engineering and technology teachers will be sent to Oman … read more 20.04.2016

Political interference in Albanian university election

TIRANA (balkanweb) -- The newly elected rector of the University Tirana was intimidated by gang members on the orders of a rival candidate. Mynr Koni, previously Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, was allegedly threatened by men acting on behalf of Klodeta Dibra, a political candidate and now the subject of a police investigation. Before the election took place, Education minister Lindita Nikolla called for political parties to stay out of the proceedings … read more | and here 21.04.2016

And in Austria…

VIENNA (tiroler tageszeitung) -- Education minister Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek has been accused of nepotism in nominating three candidates, all close to her, for the leadership of the Teaching University of Tirol. As there are only five candidates, one of hers is likely to be chosen and the chosen candidate may reside in Lower Austria, far away from the university. Staff are concerned that their independence is under threat … read more 20.04.2016

Warsaw wants its own Silicon Valley

WARSAW (polskie radio) -- Recently, an increasing interest in opening new R&D centers in Poland could be observed, both in industry sector and also in strongly developing business services sector. Numerous R&D centers operate in Poland as subsidiaries of global corporations.

Startup Hub Warsaw is an initiative designed to replicate the success of Silicon Valley in Poland’s capital. It is running a competition to select the best 20 technology firms to offer funding to. Applicants from elsewhere in central and eastern Europe as well as from around the world are encouraged to apply … read more 11.04.2016

Malta racing ahead

VALLETTA (malta today) -- The University of Malta Racing Team has again secured funding from the country’s education ministry. Founded in 2007, the team competes in Formula SAE events around Europe and includes over 60 students from eight different faculties. Team members can do their final-year dissertation on research and development for the team’s cars … read more 

Excellence initiative in Hungarian universities

BUDAPEST (magyar hirlap) -- Promoting research and the development of young scientists are the twin aims of Hungary’s new National Excellence Programme. The programme, funded to the tune of 2.2 billion forints (7.1 million euros), replaces the EU-co-funded excellence initiative, which expired last year, and will provide thousands of scholarships to gifted science students … read more 15.04.2016

British sense of humour thwarted

LONDON (telegraph) -- The name RRS Boaty McBoatface has won a competition to name Britain’s new polar research vessel but is unlikely to be chosen, says universities minister Jo Johnson. The £200 million vessel will conduct research from 2019 into changes in Antarctica and their effect on climate change. The impact of the oceans on the ice sheets and their effect on global sea levels is key to this … read more 17.04.2016

Portugal: Back to school after dropping out

LISBON (publico) -- A programme designed to help Portuguese students who have dropped out of university return to higher education has been reoriented to focus on science and technology. The ‘Resume’ programme offers €1200 a year to returning students and aims to solve the country’s drop-out problem. The relaunch comes after the initial programme, launched by the previous government, struggled due to lack of applications … read more 18.04.2016

Long wait for refugee graduates in Sweden

STOCKHOLM (lundagard) -- Many refugees granted asylum in Sweden who have post-secondary qualifications (20 to 30 percent of the total) are unable to have these validated because of bureaucracy stemming from the Bologna Process. They must either complete a foundation course or wait five months to have their qualification validated by the Universities and Higher Education Council. Education minister Helene Hellmark Knutsson has promised more funding for this body, while Vice-Chancellor of Lund University Bo-Anders Jönsson has called for the law to be changed to facilitate accepting foreign degrees … read more 14.04.2016

More student protests in Georgia

TBILISI (dfwatch) -- Students at Tbilisi State University staged a sit-in at their university this weekend. They were demanding the abolition of the student union, which, according to the protesters’ statement, “only misspends money on entertainment events while important educational projects are not carried out”. The students also demand the ability to elect the university’s rector and academic council, that science be made a priority and the removal of state security agents from universities. Prime minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, met with students and agreed the student union needs to change and that more money is needed for the university … read more 18.04.2016

Portuguese government unfreezes university funding

LISBON (expresso) -- After protests by students and rectors last week and a direct appeal to Portuguese prime minister António Costa, the government U-turned on its plan to freeze funding for universities and polytechnics, stating the need to ‘safeguard the current management of higher education institutions’. The freeze would have amounted to a 57 million euro cut in universities’ and polytechnics’ budgets and would have ‘undermined their autonomy and led to underfunding’ … read more 08.04.2016

Right-wing student fraternities at German universities

Student loans accelerated in Poland

WARSAW (parlamentarny) -- Student loan applications are to be accelerated, with some granted in the summer before applicants start university, announced Polish science minister Jarosław Gowin. Loans will also be more flexible, ranging between 400 and 1000 złoty (90-230 euros) … read more 12.4

Bigger grants for Irish students

DUBLIN (independent) -- More students at Irish universities will qualify for grants and some for higher payments after the grants agency increased the amount of holiday earnings a student can earn from €3,809 to €4,500 without it counting as family income, thus an increase of up to €700 in grant payments for some. Student carers will also benefit by having their carer's support grant deducted from the total too … read more 15.04.2016

New Bulgarian student loan incentives

SOFIA (dnevik) -- Law reforms in higher education in Bulgaria are accompanying the privatisation of student funding. Education minister Meglena Kuneva announced changes to Bulgaria’s student loans system last week including the simplification of forms, introduction of more cases where loans can be cancelled and loans for students to study abroad. These will form the basis of amendments to the law on lending to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Students however still want lower interest rates on their loans comparable to those in neighbouring countries … read more 09.04.2016

Ranking opposition in Italy

ROME (il fatto quotidiano) -- The national evaluation agency (Anvur) has delayed publication of its rankings in order to gather more statistics after the University of Pisa and La Sapienza of Rome were set to score badly and lose millions of euros in funding. This was because many academics at the two universities had boycotted the assessment.
The boycott of the national research evaluation (VQR) is a countrywide protest that started with a petition of 23.000 university teachers (over a third of the total) angry at five years of frozen salaries, budget cuts and one evaluation after the other. Carlo Ferrero, professor of engineering at the Politecnico di Torino, is one of the founders of the ‘Movement for the Dignity of University Teaching’, he says: “The boycott is a signal that damages no one but it shows we exist” … read more 13.04.2016

Slovenia to join CERN

LJUBLJANA (siol) -- After Slovenian researchers participated in the Higgs Boson discovery, the country is now to become an associate member of CERN, becoming a full member after five years. Education minister Makovec Brenčič believes membership will help Slovenia’s hi-tech industry gain a greater foothold in foreign markets … read more 14.04.2016

The EIT has problems

BRUSSELS (eca) -- Seven years after its inception, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (with a budget of 2.7 billion euros) is still not fully operationally independent from the European Commission, a report says. This has hampered its decision-making, say the auditors. High staff turnover, including at senior management level, has limited the development of strategies and the efficiency of the EIT ... read more 14.04.2016