Foreign students scared off from Brussels

BRUSSELS (rtbf) -- The VUB university in Brussels has announced a drop of 20 percent in Erasmus students studying there this year. The supposed reason is fears about the security situation in the city after the terror attacks in March … read more 30.05.2016

Bulgarian university self-imposes cuts

SOFIA (btvnovinite) -- The University of Veliko Turnovo in northern Bulgaria has decided to cut its budget by 25 percent over the next three years in order to pay off its debts of six million lev (three million euros). The cuts will be funded by cutting administrative staff, letting staff go at retirement age and closing down unpopular subjects. The education ministry, which endorses the plan, has promised 1.5 million lev to the university … read more 23.5.2016

Bob the Belarussian builder

MINSK (tvr) -- 10,000 Belarussian students are due to work on construction sites in St Petersburg, Russia, this summer in an initiative organised by the Belarussian Youth Union. They will gain new skills and be able to earn up to the equivalent of 545 euros. Russian students will come to Belarus, some to work in construction, some to work in its hospitals … read more 29.05.2016

France: Nobel laureates say NO to BELkacem

PARIS (huffpost) -- Seven French Nobel laureates have come out against a planned cancelling of 256 million euros worth of funding for scientific research in the country. The scientists describe it as the country’s science sector ‘committing suicide’. However education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem has reassured the laureates that the cuts will have no effect on the workings of research organisations … read more 24.05.2016

Gotcha: students caught with fake diplomas in Moldova

CHISINAU (publika) -- Four students at the Comrat State University in Moldova have been prosecuted for using faked high school diplomas to enter the university. This was after they failed their high school leaving exams and paid 850 euros each for a forgery of the diploma … read more 24.05.2016

Austria: Working 9 till 5… and studying too

VIENNA (kurier) -- A fifth of students in Austria are working full-time, many to pay the bills. In total 61 percent of all students work alongside their studies. The Österreichische HochschülerInnenschaft (the Austrian Students’ Union) said the results pointed to a dire financial situation for home students. As a result a third would be unable to pay unexpected costs of 450 euros in a month. The students’ union demands an increase in student support funds, last increased in 1999 … read more 24.05.2016

Italian research is holding up well

ROME (wired) -- There has been a significant decrease in the number of students enrolling in Italy and staff numbers, shows the latest ANVUR report. However the country is still doing well in research. Although enrolment numbers increased slightly last year, they showed a worrying gulf emerging between North and South, with an increase of 3.2 percent and only 0.4 percent respectively … read more

UK university lecturers strike over pay

LONDON (guardian) -- Members of the University and College Union are taking industrial action after talks to resolve a dispute over a 1.1 percent pay offer collapsed last week. Lecturers are striking against low-paid, casual work, which hurts students too. In addition to the two-day walkout, the UCU is warning that further action in coming weeks ... read more 25.05.2016

Cuts to the numbers of PhDs in Lithuania

VILNIUS (15 min) -- The Lithuanian education ministry plans to reduce the number of doctoral positions in the country in an effort to increase the quality of PhD students’ education. This comes as education minister Audronius Pitrėnienė promised 1.3 million euros more for doctorates. Prof. Sigitas Tamulevičius at Kaunas University of Technology however believes the number of doctorates should be increased as doctorate students help develop new technologies and products … read more 24.05.2016

Hedgefund Harvard - tuition free?

CAMBRIDGE, US (df) -- Graduates of Harvard are rallying for the abolition of tuition fees. Conservative politician and businessman Ron Unz argues that Harvard has become “one of the world’s largest hedge funds with a small college attached” in order pay no taxes. Fees account for only four percent of the institutions 37.7 billion dollar assets, he said, and dropping tuition would be the best way to attract low-income applicants ... read more | and here 20.5.2016

Michelle Obama’s ‘appy for Higher Education

WASHINGTON (science guide) -- Five finalists have been announced in a competition launched by Michelle Obama to develop an app to help students choose degrees and jobs. The apps will include integrated tools to assess student skills and interests, and offer information on occupations, education options, credentials, and career-seeking skills … read more 17.5.16

Andalusian universities finally get paid

SEVILLE (diario de cadiz) -- The regional government of Andalusia in Spain has announced it will finally repay its debts to the region’s universities, which amount to 226 million euros. The government said the repayment plan will allow students to continue to receive their grants for the Erasmus programme and the B1 language courses… read more 25.05.2016

Hamburg left outside the elite club

HAMBURG (tagesspiegel) -- Hamburg’s science minister Katharina Fegebank has demanded that the status of ‘excellence university’ be reviewed every seven years. This is in the light of the determination of the German government and industry to create an Ivy League of universities with a strong international outlook and corporate structures … read more 26.05.2016

Please sir, I want some more

OSLO (aftenposten) -- The rectors of five leading Norwegian universities have demanded more funding from the government, despite already receiving more than other universities in the country, which, if granted, would make them something like Germany’s ‘excellent universities’. However the government’s Productivity Commission has instead called for increased competition for the state grants in order to promote quality research … read more 25.05.2016

Too many toffs at Spanish universities

BARCELONA (opinion de Zamora) -- Nearly half of the students (43.6 percent) in the universities in the north and east of Spain are from upper-class families, who are therefore significantly over-represented. To solve this problem, the authors of the survey which showed this recommend nothing more than favouring mature students (i.e. over those 25), helping the ones at risk of dropping out and linking student grants to household income … read more 24.05.2016

Kurdish student branded ‘terrorist’ in Turkey

ISTANBUL (rudaw) -- A Kurdish college student was expelled from her hostel in Turkey, lost her scholarship, and was questioned by the police on terrorism charges after being heard speaking in Kurdish on the phone. Pınar Çetinkaya had been overheard by her roommates speaking to her parents and they filed a complaint with the hostel managers … read more 14.05.2016

Private university professors unhappy in Albania

TIRANA (telegraf) -- A group of lecturers at private universities in Albania have listed their grievances with their employers. Their complaints included not receiving their full pay, not being given the right support with publishing articles and studies and not being given any working spaces … read more 

Support for ‘priority professional fields’ in Bulgaria

SOFIA (dnevik) -- Students studying STEM subjects and pedagogical sciences in Bulgaria are to receive EU scholarships to encourage the take-up of these subjects which are deemed essential to the economy. However the country’s National Union of Students believe students should have equal access to the scholarships … read more 16.05.2016

Armenia joins the Horizon 2020 party

YEREVAN (mediamax) -- Armenia has been granted access to Horizon 2020. Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Johannes Hahn noted that Armenia joining Horizon 2020 was a concrete example of the commitment to enhance EU relations with Armenia … read more 20.05.2016

Austria happy with Horizon 2020

VIENNA (standard) -- Austria is a net recipient of research funding from the EU’s eighth framework programme Horizon 2020, receiving three percent of the funding whilst only contributing 2.3 percent of the funds. 391 million euros have been received for 693 projects. These figures are particularly impressive given the difficulty of having projects accepted, the average acceptance rate being 14 percent … read more 16.5.16

Why the Swiss feel so European

BERN (nzz) -- The EU has declared that if Switzerland does not extend freedom of movement rights to Croatians, the country will immediately lose equal access to Horizon 2020 funds. In a survey 81 percent of Swiss thought that the programme was important to their universities, which may persuade voters to ratify the EU law granting Croatians free access to Switzerland … read more 22.05.2016

Andorra wants Erasmus

ANDORRA LA VELLA (bon dia) -- Andorra’s education minister Eric Jover has signalled his intention to enter the Erasmus programme. He also called for the University of Andorra to develop a Master’s programme and praised its internationa-lisation programme, which is both attracting foreign students and boosting the country’s profile internationally … read more 17.05.2016

National innovation package in Germany

BERLIN (finanzen) -- On top of renewing the excellence initiative for world class research universities, the German parliament has approved a further 1.5bn € for 1000 tenure track posts and ‘innovative universities’, motivated by the lack of attractive academic career paths and the desire to improve technology transfer at smaller universities … read more 20.05.2016

ESU wanted more from visa directives

BRUSSELS (pienews) -- New EU rules will soon allow non-EU students to move within the EU, stay nine months after graduating and work up to 15 hours a week. The European Students’ Union has welcomed the move but said it had wanted students to be able to stay for 18 months and for them to be able bring their families with them, not just researchers … read more 19.05.2016

Brexit may severely damage research

LONDON (science) -- A report suggests that the UK would lose a lot of EU research funding if it leaves following the in-out referendum next month. The country only spends 1.63 percent of its GDP on research (compared to Germany’s 2.85 percent) and has thus come to rely on EU funding to prop up its own spending shortfall. However the decision by the lobby group Universities UK to publicly oppose Brexit has been branded by some as ‘damaging to democracy’… read more 17.05.2016

Hunt for bogus universities in Belgium

BRUSSELS (la libre) -- The Belgian government has launched a campaign to root out fraudulent universities which offer worthless qualifications. The number of such institutions has multiplied in recent years thanks to the Internet … read more 18.05.2016

White paper accelerates privatisation of UK higher ed

LONDON (pie news) -- A white paper has just been published outlining changes to British higher education to increase competition by making it easier for alternative providers to access degree awarding powers. Even more of universities’ funding will come from tuition fees meaning student choice of university will determine funding, meaning ‘the market’ governs university success or failure … read more | and here 17.05.2016

700 years of free thinking

PRAGUE (monitor) -- 76 universities from 29 countries have signed a document affirming the importance of free thinking and its place in universities. This was on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the birth of King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded eleven universities. The declaration says critical thinking of free people and free discussion remain the most precious values in spite of the dramatic changes the world has undergone since the birth of Charles IV … read more 16.05.2016

Boost for student-entrepreneurs in France

PARIS (l’etudiant) -- Two years ago the legal status of ‘student-entrepreneur’ was created in France, which allows students to develop a business idea alongside their studies. Many have yet to hear of it however. Higher education minister Thierry Mandon has thus launched a campaign to raise awareness of it. He also wants to promote an ‘entrepreneurial spirit’, boost co-working spaces and offer loans to student-entrepreneurs … read more 17.05.2016

Switzerland strides ahead in open access

ZURICH (swiss info) -- 40 percent of scientific publications produced with the support of public funding in Switzerland are openly accessible, which puts the country well on the way to achieving the aim of the Amsterdam Call for Action on Open Science, which is to achieve full open access for all publicly funded scientific publications by 2020 … read more 10.05.2016

Denmark to stop free education for EU students?

COPENHAGEN (ekstra bladet) -- More and more EU students are studying for free in Denmark and education minster Ulla Tørnæs is considering putting an end to it. She complained that many leave Denmark after their studies and so do not contribute to Danish society. She may curtail the number of courses taught in English in an effort to reduce the numbers. This may be seen as challenging the fundamental principles of the EU … read more 18.05.2016

Ireland using international students as cash cows

DUBLIN (irish times) -- Ireland is turning to international students to plug the gap in its university funding. International students pay up to €20,000 a year and provide 15 percent of the income at some universities despite only making up 8.8 percent of the overall student body … read more 17.05.2016

Overseas students paying through the nose in Sweden

STOCKHOLM (sveriges radio) -- Non-EU students are paying up to twice as much as their degrees cost their universities. The students are paying between 20,000 (2,100 euros) and 60,000 kronor (6,400 euros) per year more than the government pays for their Swedish and EU counterparts’ degrees … read more 10.05.2016

Greece stumps up for education

ATHENS (news bomb) -- Despite the dire straits that Greece is in economically, the country has mustered up an additional 25 million euros for higher education. Part of this money will go towards the hiring of an additional 500 university staff. Deputy research minister Sia Anagnostopoulou affirmed the importance of free university education … read more 15.05.2016

European super-university

ZURICH (rsi) -- The Universities of Basel, Upper Alsace, Strasbourg and Freiburg, and the Technological Institute of Karlsruhe have officially merged to create the first European university to span three countries. Its name: Eucor. Although maintaining their independence, the universities are legally a single entity under European law. The merger aims to boost research and teaching and provide uniform scientific facilities across the five universities … read more 11.05.2016

Time to come home, Georgian scientists

TBILISI (ministry of education) -- Georgia and Germany have signed an agreement which aims to attract Georgian scientists working in Germany back to their country. The Jülich Research Centre in Germany, which supports the move, will arrange laboratories in Georgia for the returning scientists, in addition to various exchange programmes and information-sharing initiatives ... read more 11.05.2016

Fears about Finnish performance-oriented funding

HELSINKI (kaleva) -- Finnish universities are anxiously awaiting the implementation next year of performance-oriented funding, which they fear will change the financial relationship between universities, which will now be in competition. A main criterion is the graduate employment rate. However universities fear that the criteria are not transparent enough, which will hinder their long-term planning ... read more 16.05.2016

Low-cost places cut in Belarus

MINSK (udf) -- The number of low-cost places at university in Belarus has been cut again, with places for students in construction work particularly affected. The number of places for medical students however was increased. The changes were justified on the basis of demand for the graduates of particular subjects, with President Alexander Lukashenko saying education needed to be ‘elitist’. The changes happen against a backdrop of increasing student numbers in the country ... read more 12.5.16

Albanian rector candidate uses mafia methods

London students on rent strike

LONDON (le monde) -- ‘I am officially on rent strike’ said one London student on Twitter following a decision by 1,000 students at UCL, Roehampton, Goldsmith’s and the Courtauld Institute to refuse to pay their rent until a reduction in rent has been negotiated with their halls of residence. Rents in London have quadrupled in the last fifteen years, with 80 percent of a student’s budget going on rent … read more 13.05.2016

Student rents in Belgium: Marcourt to the rescue!

BRUSSELS (la libre) -- Student grants to be linked to rents – that’s what higher education minister for Wallonia-Brussels Jean-Claude Marcourt wants to implement as part of a plan to reduce studying costs and improve social support for students. This responds to a growing need across Europe where rents are becoming increasing unaffordable, e.g. in London and Berlin ... read more 11.05.2016

Germany needs to catch up on digitalisation

BERLIN (bz) -- A new report shows that Germany is doing well in R&D, with more than 600,000 people employed in the sector. However, as science minister Johanna Wanka pointed out, competition from abroad, especially Japan, and particularly in regard to digitalisation, means Germany cannot afford to rest on its laurels … read more 11.05.2016

New residency rules for non-EU students

BRUSSELS (nus) -- Non-EU students will soon have greater access to the EU jobs market after an EU Visa Directive which allows them to stay nine months after completing their studies, move within the EU during their studies and work up to 15 hours a week. Member states have two years to implement the new rules … read more 12.05.2016

Too much PR = bad science

VIENNA (orf) -- New studies show that the PR surrounding science is endangering its integrity. Universities nowadays have to compete with one another for students, funding and academics and so there is pressure to present themselves in the best possible light. Half of the surveyed scientists admitted to changing research so the public would react better to it. A fifth said they chose or avoided research questions based on the expected public reaction … read more 10.05.2016

Sicily: disabled students facing cuts

PALERMO (repubblica) -- This week disabled students at the University of Palermo in Sicily protested reductions to transport and mentoring services. This comes after the education ministry cut funds allocated to disabled students. The university rector promised to find funds elsewhere to keep the transport going … read more 11.05.2016

Startup-speed-dating in Switzerland

ZURICH (nzz) -- In April 120 students at the ETH Zürich took part in a ‘startup-speed-dating’ event to bring together potential start-up founders. So far this year the university has supported the founding of five firms, part of its technology transfer programme. Scholarships and working space is offered to start-up teams. What they need most, however, is a reduction in red-tape, easy relations with the authorities and clear regulations … read more 7.5.16

Open innovation - a special outlook in NATURE

LONDON (nature) -- Academics and industry competitors are increasingly working together in a spirit of openness in order to accelerate research. Examples include collaboration on basic research, open competitions to solve complex biological problems which make data freely available and the non-patenting of discoveries … read more 11.05.2016

The Swiss do well without Erasmus

ZURICH (nzz) -- Switzerland’s replacement programme for the Erasmus+ student mobility programme (Semp) has been confirmed for another year. After the referendum against immigration non-EU member Switzerland cannot take part in the Erasmus initiative. However there are negotiations in process to include Switzerland in the future again … read more 06.05.2016

Bulgaria: We want our scholarships back

SOFIA (monitor) -- Medical students will protest on Monday 16th May outside the Bulgarian education ministry against cutbacks in scholarships. The reasons given are that medical faculties do not need to encourage students to study there and that many students emigrate on graduation. Education minister Meglena Kuneva said the decision will stand and that she will invite the management of the medical faculties to find other ways to stimulate demand for places … read more 11.05.2016