Greece creates science agency

ATHENS (nature) -- A massive loan from the European Union’s investment bank gives Greek researchers their first ray of hope since the debt crisis hit six years ago: a government-backed plan to create a Greek research agency. Dubbed the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI), it will issue regular calls for basic research proposals, fill requests for research equipment and award fellowships for young scientists. The EIB says that the HFRI is crucial to halting Greece’s startling brain drain, a parliamentary bill to establish the agency is currently being discussed ... read more 15.07.2016

Turkish academics ‘very scared’ over travel ban

ISTANBUL (jerusalem post) -- Turkish academics are living in fear, since the government implemented a travel ban in the aftermath of the recent coup attempt. Academics were banned from traveling abroad on Wednesday in what a Turkish official said was a temporary measure to prevent the risk of alleged coup plotters in universities from fleeing ... read more 21.07.2016

Erdoğan fires all university deans

ISTANBUL (zerohedge) -- After the coup attempt, Turkish president Recep Erdoğan first cracked down on his immediate military and legal opponents and then took his crusade against everyone else, including the press and the educational system. Turkey’s Board of Higher Education has requested the resignations of all 1,577 university deans, effectively dismissing them. At an emergency meeting of 165 university rectors in Ankara, YÖK had told university rectors to identify academics and administrators with connections to the Gülen movement — a religious and social organization that Erdoğan considers to be behind the coup — and to take steps to expel them. The council did not invite a further 28 rectors to that meeting, saying that their universities are suspected of being pro-Gülenist. Some of these institutions will be taken over by the state, YÖK said ... read more | and here 19.07.2016

Plagiarism investigations at Welsh universities rise

CARDIFF (independent) -- According to figures obtained by BBC Wales Today, half of universities in the country have seen an increase in the number of cases being investigated since the 2010/11 academic year. However, told the programme the use of the bespoke sites is not illegal ... read more 19.09.2016

Patenting by universities is counterproductive

GENEVA (ipw) -- A new publication analysing the relationship between intellectual property and access to science explores ways countries have developed to counter the potential barriers created by IP rights, and says patenting by universities is counterproductive. According to the publication, “some developments in intellectual property, notably in the field of patent law, have led to the appropriation of scientific knowledge that by its very nature should remain in the public domain, thereby jeopardizing its dissemination and further use” ... read more 19.7.16

European Universities Games officially opened

ZAGREB (itg) -- The European Universities Games (EUG) were officially declared open today by Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković during a ceremony at the Mladost Stadium in Zagreb. Around 5,000 athletes from 300 universities are competing in Rijeka and Zagreb ... read more 13.07.2016

Brexit: Fears of science and tech brain drain

LONDON (sky news) -- The particular worry for the technology sector is that other European cities such as Berlin will attract experts away from London. “We might move to Germany where there is more science and better organised science, and better funded science," Grace Roberts, a doctoral researchers at Leeds” ... read more 19.07.2016

European students cancel places because of Brexit

CARDIFF (wales online) -- More than 100 prospective students from Europe have withdrawn applications to study at Aberystwyth University because of the Brexit vote, according to a report. Vice-chancellor John Grattan said that around 50 of those pulled out the day after the results of the Euro referendum were announced ... read more 15.07.2016

Students and teachers’ unions against TTIP and CETA

BRUSSELS (esu) -- Education International (EI) and the European Students’ Union (ESU) urge governments in Europe, the United States,  and beyond, to exempt education from global trade agreements. “We believe that these agreements pose direct threats to the provision of high-quality public services, including education, in particular through restricting governments’ capacity to regulate in the public interest, encouraging further liberalisation of services and expanding the rights of multinational corporations,” said EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen ... read more 13.7.16

Private colleges in the US are not held accountable

WASINGTON (usn) -- A new study by economists found no evidence of improved earnings for the majority of students who left a for-profit institution. Another study found that 47 percent of student loan borrowers who exited for-profit schools in 2009 defaulted within five years ... read more 12.07.2016

Universities are more European than the EU

LONDON (the) -- The Brexit debate ought to look deeper, says historian Howard Hotson at Oxford University. Universities were not national institutions in origin, they were profoundly local and broadly European as they emerged incrementally from monasteries, cathedral schools or groups of private masters, which came together to form guilds or corporations. Then they quickly developed a symbiotic relationship with the highest authorities in Europe, which gave them legal status and reinforced their most valuable features ... read more 07.07.2016

Azerbaijan’s university begins its services export

BAKU (abc) -- The Azerbaijan State Economic University (UNEC) starts export of educational services to Europe, Asia and Africa. At a forum in South Korea, UNEC rector Adalat Muradov signed memoranda of understanding with universities in India, Macedonia and Nigeria ... read more 13.07.2017

The show must go on

Research spending cooling off in Sweden

How to improve study outcomes

BERLIN (standard) -- University teaching must adapt to the new times, German educational scientists demand. Real-life experiences should accompany studying, computers should enhance training and assessment centres should substitute final degrees ... read more | research paper 6.7.16

Free extension for Czech students

France: helping hand for humanities graduates

PARIS (le monde) -- Humanities and social science graduates in France are to receive help finding work, thanks to higher education minister Thierry Mandon. Specialist course evaluators will adapt courses for improved employability, the public sector will be encouraged to employ PhDs and there will be an awareness campaign to promote their unique skills to businesses. Humanities and social sciences are to be ‘put at the heart of society’ … read more 04.07.2016

Poor Scots

EDINBURGH (herald) -- Scottish students are always losing out. First it’s the Europeans taking their places, now it’s the English who, if statements made by the Scottish Conservative Party are to be believed, are being given preference at Scottish universities as they bring in valuable fee-money, which Scottish students do not. However Vonnie Sandlan, president of student body NUS Scotland, said this was untrue … read more | report12.07.2016

Turkey plagued by plagiarism

ANKARA (hurriyet) -- One in three Turkish theses have high rates of plagiarism, says a study by Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University. The study’s initial focus was the ‘quality of academic writing’ but its researchers were so surprised by the levels of plagiarism that they looked into it further. Turkish students seem “not to know how to write theses,” while academics do not know how to teach thesis writing … read more 01.07.2016

Portugal: Heitor calls for funding

LISBON (nam) -- Portugal’s science minister Manuel Heitor has called for more funding for research and development if Portugal and southern Europe in general are not to be left behind. He said only countries that have committed to R&D have seen sustained economic growth … read more 07.07.2016

Language barriers to Italy

ROME (il sole 24 ore) -- There could be more courses taught in English at Italian universities. Less than 250 correlate with only 70,000 foreign students a year. In comparison, over 1,200 courses in France and 1,800 in Germany attract 270,000 or 200,000 internationals … read more 10.07.2016

Scholarships to help Greek students

ATHENS (gr) -- The Greek government is changing the criteria for university students to receive scholarships. They will know take into account social criteria as well as the academic performance, meaning a less well-off student can achieve a lower grade and still be awarded the grant … read more 

Ukrainian students flock to Poland

RZESZÓW (expres) -- Ukrainian students are flocking to the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów in Poland. The university, which lies close to the Ukrainian border, offers many advantages such as low fees, good care for internationals, prestigious study abroad programmes and among the best degree prospects in Poland. 2,000 of its 5,500 students are internationals … read more 01.07.2016
Meanwhile in Rzeszów’s twin city in Ukraine, Ivano-Frankivsk, international students have been coming in large numbers to a Ukrainian university, the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University, one of Ukraine’s most prestigious, which saw more than 200 international students from more than three dozen countries graduate last month … read more 27.06.2016

Germany: ‘Could do better’ on immigrant education

BERLIN (dw) -- Children from immigrant backgrounds are still struggling to access higher education, shows Germany’s latest report on education. Although 20 percent more (56 percent) high school leavers of immigrant background achieved the school-leaving certificate than 10 years ago, they are still under-represented at grammar schools and thus in higher education … read more 17.06.2016

Swedish students sinking into debt

STOCKHOLM (finanzen) -- Despite not paying tuition fees, many Swedish students are sinking into debt paying for their rent, food and study supplies. Living expenses in Sweden are among the highest in the world and, to make matters worse, most students refuse to ask their parents for money, as is common in most of the Western world. As a result two thirds of students owe around 15,000 euros … read more 06.07.2016

Controversy over ‘oversensitivity’ at US uni

WASHINGTON (jezebel) -- Last December calls from students at Oberlin College in Ohio in the US for the play Antigone to have ‘content warnings’ sparked claims of the university being crushed by student political correctness. In an opinion piece Donna Zuckerberg, classics scholar and sister to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, writes however that giving content warnings is simply making allowances for more sensitive students, just like one would build a ramp for a wheelchair-using student … read more 27.06.2016

Sweden: Double-edged university business

UPPSALA (unt) -- The University of Uppsala in Sweden is upset at the high rents it is being charged by government-owned property company Akademiska Hus which owns its buildings. The company has insisted on charging market rents to the university, despite the fact that these are very difficult to ascertain. A further complaint is that since the company has a monopoly on the university property market it can keep prices high. Peter Bohman, regional director of the Academic House, is aware of the criticism: “The university has its mission, we have ours,” he said … read more 2.7.16

Italian rectors call for stronger universities

UDINE (ts) -- 50 Italian rectors in the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI) have called for the government to strengthen universities role in promoting the country’s competitiveness. They ask for more scholarships to boost access to higher education and more vocational degrees to give Italian young people the right skills for the market-place. Italy currently has one of the lowest graduate rates among OECD countries … read more 02.07.2016

Wiley tactics go down badly

LONDON (nature) -- The American academic publisher Wiley is under fire for creating ‘trap’ URLs designed to prevent piracy. The publisher had created more than 150 such links to webpages it had set up that appeared to be academic papers. When users clicked the links they were blocked from viewing other Wiley content. The ruse was discovered by an academic at Cambridge University … read more 29.06.2016

Two weeks on, what does Brexit mean for HE?

LONDON (div) -- The unprecedented decision of the UK to leave the EU will have big consequences for UK higher education: the possible end to the system as the UK itself potentially breaks up, reduced research funding, reduced student numbers from the EU and problems for British students studying in Europe. The Italian prime minister (see below) may have a solution for the latter but can the others be solved so easily? … read more | and here | here | here | here 27.06.2016

EU passports for British students?

LONDON (bbc) -- Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi and German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel have both suggested that Britons studying at European universities could be offered EU passports to allow them to continue studying there. Gabriel suggested that all young Britons living in Europe should be offered dual-nationality so that they continue to live there. He said the EU should not “pull up the drawbridge” on them, as they had largely voted to remain … read more | and here 04.07.2016

In a galaxy far, far away…

KEELE (keele uni) -- Teenagers on work experience at Keele University in the Midlands in the UK may have discovered a new planet. It orbits a star 800 light years away and is the size of Neptune … read more 30.06.2016

European University Games

ZAGREB (tcn) -- The third European University Games will be held in Croatia 12-25 July. The games, which are held every two years, will see 4,781 student sportspeople descend on Zagreb and Rijeka, both able-bodied and disabled. In the run-up to the games, student accommodation in Zagreb was refurbished with money from the EU … read more 24.06.2016

Makeover for Madrid

MADRID (el mundo) -- Madrid’s regional government is embarking on an extensive programme of reform for the region’s universities. Inspired by the example of Catalonia, the reforms aim to attract academic talent from around the country and the world, introduce non-lecture teaching techniques such as Massive Online Open Courses, put a stronger emphasis on research and introduce a degree of performance-based funding … read more 04.07.2016

International student business in Nancy, France

NANCY (est republicain) -- 15,772 euros is what each international student brings to the economy of Alsace-Lorraine in the east of France. With internationals making up 12.4 percent of students at the University of Lorraine, one of the highest rates in the country, the region benefits from 124 million euros a year … read more 02.07.2016

Faustian pact for Latvian university?

RIGA (reitingi) -- The University of Latvia has engaged World Bank experts to help it reform its governance and finances. Over the next two years the experts will advise on internal management, financing, recruitment and remuneration. A Faustian pact bringing in neo-liberalism along with its ‘improved’ structures? … read more 30.06.2016

Building up your staff in Sweden

STOCKHOLM (gp) -- The Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers has said that universities need to offer researchers permanent positions if they are not to go elsewhere. One in three employees in higher education are on a temporary contract whereas 97 percent of engineers outside academia are on a permanent contract … read more 01.07.2016

Mandatory gender quotas in Ireland

DUBLIN (irish times) -- Universities and colleges in Ireland risk losing funding if they do not introduce mandatory quotas for the number of women in senior positions. This is a recommendation in the Higher Education Authority’s report on gender equality. Although men and women are equally represented in HE institutions, women are under-represented in senior roles … read more 

Italy: hiring autonomy with a catch

ROME (il sole 24 ore) -- The Italian university sector has been reformed several times since 2000, most recently with education minister Stefania Giannini’s increasing of university autonomy. However this has been to the detriment of internationalisation, with 50 percent of job offers being reserved for existing staff at the university, showed this year’s ANVUR report … read more 27.06.2016

EU to advise on gender imbalance at universities

BRUSSELS (sci bus) -- The European Commission is launching a new online hub to advise universities on tackling gender imbalances. The site will good practice from the EU and abroad. Only one in five top level academics in the EU is a woman … read more 23.06.2016

Dance your PhD

WASHINGTON (science mag) -- That’s right, the magazine Science is asking people to dance their PhD. They are offering $1000 to the winner of their competition to turn a PhD into an interpretive dance and video it. Watch last year’s winner’s here … read more

News from the greatest university of the Netherlands

AMSTERDAM (nrc) -- Geert ten Dam has been appointed the new head of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA). Emphasising the importance of openness and accessibility, ten Dam said that students can always contact her. In this spirit her office is leaving the main administrative building and moving to be closer to the students … read more 03.06.2016
UvA and its administrative building, Maagdenhuis, had been the focus of Europe’s most important student protest in 2015. Two new committees, one for democratisation-decentralisation and one for financing, now ensure that student and staff supervise management decisions ... read more 02.06.2016

Oviedo’s new rector gets to work

OVIEDO (voz de asturias) -- The newly elected rector of the University of Oviedo in the north-west of Spain has wasted no time in setting out his priorities, after being elected on the 20th June. Santiago García-Granda has three main priorities: ending the high staff turnover, deciding on a new university entrance test and dealing with the introduction of the three year bachelor course … read more 27.06.2016

French go to La Belle Province

MONTREAL (le monde) -- French students are still flocking to Quebec and elsewhere in Canada, despite a hike in tuition fees from 1600 to 4100 euros. Many of the 10,000 going this year are trying to avoid the dreaded ‘preparatory classes’ necessary to enter France’s grandes écoles … read more 

Likes and dislikes of Erasmus students in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA (sme) -- Women, cheap alcohol and Marek Hamšík ‒ these are three of the reasons listed by Erasmus students for going to Slovakia. Marek Hamšík was cited by Neapolitan students whose hometown he plays football in, the cheap alcohol was mentioned by German students and the country’s women were praised by, predictably, a male student. Complaints included not being understood verbally, problems with the immigration authorities and strict rules on university accommodation … read more 28.06.2016