Half a billion krone in cuts to Norwegian higher education
OSLO (khrono) -- If Norwegian HEIs implement the government’s so-called efficiency cuts, the total cost will amount to half a billion krone (55 million euros). It will be technical-administrative staff who will be hit the hardest, with positions at many universities either being slashed or hiring frozen. Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Bjørn Haugstad, recently stated that the Ministry has done enough for technical and administrative staff, which technical manager at NTNU, Øystein Risa, found galling: “Haugstad is belittling the challenge administrative staff are facing” … read more 27.10.2016
No trust in Latvian education minister
RIGA (baltic course) -- Latvians categorically would not trust education and science minister, Karlis Sadurskis, with their family budget, according to data from pollster SKDS ... read more10.10.2016
Calls for Slovenian rector to resign
MARIBOR (div) -- The Slovenian education union SVIZ has called for Igor Tičar, rector of the University of Maribor, to resign. The rector failed to take action against the general secretary of his rectorate who, in a SVIZ report that Tičar himself commissioned, was found to have created a hostile and offensive working environment. SVIZ say “this gesture says everything about the priorities of the Rector, who should be obliged to protect victims of hate but instead is protecting the offender.” Tičar declined to comment on the union’s demands … read more | and here 28.10.16
EU students turn back on UK unis
Russian language courses come first
MOSCOW (tass) -- Russian education minister Olga Vasilyeva will “take appropriate action” with those universities who have been bypassing the obligatory ‘Russian language and culture of speech’ course to teach foreign languages instead … read more 27.10.2016
Austrian university in Dubai
DUBAI (menafn) -- In what could provide a model for the future, MODUL University Vienna, a research-intensive international private university, has opened a campus in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the first Austrian private uni to open a campus outside of Europe and all courses will be in English ... read more 25.10.2016
EU proposes tax breaks for Research and Development
BRUSSELS (sciencebusiness) -- Draft legislation drawn up by the European Commission would incentivise corporate research and development (R&D) by deducting 100 percent of R&D spending for big companies, and offering further deductions for big spending on R&D. For instance, under the draft legislation, a company that spends 30 million euros on R&D could deduct 42.5 million euros from its tax base … read more 27.10.2016
First Spanish student demonstration of the season
MADRID (el país) -- In dozens of Spanish cities, students (as well as teachers and parents) hit the streets in protest against the new education law. Already ratified by previous education minister José Wert, the law has not been applied yet. The protests aim at the so-called “reválidas”, pre-university exams that allow universities to select candidates. Education minister Íñigo Méndez de Vigo has defended the exams as “useful”, but according to a survey, 80 percent of professors are against them ... read more | and here 27.10.2016
A new dawn with AURORA
AMSTERDAM (vu) -- Aurora, a cooperative community of nine European universities has been launched in Amsterdam. President of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and founder of Aurora, Jaap Winter, commented: “Aurora universities share their determination to build a different kind of inclusive university community that fits a more networked generation” … read more 21.10.2016
Russia spying on its students?
MOSCOW (rferl) -- Nikita Danyuk, deputy head of the Russian Institute for Strategic Research and Forecasts delivered a series of lectures to over 40 universities in Russia titled ‘Scenarios for the Future of Russia’. According to a report from newspaper Kommersant, he was acting as an informant, gathering information on the ‘protest potential’ of Russia’s students and relaying that information back to the Kremlin. The report quotes Danyuk as saying “notes were drawn up for official use” and “destructive propaganda of antistate ideas” was being expressed “without embarrassment” in private settings. Danyuk has denied being an “informant” and claims his words were twisted … read more 26.10.2016
Hottest universities in the UK
LONDON (metro) -- A scientifically indisputable ranking of the most attractive universities in the UK puts, perhaps unsurprisingly, London at the top for men and women. According to the data from dating app Tinder, Cardiff and Leeds were close behind in numbers of right-swipes for both genders … read more
Swedes lose interest in university
ÖSTERGÖTLAND (nt) -- Universities in Sweden have increased their number of courses available since last year, and the number of applications has also risen, but the number of applicants is down, summarises the higher education council UHR. A favourable labour market is likely putting off some young Swedes from taking on a degree … read more 26.10.16
Calls for greater autonomy in Spanish universities
MADRID (la opinión) -- Certain Spanish educators, such as the president of the social council of the University of A Coruña Antonio Abril, have called for universities to be able to choose staff and students with greater freedom. But Abril also questioned the need for elected rectors, pointing to examples from foreign universities and companies where leaders are hired externally … read more 19.10.
Ukraine’s academic diaspora is gathering in Germany
KIEV (researchresearch) -- Ukraine is looking to reform, and quite a bit has been done in science and education. Two laws, on higher education and on scientific and technical activity, have been adopted; both could lead to significant change. A network initiative of Ukrainian scientists abroad is trying to accelerate this process ... read more 20.10.2016
Hillary Clinton's tuition-free proposal
WASHINGTON (wp) -- During the most recent presidential debate Hillary Clinton unveiled her plan to make college education tuition-free for families with incomes up to a threshold of 85,000 dollars at first, increasing by 10,000 dollars each year reaching 125,000 dollars by 2021. According to her campaign this would be funded by closing high-income tax loopholes ... read more 20.10.2016
Temperature rises on Bulgarian student housing market
SOFIA (standart) -- Rents in student areas of Sofia have increased beyond the affordable threshold of 500 lev (250 euro) per month, and in some areas greater than 600 lev, according to consulting company PRIMO. Brokers fear that this is unhealthy for the market, which risks “overheating” and reducing the number of transactions … read more 24.10.2016
Hungarian academics in uproar
BUDAPEST (div) -- More than 150 members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences have signed an open letter to the academy’s president, László Lovász, decrying the anti-democratic measures of the right-wring populist government. The letter came in response to the resignations of external members and their efforts to orchestrate mass resignations in protest at the forced closure of left-wing newspaper, Népszabadság. The letter states: “We feel that the Academy has the responsibility and the historical duty to raise its voice in defence of freedom and justice in Hungary” … read more | and here 20.10.16
Danes abandon foreign languages
COPENHAGEN (politiken) -- If the number of foreign language courses at Danish universities is anything to go by, then Danes seem to placing less and less value on learning a language other than English. At many HEIs foreign languages can now only be studied as part of another course, and the Copenhagen Business School will soon stop offering any language other than English … read more 25.10.2016
Unprecedented Dutch student numbers
AMSTERDAM (gelderlander) -- Never before have so many students filled the lecture halls of Dutch universities. The total number of enrolled students increased this year by 2.5 percent, bringing the total number to 265,000, thanks in large part to an influx of foreign students … read more 26.10.2016
EU Parliament decides budget for 2017
BRUSSELS (div) -- The European Parliament (EP) has adopted in plenary its position on the EU budget for 2017. It confirms the allocations for research contained in the EU Commission’s initial proposal and its further increase, the reversal of all cuts suggested by the Finance Ministers (ECOFIN), and the full compensation of the European Fund for Strategic Investment-related cuts in Horizon 2020 ... read more | and here 26.10.2016
Ghostwriting on the rise in Austria
VIENNA (orf) -- More and more students in Austria are using paid essay-writing services to do their work for them, according to plagiarism expert Stefan Weber. He even paid 250 euros himself to try out one such service and received work he was “certain would be graded ‘very good’ or good’ if I were to hand it in at an Austrian university” … read more 21.10.2016
Portuguese private unis in resurgence
PORTO (público) -- Private universities in Portugal began to see a fall in student numbers in 1999, but for the second year running, preliminary figures from the national newspaper Público show that attendance of private institutions has increased – a feat not seen in 20 years. President of the Porto regional sector of the Portuguese Catholic University, Manuel Alfonso Vaz said, "there is some recovery, after difficult years" … read more 23.10.16
Greek polytechnics ready for battle
ATHENS (kathimerini) -- The Greek education ministry’s plans to create a single research and technology space have their pros and cons. On the one hand, polytechnics (known as TEIs) will be renamed as Universities of Applied Sciences, as in many other countries. On the other hand, the plan includes university mergers and closures of institutions. The rectors of TEIs are ready for battle ... read more 19.10.2016
European efforts for Open Access
BRUSSELS (science guide) -- During the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU Open Access has been put firmly on the European scientific agenda. A survey report by Science Europe shows that everywhere in Europe efforts have been made to implement OA policies ... read more 20.10.2016
Huawei starts university cooperation in Portugal
SHANGHAI (jn) -- The Chinese ICT corporation Huawei signed an agreement with Portugal’s Agency for Trade and Investment in order to establish a partnership programme with Portuguese universities. The programme is entirely funded by the company and open to high performing students in the areas of informatics, electronics and telecommunications ... read more | and here 12.10.2016
Corruption at Italian universities under scrutiny
ROME (tag24) -- Italy’s national anti-corruption chief Raffaele Cantone vowed to wage war on nepotism, cronyism and graft in the country’s universities. “We are drowning in reports from lecturers, especially regarding the awarding of professorships. There is a strong link between corruption and brain drain,” he said ... read more | and here 07.10.2016
Plan for more startups at Polish universities
WARSAW (merkle) -- Jarosław Gowin, Poland’s science minister, has a plan. He wants the country’s top universities to shift their focus to fostering innovation rather than “just teaching” ... read more | and here 18.10.2016
French universities free to choose Master’s candidates
PARIS (l’etudiant) -- The French science ministry and representatives of students, staff and institutions have come to a compromise in the long-standing controversy over Master’s Selection. The word ‘selection’ is avoided in the agreement, but all universities are allowed to select their master’s students for the winter semester 2017/2018. Bachelor’s graduates retain their right to a master’s place. A trade union representative spoke of a “compromise of a German nature” ... read more 04.10.2016