Chinese universities as communist strongholds

BEIJING (cdt) -- At a high-level meeting on ideological and political work in higher education this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on colleges and universities to serve as communist “strongholds that adhere to party leadership” … read more 10.12.2016

Prize fosters student entrepreneurs in France

TOULOUSE (div) -- Ever since the Pépite Prize for budding entrepreneurs was introduced in 2014, French students can’t get enough. In October of this year, Pépite received 2,300 applications in three months, more than double the number during the same period last year. In spite of encouraging figures, the education ministry’s Secretary of State Thierry Mandon thinks “it deserves wider recognition” … read more | and here 10.11.2016

‘Snob value’ pushing Irish young people to university

DUBLIN (irish times) -- With 60 percent, Ireland has the highest proportion of school-leavers attending universities in Europe. But John Hegarty of the Royal Irish Academy worries this is due to parents’ and society’s “snob value”, pushing young people to university instead of apprenticeships and training that they might be more suited to … read more 09.12.2016

UK universities take risks on copyright

LONDON (the) -- Universities in the UK continue to take risks regarding copyright and intellectual property when recording lectures. Nearly three quarters of UK institutions recorded lectures this year, but there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the issue. “It’s not so much that institutions don’t have copyright policies, it’s whether they had one relating to lecture recording,” said Jane Secker, adviser at the London School of Economics … read more 08.12.2016

Berlin business school to accept bitcoin

BERLIN (bravenewcoin) -- The Berlin-based European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) has become the first German institute of higher education to accept the virtual currency bitcoin as payment for tuition … read more 09.12.16

German mediocracy

PARIS (welt) -- Since 2000 Germany has performed averagely in PISA test results and this year even showed decline in science and maths. Due to a possible culture of permissiveness, mediocracy prevails in schools. Employers and universities find students unprepared and dropout rates in science and maths courses are shockingly high … read more 08.12.2016

Swiss research funding exceeds expectations

BERN (div) -- As part of a Bill on funding for education, research and innovation for 2017-2020, the Swiss Parliament will provide 395 million francs (365 million euros) more than the Federal Council had requested. The money will be targeted at vocational education and medical training, as well as support for innovation and the next generation of scientists … read more | and here 05.12.2016

Axa to fund university course in Italy

TURIN (repubblica) -- Insurance group Axa will provide 800,000 euros over ten years to fund a professorship at the University of Turin in the socio-economic risks of the financial markets, a first for the institution ... read more 06.12.2016

Estonian private R & D in decline

TALLINN (baltic course) -- In keeping with Europe-wide trends, Estonia’s total domestic expenditure on research and development increased by six percent last year. In spite of this, investment as a proportion of expenditure was at its lowest point on record in the business sector, and the number of employees in R & D also declined … read more 05.12.2016

Pocket university

GRAZ (oe-journal) -- Students at the University of Graz can organise nigh on theire whole university experience in the palm of their hand with the new UniGrazMobile app. Exam results, calendar and a digital campus map form the basis that may become a template for other Austrian unis … read more 6.12.

Roadmap to mobilise European universities in energy

BRUSSELS (science business) -- Universities are core stakeholders in Europe’s energy transition towards a low carbon society. The European University Association has just published a “Roadmap for European Universities in Energy,” which outlines a path forward for universities to coordinate their contributions to energy and climate challenges ... read more 01.12.2016

Poland: Gowin appeals to universities

WARSAW (pr) -- Poland’s science minister, has appealed to universities to treat October’s deregulation act (intended to reduce bureaucracy) seriously. Gowin also announced work on a new law to “define the future of science, not for the coming years, but decades,” which focuses on cooperation between universities and the economy … read more 01.12.2016

Occupying students in Spain removed

BARCELONA (20minutos) -- Police expelled around 60 students belonging to the Catalonian students’ union SEPC after their occupation of the university secretariat of the regional government. The students were demanding a 30 percent rebate on tuition fees … read more 02.12.2016

What to learn from the PISA results

PARIS (economist) -- Another potential waste of money, if only from the perspective of PISA results, might be sending children to private school. Although OECD pupils in public schools score lower in science than students in private schools, this is more to do with their economic and social backgrounds ... read more 06.12.2016

European Commission reveals High Level Group members

BRUSSELS (uwn) -- The European Commission has chosen the 12 members of its High Level Group tasked with maximising the impact of research and innovation. The group’s chair is Pascal Lamy, president emeritus of the Jacques Delors Institute and former director general of the World Trade Organisation … read more 29.11.2016

Danish students speed up

COPENHAGEN (cph post) -- Ten years ago Danish students took an average of six months longer to finish their studies than they do now, according to a report by Universities Denmark … read more 06.12.2016

Bosch cooperation in Portugal

AVEIRO (jn) -- Around 150 jobs are expected to be created as a result of Bosch entering cooperation with the University of Aveiro in Portugal. The 19 million euro invested between the two aims to create smart home solutions … read more 02.12.2016

Italy’s Budget Act: what’s new for education

Rising numbers of Swiss graduates

BERN (24heures) -- More and more Swiss people have been graduating from university since 2000, particularly women. This is partially thanks to the creation of the universities of applied sciences in 1997 … read more 29.11.16

10 years of the European Research Council


BRUSSELS (science business) -- The ERC has become one of the world’s most important funders of basic research. As it approaches its 10th anniversary, a new account describes the formation and subsequent development of this beacon of excellence … read more 01.12.2016

Belgian students against fee increases

BRUSSELS (bondy blog) -- According to advocates, increasing tuition fees for non-EU students makes Belgium more attractive abroad. Plans for next year would increase these fees to 12,525 euros, five times the basic rate for Belgians. Students of francophone universities gathered in Brussels last week despite the bitter cold to contest this. One protestor argued, “raising the quality of education, not the fees, is the only way to gain prestige” … read more

Sino-Russian Alliance

ST. PETERSBURG (global times) -- Eight Chinese and 18 Russian universities will be participating in the newly established Russian-Chinese Association of Culture and Arts Universities. The Association’s activities include student exchanges, research projects and grants … read more 02.12.2016

European R & D spending on the rise

BRUSSELS (orf) -- Gross domestic spending on Research and Development is, on the whole, increasing in the EU. But if you look at the EU’s target - three percent of GDP - the picture isn’t so rosy. Sweden, Austria and Denmark are the only Member States to reach this … read more 30.11.2016

Open Access is the future

Los Angeles (div) -- Printed scientific journals are seeing the beginning of their decline, and online Open Access equivalents are coming to take their place. Although the global market for printed journals is still much larger (at 12 billion dollars compared to the 500 million dollar open access market), the former is shrinking, while the latter is surging at around 20 percent a year. This also presents an opportunity for non-English language articles to improve poor rates of citation. “Open Access publications could overcome this language barrier,” says Srinubabu Gedela, CEO of Open Access publisher OMICS … read more | and here 28.11.2016

STEM shortage in Germany

COLOGNE (dlf) -- Like never before, Germany is lacking graduates in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The issue is particularly prominent in the former states of East Germany. A report of the Cologne Institute for Economic Research estimates that Germany needs 212,000 STEM professionals at the moment … read more 30.11.2016

Fake universities in Belgium

BRUSSELS (la libre) -- In Belgium, home of Trappist ale and fine chocolate, over 40 universities have been investigated for deceptive marketing practices. Some of them charge up to 2745 euros a year for worthless bachelor’s degrees. Government agency FPS Economy led the investigation, stating, “only those institutions recognised by the competent community may use the title of university” … read more 30.11.2016