New Slovak science minister clears the deck
BRATISLAVA (správy pravda) -- Newly appointed Slovak education and science minister Martina Lubyová has had a rough start in office. Her predecessor, Peter Plavčan had to step down after allegations of mismanaging European funds for research and innovation. Allegedly, subsidies were granted to companies that had never conducted research. Lubyová reassures Brussels that the 300 million Euros, blocked by the EU since July, can now be released, as “measures to guarantee trancparency have been taken” ...
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here 22.10.2017
Bureaucracy drives brain-drain in Czechia
PRAGUE (tyden) -- Czech MEP and former EU Commissioner, Pavel Telička has criticised the way in which the Czech Republic handles the recognition of foreign diplomas, saying that it prevents young Czechs who studied abroad from returning to their home country to work. “It’s almost absurd there are students who have graduated from Oxford or Cambridge, whose degrees aren’t recognised here,” he says ... read more 14.10.2017
A quarter of Norwegian students drop out
OSLO (aftenposten) -- Nearly a quarter of Norwegian bachelor students drop out before completing their degree, says new report. The majority of the dropouts are early in the course of study and need close monitoring, according to University of Bergen vice-rector, Oddrun Samdal ... read more 26.10.2017
Santander partners with 40 Spanish universities
SANTANDER (universia) -- The Banco Santander group is partnering up with 40 Spanish universities to create the world’s largest platform for university entrepreneurship – ‘Santander X’. The group’s president, Ana Botín announced last week: “Santander X aspires to be the point of connection of all entrepreneurs. It will be the world’s largest ecosystem of university entrepreneurship, which will bring in the talent we need to build a better world for all” ... read more 17.10.2017
Ghost town of Bulgarian universities
SOFIA (dnevnik) -- Despite the academic year already having begun, over 40 percent of first year places in Bulgarian universities remain empty. The severity of the situation varies around the country, with 90 percent enrolment in the University of Sofia, and just 25 freshmen enrolling at the Technical University of Gabrovo ... read more 23.10.2017
English-taught bachelor’s debate heats up in Flanders
LEUVEN (doorbraak) -- English-taught bachelor’s programs are becoming very popular in Flanders, as the Vrije Universiteit Brussel announces that the number of graduates from their English-language Bachelor of Social Sciences has doubled on last year’s figure. There are concerns however that this will lead to the phenomenon of ‘ghost training’, which has been found in master’s programs, by which the equivalent Dutch-language course becomes so unpopular, that it too becomes largely English-taught ... read more 23.10.2017
A Horizon 2020 office for Armenia
YEREVAN (mediamax) -- Armenian Minister of Education and Science, Levon Mkrtchyan has discussed the introduction of new scientific programs for his country with EU research commissioner, Carlos Moedas, as part of Horizon 2020 agreements ... read more 10.10.2017
Fresh money for Italian universities
ROME (lq) -- The adoption of new legislation as part of the Italian 2018 budget brings respite to the recruitment nightmare of the country’s universities. The budget allows for 1,500 research positions to be filled and age-related salary rises, among other measures. “After many years we returned to investing in the new generations, in education, in research, and in innovation,” Universities and Research Minister Valeria Fedeli proudly announced ... read more 16.10.2017
KU Leuven employee fired for sex with students
LEUVEN (standaard) -- An employee associated with the Faculty of Industrial Engineering at KU Leuven has been fired following the Labour Court’s verdict of ‘cross-border behaviour with students’. Rector, Luc Sels announced that “in this case the trust network has worked well” ... read more 17.10.2017
Where are German students going?
BERLIN (wz) -- The most popular EU country for mobility with German students is Austria, according to data released by the German Federal Agency for statistics. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom follow in second and third, while in the other direction: Germany is very popular with French students ... read more 24.10.2017
The Danish academic precariat strikes back
COPENHAGEN (uniavisen) -- A new Danish association by the name of ‘T-VIPS’ is uniting researchers against the precarious work culture at the University of Copenhagen. More and more academics are having to make do with short term jobs, so much so, that temporary positions make up the majority of research jobs. While in 2009 about 900 PhD students, postdocs and assistant professors at the University of Copenhagen were temporarily employed, by 2013, this group had grown to 3,000 people ... read more 19.10.2017
Armenian students strike over corrupt rector
GYUMRI (aysor) -- After the destruction of half of the books in Shirak State University library, arbitrary decisions about the curriculum and the abolition fee reductions for freshmen, students are going on strike in order to call for the resignation of their rector, Sahak Minasyan, accusing him of destroying the university to his own selfish ends ... read more 29.09.2017
Universities scared to research student sex-work
LEUVEN (nieuwsblad) -- According to sexologist, Sam Geuens, students in Leuven and other Flemish student cities are partaking in sex-work. However, when universities are approached to conduct or support a survey, they shy away from the controversial topic, he says. The dating website RichMeetBeautiful sparked a debate and was made to recall its advertisement this month appealing to female students who need, or want, some extra cash ... read more 12.10.2017
Maths app makes two Berlin students millionaires
BERLIN (handelsblatt) -- Maxim and Raphael Nitsche are brothers from Berlin, whose app for helping students with maths has made earned them millions. They sold the app to US teaching provider Chegg for 12.5 million euros after it was downloaded three million times. The brothers see the app as a tool to help students, whose parents can’t afford private tutoring, to get access to the same help ... read more 21.10.2017
First Swiss university to accept Bitcoin
LUCERNE (finanzen) -- Lucerne university has become the first of its kind in Switzerland to accept Bitcoin for the payment of expenses. The system allows for easier transactions from overseas, making it popular with international students ... read more 19.10.2017
Social sciences in Bosnia and Herzegovina slowly die
SARAJEVO (radio sarajevo) -- The academic year in Bosnian and Herzegovinian universities began earlier this month. This year, however, marks a significant drop in secondary school students enrolling at the University of Sarajevo, which is felt particularly severely in the social sciences faculty with only 60 percent of places being filled ... read more 13.10.2017