KU Leuven outperforms them all
LEUVEN (s|b) -- KU Leuven has been recognised as the most innovative university in Europe for the second year running, topping Reuters’ annual league table of the biggest patent filers. The result sees Leuven eclipse universities in some of the traditional innovation hotspots of Europe, such as Germany, the UK and Switzerland ... read more 04.05.2017
Scottish universities in Shell Eco Marathon final
GLASGOW (daily record) -- Teams from two Scottish universities have made it to the final of the Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2017. This year’s competition to find fuel-efficient vehicles and technologies (that dates back to 1939) takes place in London, from May 25-28 ... read more 10.05.2017
Snowden’s university lectures
WINNIPEG (wfp) -- The decision by US President Donald Trump to fire FBI director James Comey is alarming and part of a global shift away from democratic controls over powerful people, former intelligence officer Edward Snowden said Tuesday night during a video conference held at three universities ... read more 09.05.2017
Universities depend too much on Microsoft
AMSTERDAM (tnw) -- Microsoft is burrowed deep into the European public sector and does everything it can to retain its position. European children are educated in Microsoft Office, which is given to schools and universities for free, which some call the “crack model”. Investigate Europe (IE), an international team of nine journalists, investigated the dire dependency of European governments and public istitutions on Microsoft ... read more 10.05.2017
Science publishers try a new tack
LONDON (nature) -- Rise in copyright breaches prompts industry to discuss ways to allow ‘fair sharing’ of articles ... read more 10.05.2017
EU announces new education package for Somalia
MOGADISHU (mareeg) -- EU Ambassador to Somalia, Veronique Lorenzo yesterday announced Euro 49 million funding to boost Somalia’s education sector ... read more 10.05.2017
Universities reflect political crises
BRUSSELS (le soir) -- The recent (successful) occupation of two Belgian universities in protest against excessive tuition fees for international students show how universities reflect important social and political issues, argues writer and essayist Vincent Engel. Prominent among these issues is the demand for an equally good and subsidised education offered to immigrants and home-grown students ... read more .03.2017
New study on refugees’ recognition
BRUSSELS (esu) -- The European Students’ Union published a new study on recognition of qualifications held by refugees and their access to higher education in Europe. The paper analyses ... read more 04.05.2017
University bikes for Lisbon
LISBON (público) -- Students, lecturers and staff at Lisbon’s Universidade Nova will get 300 bicycles starting next academic year. The project “Nova U-Bike Portugal” provides normal and electrical bikes and builds 387 bicycle stations across campuses in the city. “U-Bike” is a national initiative that will bring 3000 bicycles into 15 universities ... read more 02.05.2017
Iberian universities plan a common agenda
VILA REAL (observador) -- By the end of May, the governments of Portugal and Spain are going to present, for the first time, an agenda for a common area of education and knowledge. The agenda, says António Fontainhas Fernandes, rector of the university UTAD and host of the conference, aims at “reinforcing the cross-border cooperation of southern universities, stimulating a common enlargement strategy with North Africa and Latin America” and forming critical mass for European project funding ... read more 05.05.2017
Baby, don’t leave me!
BERN (swissinfo) -- Keen not to lose this valuable pool of talent, the University of Basel launched a project that targets female post-doctoral students coming back to work after maternity leave. Equal numbers of men and women do PhDs in Switzerland, but by post-doc level the number of women dwindles ... read more 04.05.2017
University mergers in Lithuania
VILNIUS (xinhua) -- The group of specialists formed by Lithuanian prime minister Saulius Skvernelis has proposed to reform the country’s state universities’ system by merging some of the universities into those covering wide range of study programs, technology universities and specialized academies ... read more 05.02.2017
Education is still hereditary in Austria
VIENNA (ots) -- Latest statistics confirm how the parental education remains the number one determinant of a student’s opportunity of advancement in Austria. Nearly half of all university students and nearly a third of freshmen at universities of applied sciences have a parent with an academic degree. Philip Flacke, president of the student union ÖH, criticised the government for planning new access barriers: “In times of chronically under-financed universities and insufficient grants, additional selection meachnisms for first-year students remove us further from fair education chances” ... read more 03.05.2017
French research organisations oppose Le Pen
PARIS (science) -- The French science and higher education community appeared virtually united in its opposition against Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate in the second round of elections on 7 May. In an unprecedented letter, the directors of nine major public research institutes described her candidacy as a “terrible danger” and called on voters not to support her ... read more 28.4.17
Finnish internationalisation handicap
OSLO (uwn) -- Finland is facing a sharp drop in applications by non-European students and an outflow of scientists, according to media reports. The introduction of tuition fees for international students and cuts in university funding are being blamed ... read more 05.05.2017