Macron’s strong support for research
PARIS (nature) -- A wave of fresh faces — including the flamboyant mathematician Cédric Villani — rose to victory in the French parliamentary elections on 18 June. Together with the science- and innovation-friendly policies announced by President Emmanuel Macron, the results have stoked optimism among many researchers in France and abroad ... read more 19.06.2017
New blacklist of predatory academic journals
BEUAMONT (nature) -- A scholarly services firm from Texas launched a blacklist of ‘predatory’ academic journals: those that deceive their authors or readers by, for example, charging fees to publish papers without conducting peer review. The index — which lists about 4,000 journals — is available only to paying subscribers ... read more 21.06.2017
France pledges €30 million for climate research
PARIS (straits times) -- France has made good on its promise to invite foreign climate change experts to the country, pledging 30 million euros to fund the work of up to 50 researchers. The government hopes to attract additional 30 million euros from universities and other organisations, making the total funding up to 60 ... read more 17.6.17
Striving biotech startups in Portugal
CANTANHEDE (público) -- The number of startups in the field of life sciences has multiplied in the last years in Portugal. One reason is the increase of venture capital since 2013; nearly 500 persons work in 70-80 new companies with an annual turn over of 30.5 million euros ... read more 17.06.2017
PhDs unsatisfied with their teaching skills
BRUSSELS (europapress) -- More than half of Spanish, Slovenian and French doctoral students are unsatisfied with the pedagogical training they received. Other results of a recent European survey were the high percentage of elderly professors and the low share of women ... read more .05.2017
EU Commission sets out new higher ed strategy
BRUSSELS (eu) -- The Commission has adopted new initiatives on school and higher education, including a proposal on graduate tracking to help Member States collect information on what graduates do after their studies. The renewed higher education strategy builds on the 2011 Modernisation agenda with the same clear neoliberal drift aiming “to ensure that higher education can help boost growth and job creation” and that “universities (...) tailor curricula to current and anticipated needs of the economy ... read more | communiqué 30.05.2017
Switzerland to scrap Numerus Clausus for Medicine
BERN (lv) -- The Swiss National Council wants to replace the numerus-clausus exam for the medical studies with internships, thus orienting the admission more towards practice. The advantage for hospitals: the trainees could relieve the nursing staff of some workload ... read more 19.06.2017
Slovak students continue protests against corruption
BRATISLAVA (wp) -- Thousands are rallying across Slovakia to protest alleged corruption in Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government. The demonstrations have been organised by students and spread far beyond the capital. It’s the biggest wave of protests in Slovakia since 2012 ... read more 12.06.2017
Betsy DeVos keeps her rotten word
WASHINGTON (chronicle) -- Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced on Wednesday that the Education Department will renegotiate the gainful-employment and borrower “defense to repayment” rules, two key consumer-protection regulations of the Obama era. Students in the US already have accumulated the highest debt in the world (1.3 trillion dollars) without the chance to default. And many for-profit colleges push families with predatory practices into loans they cannot afford and leave students with worthless degrees ... read more | background: DeVos | US student debt 14.06.2017
Ireland is ready for Technical Universities
DUBLIN (examiner) -- Lecturers at institutes of technology have voted for a deal with colleges and the Department of Education that should clear the way for the creation of technological universities .. read more 15.06.2017
66,000 students forced to relocate in Turkey
ISTANBUL (turkish minute) -- The Turkish government has since last summer closed down 15 universities across the country over their alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, forcing 66,000 students to look for somewhere else to continue their education ... read more 11.06.2017