Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation
BRUSSELS (aca) -- The Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation, published by the European Commission on 31 January 2018, looks beyond 2020. The programme, it states “is highly valued by its stakeholders as well as the general public, which identifies the programme as
the third most positive results of the EU.” To increase the participation rate from 4 to 7.5 percent of Eu students, the budget would have to be increased by 30 billion euros ... read more 28.02.2018
Theresa May admits failures in UK tuition fees system
DERBYSHIRE (inews) -- Tuition fees at English universities are too high and the system must be reformed so the poorest students are not left with the highest debts, British prime minister Theresa May said. She announced a major review that should look at “the whole post-18 education sector in the round, breaking down false boundaries between further and higher education, to create a system which is truly joined up” ... read more | video19.02.2018
More foreign students in Czechia
PRAGUE (prague monitor) -- The number of foreigners studying at Czech universities and colleges has risen by 334. As of 2017, foreigners made up some 15 percent of the total of 299,054 ... read more 22.02.2018
Swedish strategy for internationalisation
STOCKHOLM (aca) -- As a result of an inquiry on increased internationalisation of higher education, launched by the Swedish Government, a proposal for a national strategy for internationalisation has been published. A second part, proposing an integrated system for registration and tuition fees, recruitment, admissions, residence permit and fees, will be presented by October 2018 ... read more 28.02.2018
New EU seatcolvers
BRUSSELS (ec) -- In February there have been new appointments in the European Commission. Themis Christophidou is the new Director General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. She is a Cypriot national who formerly served as a Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, and before that, as Deputy Head of Cabinet of the former Commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, Androulla Vassiliou. Furthermore, Viviane Hoffman is the new Deputy Director General of DG EAC ... read more 21.02.2018
New Icelandic government prioritises research
REYKJAVIK (aca) -- The coalition treaty of Iceland’s new government places research and innovation high on the agenda, as advised by the Icelandic Science and Technology Policy Council. Funding of university education will be increased with the aim of reaching the OECD average in 2020 and the Nordic average by 2025: the allocation to higher ed in 2018 increased by 2,9 billion crowns (23 million euros) ... read more 28.02.2018
New fight over university autonomy in Norway ahead
OSLO (uwn) -- Norways new research and higher education minister, Iselin Nybø is working on a feasibility study on university governance, investigating among other models a decoupling of the universities from the state. The last attempt of this kind in 2001 lead to mass protests ... read more 24.02.2018
Andalusian professors want a “dignified” teaching career
SEVILLA (europapress) -- Assistant professors and part-time lecturers have staged a protest at the government building in Sevilla for a “dignified” teaching career and an end to precarious working conditions. At a meeting with members of of all major political parties, Nicolás de Alba, speaker of the Collective of Precarious Professors, pressed for a change to the Andalusian University Law that prevents tenure even after years of teaching ... read more 26.02.2018
Latvian “décroissance”
DAUGAVPILS (lsm) -- In an effort to reduce the overall number of universities, the Latvian science ministry continues merging institutions. The latest case involves the Medical College and the University of the city of Daugavpils in the south-east of the country ... read more 23.01.2018
€50 million for Slovak student housing
BRATISLAVA (slovak spectator) -- Up to 50 million euros should be spent on the reconstruction of university halls of residence in the following two years. The decision comes after the students wrote a letter to the prime minister Robert Fico in late January, reminding him of a promise ... read more 1.2.18
Croatia’s top judge accused of plagiarism
ZAGREB (science) -- One of Croatia’s top judges is hitting back at the country’s national research ethics panel after having been found guilty of plagiarism. Miroslav Šeparović, president of the Constitutional Court, has filed criminal complaints against all five members of the Committee on Ethics in Science and Higher Education (CESHE), after it concluded that his doctoral thesis contained repeated instances of “incomplete and opaque citations” ... read more 22.2.
German universities after Brexit
LONDON (conversation) -- A journalistic inquiry suggests that academics and institutions across Europe, and particularly in Germany, could make significant gains as Brexit shakes up the higher education landscape ... read more 22.2.
Grants in Italy: late and stingy
ROME (stampa) -- Italian students complain that their bursaries are too small and arrive late. In central and northern Italy payments often take months to arrive, in southern Italy up to a year. 174,000 Italians receive public student support plus 16,000 from European countries ... read more xx.02.2018
New EU director-general for research and innovation
BRUSSELS (science business) -- Jean-Eric Paquet, a French national and career civil servant in Brussels, was named as the European Commission’s new director-general for research and innovation on Wednesday, as part of a wider reshuffling of senior management positions. The move — though a surprise to some — is viewed by Commission insiders as having the potential to consolidate ties between research and other policy areas, as the EU executive prepares its post-Brexit budget plans ... read more | and here 21.02.2018
Popularity ranking with pre-Brexit symptoms
HAMBURG (the local) -- Germany continues to be the favourite among international students at EU universities. In a little ranking by a commercial student mobility service platform, the UK didn’t make top spot because of its “prohibitively high” tuition fees and cost of living ... read more 21.02.2018
US science agency recalls senior officials in Europe
WASHINGTON (sb) -- The National Science Foundation (NSF), a US government agency, is recalling the directors of its outposts in Brussels and Beijing, in a move criticised as the latest weakening of the country’s diplomatic power in science under the Trump administration ... read more 20.02.2018