E-newsletter

Bologna Process

European Students' Union says Bologna reforms are too slow

Robert Santa, the European Students’ Union (ESU) representative in the Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUP), has said that little has changed since the establishment of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in March 2010. Santa argues that basic issues still have not been solved, such as the working of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) or receiving a diploma supplement free of charge in an international language, and these impact the functioning of the EHEA. He further emphasised the need for Bologna to be focused on students, with more attention paid to educational and social support, as well financial provisions for students.

Registration open for European Quality Assurance Forum:
18-20 November 2010

The fifth annual European Quality and Assurance Forum (EQAF) will bring together key players from the higher education sector across Europe. This year’s theme, ‘Building Bridges: Making Sense of QA in European, national and institutional contexts’, will focus on examining how quality assurance tools and processes are implemented at an institutional and agency level. The University Claude Bernard Lyon I in France will host the event which is co-organised by the European University Association (EUA), European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE), and the European Students’ Union (ESU). Registration closes on 5 November. Early bird registration deadline is 2 October 2010.

Discrimination against international students

Sweden has been criticised by the European Commission for discriminating against international students after it introduced a new university entrance selection process that rewards students who have taken additional courses, the equivalents of which can only be taken in Sweden. To compensate for the anticipated discriminating effect, foreign applicants were placed in and selected from a separate group, from which a certain percentage can enrol. This measure, however, equates to establishment of a quota system for international students. The Commission has given the Swedish government a deadline of 6 October to reply, and already, the Swedish higher education Minister, Tobias Krantz, has announced that the selection procedure will be examined and possibly revised.

Sweden is not the first EU member state to introduce quotas for foreign students. Austria and Wallonia (the French-speaking region of Belgium) also have restrictive policies towards international students, particularly in medicine and para-medical studies. In addition, Italy was recently asked by the European Commission to end its discriminatory conditions for access to low-rent student accommodation in Milan, which require students to have resided in Italy for at least five years.

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Research

EU Council publishes results of discussions on raising attractiveness of research programmes

The Council of the European Union has published a set of Council Conclusions on raising the attractiveness of EU research and innovation programmes. The Conclusions focus on the simplification of the Commission’s Research Framework Programmes, and comes ahead of the European Parliament’s own report on simplifying the implementation of current and future Framework Programmes (see item below for more details on this). The Council document outlines the need for a new balance between sound management of funds, financial control mechanisms and trust in researchers. It calls on the Commission to speed up the simplification process, and to develop synergies with other programmes and instruments such as the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) and Structural Funds.

Parliament hearing on simplification of Framework Programmes

The European Parliament has held a public hearing on 'Simplifying the implementation of Research Framework Programmes'. The hearing, coordinated by the Parliament’s European People’s Party group (EPP), considered a report by MEP Maria Da Graça Carvalho which is expected to redefine the rules for participation of existing and future European Science and Innovation Programmes. MEPs heard perspectives on the simplification of research programmes from academics and researchers, representatives of independent research centres, industry and SME representatives, and the European Commission. A record of the discussion will be made available on the Europe Unit website as soon as it is released. The report stands to be voted on by the Parliament’s Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) at the end of September 2010, and then in the plenary session in October 2010.

View speaker presentations:

View further information on Parliament report:

European Court of Justice rejects proposals for unified European patent litigation system

The European Commission has suffered a setback in its campaign for a centralised patent litigation system in Europe, after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that plans to form a European Patents Court are incompatible with EU treaties. The proposed system is aimed at bringing together Europe’s patent litigation systems under one European court, and is widely supported by European industries and sectors reliant on research and intellectual property.

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News in brief

UK higher education sector response to European Commission Consultation on the Green Paper "Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries"

The Europe Unit recently formulated a sector-wide response to the European Commission’s consultation on the Green Paper “Unlocking the potential of cultural and creative industries”. The response draws on submissions by UK HEIs, and was written in consultation with sector bodies.

The Commission’s objective is to gather views on various issues impacting the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in Europe, from business environment to the need to open up a common European space for culture, from capacity building to skills development and promotion of European creators on the world stage. The responses to the consultation will inform the Commission and help it ensure that EU programmes and policies involving cultural and creative industries are suitable and beneficial. The Commission aims to respond to the consultation by late September 2010.

The UK HE sector welcomed the Green Paper, and was pleased that the Commission recognises the importance of these activities to the future of Europe and its economy. More specifically, the sector was happy that the Commission acknowledged the major contribution made by higher education to the success of the creative and cultural industries, both in terms of education and skills, and in terms of research and innovation. It is noteworthy that there was sector-wide agreement that greater collaboration between the arts and academic institutions should be promoted and that interdisciplinary innovation is key. The sector response also pointed out that although art and design schools are a crucial element in the success of CCIs in the UK, the same can be said of creative departments in HEIs. It was additionally mentioned that HEIs can play a considerable role in helping CCIs to grow and establish links with the wider economy

View the UK HE sector’s response:

View the original European Commission consultation document:

Plan for Switzerland to take part in EU youth and lifelong learning programmes

The Council of the European Union has been invited by the European Commission to consider a draft agreement on the participation of the Swiss Confederation, not a member of the European Union, in the ‘Youth in Action’ programme and in the action programme in the field of lifelong learning. The agreement would mean that projects and initiatives submitted by participants from Switzerland in the two programmes would be subject to the same conditions, rules and procedures as are applied to current EU Member States. Switzerland would make an annual financial contribution to each programme, and would conform to European Union provisions regarding financial control and audit matters

European universities try to capitalise on lack of university places in the UK

Given the large numbers of students who have failed to find university places in this country and the talk of fee increases, universities across the world have been undertaking a recruitment drive in the UK. In particular, universities in the Netherlands are treating the scramble for places as an opportunity to market courses delivered in English, urging students to ‘go Dutch’ and take advantage of lower fees and living costs.

For example, Maastricht University hopes to raise its UK recruitment to more than 100 students this year. At £1,500 a year, the fees are less than half the cost of those in the UK, and to lure English-speaking students the university is offering housing for £330 a month including bills for courses starting in September. Although students from the UK do not qualify for Dutch government loans and grants, if they find work in the Netherlands they can apply for non-repayable contributions towards living costs.

Despite the costs savings and potential opportunities elsewhere, studying abroad is not to everyone's taste, even if the teaching is in English, and it is likely that many students may prefer to follow their peer group and remain in the UK. Nonetheless, some students without UK places may still prefer to go abroad straight away, rather than wait a year and re-apply.

EU climbs university league table but US still dominates

The 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), compiled by Shanghai Jiaotong University, this year includes 27 universities in the EU (and 32 in Europe overall, including Switzerland, Norway and Russia) in the top 100. Although this beats its score for last year – when it had 26 entries – and the EU comes second overall as the best place in the world to study, the US still dominates the list with 54 places in the top 100 and 8 in the top 10 (see link below).

The ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank world universities, including the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, the number of highly cited researchers, and the number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science. These criteria tend to be biased towards science-focused institutions, and furthermore, considerably favour English-speaking institutions.

This is reflected by the fact that the only EU universities in the top 10 spots were British institutions: Cambridge, which came fifth, and Oxford, which came tenth. In fact, the first non-British top-ranked institution is at 39: France's Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris 6). Britain has 11 of its universities in the top 100, followed by Germany with five, and then by France and Sweden with three each; Denmark and the Netherlands with two each, and Finland and Belgium with one each.

View the most recent rankings, published on 15 August 2010:

View more information on the rankings:

France seeks to push its universities up the league tables

With only three universities in the 2010 ARWU top 100 and only two in the 2009 Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings top 100, France does not do especially well in world rankings, much to the distress of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is always keen to promote France on the world stage.

As a result of France’s poor performance, after his election in 2007, Sarkozy pledged to prioritise higher education and research during his term of office. Specifically, he intended to raise science spending by 10% and to create five to ten world-leading universities with a high visibility in world rankings. Since 2007 there have been efforts to increase the autonomy of French universities (to date, 51 of France’s 85 universities have been granted autonomous status, and 24 more will gain this status in January 2011) and institutions now receive a greater share of their income based on their output: both measures that should help to improve efficiency.

More recently, however, Sarkozy launched ‘Opération Campus’, which seeks to create six super-campuses – known as pôles de recherche et d’enseignement supérieur (PRESs) – comprising partnerships of universities, grandes écoles, and public laboratories, with the intention of establishing world-class universities, to compete with the likes of MIT, Stanford University, and the University of Cambridge. Having had 46 applications for possible projects, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research has selected six sites for the future super-campuses: Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Montpellier, Strasbourg and Toulouse. Overall, the selected projects will concern 19 universities, 17 grandes écoles, and all the main research organizations, collectively involving 340,000 students and 13,000 published researchers. Whilst undoubtedly ambitious initiative, it remains to seen whether France moves up the world rankings as a consequence. (Link below to further details in French only).

Approaches to vocational and educational training

The latest Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) research paper, Learning Outcomes; Approaches to Vocational and Educational Training (VET) Curricula, which compares national learning programmes and examines curriculum development across nine European countries including the UK, has recently been published. Based on extensive literature review, interviews, and surveys, the study reveals that learning outcomes increasingly feature in VET curricula, influencing their development and changing their content and structure. CEDEFOP is the European agency that helps promote and develop vocational education and training in the EU. Following budget cuts to European agencies, although CEDEFOP will continue its research activities, it will discontinue its research journal of 15 years’ standing, the European Journal of Vocational Training.

View the publication:

View more information on CEDEFOP:

New appointment to the Governing Body of CEDEFOP

Following the resignation of Mr Paul Attard, the Maltese government has informed the General Secretariat of the Council of its decision to nominate Mr James Joachim Calleja as a Government Representative on the CEDEFOP Governing Board. Mr Calleja will hold the post for a period of three years.

Response deadline deemed success

The legal changes to grants in the areas of Lifelong Learning, Culture, Youth and Citizenship that took place in December 2008 have been deemed a success in a recent Commission report to the European Parliament (EP) and Council. The 2008 changes, by replacing the formal advisory procedure with an information procedure, aimed to simplify and shorten decision-making in the interest of quicker and more efficient programme implementation. The report concludes that these changes have been successful, and several beneficiaries even expressed their satisfaction with the reduced time taken for selection decisions as a result of the changes. For all programmes, the new procedures have enabled the increased effectiveness of project management and improved the quality of the projects themselves.

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Opportunities for HEIs

Study to examine impact of Bologna Expert national teams

The European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) has published a call for tender for a study to examine the impact of the National Teams of Bologna Experts on the implementation of the Bologna Process. The contract holder will be expected to provide a cost/benefit analysis of the Bologna Experts exercise and to provide recommendations regarding the future of the exercise post-2013. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2010.

Call for proposals for Science in Society Work Programme

The Science in Society Work Programme 2011 is seeking proposals aimed at financing ‘Mobilisation and Mutual Learning’ (MML) Action Plans on Societal Challenges. The Action Plans aim to find new ways of doing research and to develop new technologies encompassing societal needs and concerns. The estimated budget is €16.4 million, intended to fund four proposals. The deadline for proposals is 20 January 2011.

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Diary dates

September

7 UK Research Office UK ERC Information and Proposal
Writing Event, Birmingham, United Kingdom

8 UK Research Office UK ERC Information and Proposal
Writing Event, London, United Kingdom

16 UK Research Office UK ERC Information and Proposal
Writing Event, Glasgow, United Kingdom

17 UK Research Office UK ERC Information and Proposal
Writing Event, London, United Kingdom

23-24 The social security of moving researchers,
Leuven, Belgium

October

6 EU Funding Opportunities for HEIs: Humanities and Social Sciences Event, London, United Kingdom

11-12 Student Mobility and Recognition of Study Periods Abroad,
Ljubljana, Slovenia

14-15 EURASHE's 20th Anniversary Conference:
'Implementing Bologna, from rhetoric to reality', Tallin, Estonia

14-16 2nd International Conference on Institutional Strategic Quality Management (ISQM 2010), Sinaia, Romania

20-23 EUA Annual Conference: “Diversities and Commonalities – the changing face of Europe’s universities”, Palermo, Italy

November

8-9 UK NARIC Annual Conference, London, United Kingdom

18-20 Fifth European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF) on
'Building Bridges: Making Sense of QA in European, national
and institutional contexts', Lyon, France

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