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Feature
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There have been a number of prominent developments in doctoral education and research across the European Higher Education Area over the past five years. Key among these has been an increasing trend towards embedding doctoral education in institutional structures through the structuring of programmes and the evolution of the doctoral school. At the same time research and innovation are becoming ever more central to the constitutional mission of the European Union (EU), and doctoral education is increasingly being looked to as a building block of the knowledge society, a source of creativity and innovation, and a way of bringing research and highly specialised skills to European businesses.
Two recent important conferences brought together stakeholders from across Europe in an effort to ensure that Bologna Process thinking on doctoral policy keeps up with the pace of change. The European University Association's Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE), one of the main bodies taking forward the development of doctoral policy at the European level, held its annual conference in Berlin on 4-5 June. The UK was among the most represented countries at the conference, the primary purpose of which was to re-visit the guiding principles for doctoral education within the Bologna Process - known as the Salzburg Principles - in the light of developments during the five years since they were initially agreed.
The second key event was a Bologna Process Seminar on the future of doctoral education in the European Higher Education Area in Warsaw on 17-18 June. This event built on the discussions on updating of the Salzburg Principles, and sought to take forward dialogue on two primary areas of European doctoral policy: quality assurance and the introduction of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) for doctoral programmes..
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Bologna Process
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Erasmus data for 2009 published by Commission
The European Commission has published figures on the rate of participation in its Erasmus student mobility programme in 2008/09. 198,600 European students and 36,000 HE staff received Erasmus funding to go abroad for studies, placements, teaching or training, representing an annual increase of 8.7% compared with the previous year. Countries sending out most Erasmus students included France (28,300), Germany (27,900) and Spain (27,400), while Spain ranked first as a host country for 33,200 students. In the UK, the number of outgoing students for study purposes declined slightly between 2007/08 and 2008/09, but overall participation in the programme increased due to a rise in the number of students taking work placements. The UK was also the most popular destination for staff exchanges and second most popular destination for Erasmus placements.
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Research
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EUROHORCS and ESF plan merger
The European Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCS) and the European Science Foundation (ESF) have confirmed that they are exploring the possibility of a merger between the two organisations. Analysis by a working group of representatives from both organisations shows that combining the leadership and resources of the two organisations would enable a more active contribution to the development of a globally competitive European Research Area. A tentative working title for the new organisation is the European Research Organisation (ERO).
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European Commission publishes evaluation of public attitudes to science
The European Commission has published a special Eurobarometer report evaluating public attitudes across Europe towards science and technology. The report reveals that 80% of Europeans are interested in scientific discoveries and technological developments, compared to 65% interested in sport. Over 70% of Europeans think EU-funded research will become more important in the future.
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Commission publishes report on benefits of ICT
The European Commission's Directorate General for Information, Society and Media has published a report on exploiting the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) for education in Europe. The report demonstrates ways in which ICT enhances the learning process and can make lifelong learning part of everyday activity.
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Manifesto for Europe's universities
Professor Jo Ritzen, Rector, University of Maastricht, and HE sector representatives from across Europe presented a manifesto to 'empower Europe's universities' to European Commission Androulla Vassiliou at a seminar in Brussels on 15-16 June. Based on the premise of a book recently published by Professor Ritzen 'A Chance for European Universities', Professor Ritzen and colleagues plan to produce a basic guideline to assess the performance of EU member states in empowering their universities by June 2011. A first progress report is scheduled to be prepared by June 2012, to be followed by successive progress reports. These documents shall be produced by an NGO (Empower European Universities - EEU) for which Professor Ritzen and his colleagues will act as founding members in collaboration with independent correspondents in each of the 27 EU countries.
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ERC celebrates 1000th grant
The European Research Council (ERC) has celebrated the award of its 1000th grant. The award was made in Munich by European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, to German immunologist and paediatrician Professor Erika von Mutius. The ERC is the newest component of the EU's Seventh Research Framework Programme. It was launched just over three years ago and has a total budget of € 7.5 billion for the period 2007-2013.
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European Parliament discusses simplification of FP7
The European Parliament's Committee for Regions and Transport (REGI) has met to discuss simplification of the implementation of the Research Framework Programmes. French MEP Alain Cadec announced that REGI would be submitting an opinion on this issue, and that a draft can be expected in July. It is anticipated that the opinion will feed into the Council of the European Union meeting this October where the Commission's position on simplifying the framework programme and implementation of research and innovation policies are to be discussed. MEPs said that Framework Programmes must be in line with research instruments, and stressed the regional emphasis of research and development.
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Commission signs 'statement of intent' with Europe's major research organisations
The European Commission and the members of EIROforum, a group of seven major European scientific research organisations, have signed a Statement of Intent to reinforce their cooperation and to join their efforts in developing the European Research Area (ERA). The areas covered by the statement range from research programming to e-science, including human resources and training and mobility of researchers; research infrastructures; intellectual property and knowledge sharing; international cooperation in research; science education and communication. EIROforum chairman Iain Mattaj said "As leaders in our fields of scientific research we play an active role, every day, in turning the European Research Area into a reality. At EIROforum we therefore have considerable experience and expertise, which we will strive to make available to the Commission for the benefit of Europe as a whole".
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ERAB releases 'urgent action' proposals for future of ERA
The European Research Area Board (ERAB), a high level consultative body charged by the European Commission with developing, promoting and evaluating policy initiatives and actions to meet the goals of the European Research Area, has submitted 10 'urgent action' proposals to the European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. ERAB was asked by the Commissioner to produce the list of proposals at an ERAB conference in Seville in May which brought together academic and policy stakeholders from across the European higher education, research and business sectors to discuss the long term future of the European Research Area. The proposals, which focus on how to optimise Europe's research, innovation and science base, include calls to create a single EU-wide patent and an Open Innovation Charter within two years, and to issue an EU Framework Directive on Research & Innovation focusing particularly on creating a single market for Research and Innovation (R&I).
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MEP warns of threats to FP7
Hungarian MEP Edit Herczog has warned that extra funding requests from the European Commission could threaten the number of Framework Programme grants within annual budget negotiations. Herczog, who is rapporteur for the Parliament's Industry, Transport Research and Energy committee (ITRE), said "Our bottom line is, don't touch FP7, move your hands away...If you simply use the current Framework Programme to fund new initiatives, and don't raise the budget, you kill FP7." Herczog's comments come as Parliament adopts its official common position on the new EU budget. Click on 'Details' for Ms Herczog's interview with ScienceBusiness magazine.
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COST to receive extra 40 million euro
COST, an intergovernmental framework for cooperation and networking of European research activities, has been confirmed by Ministers from across Europe as valuable in the effort to overcome fragmentation of the European Research Area. The support for COST was expressed at a COST Ministerial Conference in Spain on 15 June, where delegates acknowledged COST to have improved its performance substantially since the last review of its activities in 2003. According to a CORDIS news release, the European Commission plans to back up its support for COST by adding EUR 40 million to the programme, bringing the total budget for the programme to Euro 250m for the duration of Framework 7.
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Commission publishes report on participation of SMEs in FP7
The European Commission has published a report on the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The report aims to monitor the EU contribution granted to SMEs in FP7 projects. For contracts signed before 1 April 2010, 14% of the budget goes to SMEs. The publication reports also that 2,500 Grant Agreements for research projects within the FP7-Cooperation programme have been signed, and that the expected EU-contribution for SMEs in FP7 Cooperation Programme totals 5 billion euro, with 20,000 SMEs expected to benefit from FP7. The report highlights the SME participation per theme and per country for the Cooperation Programme, and the SME participation in the Capacities and the People Programmes. It also includes, for the first time, a regional analysis of the SME participation per region.
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News in brief
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CEDEFOP identifies "skills mismatch" in Europe
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, CEDEFOP, has published a briefing note identifying a 'skills mismatch' in Europe. The note makes the case that beyond improving skill levels, Europe faces the challenge of matching people with the right skills to the right jobs.
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Belgian Presidency of the EU begins on 1 July
Belgium took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Spain on 1 July 2010. Research, innovation and education have all been identified as specific priority areas by the Belgian Presidency. The Presidency has said it will focus on defining indicators to measure the progress of the European Research Area (ERA), and will pay particular attention to the free flow of knowledge within the ERA and the simplification of Community programmes. Professional training and Lifelong Learning have been identified as themes to which special effort must be devoted, and the protection of intellectual property and negotiations for a European Patent will also be priorities of the Presidency. The Belgian term will last for a period of six months.
Belgium Presidency website:
Programme of the Belgium Presidency:
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New recognition of English language competence
New rules introduced on 17 June mean that non-UK EU and non-EU students applying to study in the UK in 2011 can use Cambridge ESOL's Advanced and Proficiency exams in English to gain UCAS Tariff points in the same way as they have traditionally done with 'A' Levels.
Cambridge ESOL, a department of Cambridge University is responsible for the two exams mentioned above which are internationally recognised in a range of sectors as proof of competence in the English language.
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European Commission and Philippines sign education agreement
The European Commission and the Philippines have signed a new partnership and cooperation agreement. The agreement is the first-ever bilateral comprehensive agreement between the two sides, and will strengthen cooperation in the areas of science, including cooperation on intellectual property, and education.
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European Commission launches Innovation Facebook page
The European Commission has launched a Facebook page as part of its 'Innovation Union' initiative. The interactive page provides 'laypersons' summaries' of European Commission activity, along with photographs, downloadable posters and useful web-links. The page also offers the opportunity for the public to comment on Commission activity.
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LERU questions value of university rankings
LERU launched its new advice paper 'University Rankings: Diversity, Excellence and the European Initiative' at a seminar in Brussels on 23 June. The report's author, Professor Geoffrey Boulton, University of Edinburgh, told attendees at the seminar that he could see some value in the U-Map project as an attempt to capture the diversity of HE in Europe, but he was less enthusiastic about the benefits of U-Multirank. The value and benefits provided by rankings are questionable, as most seek to capture characteristics that cannot be measured directly, requiring indirect proxies, and different universities fulfil different roles, which cannot be captured by a single monotonic scale. Robin Van Yperen, Policy Officer, DG EAC, European Commission, defended the European Commission's support for these projects, arguing that academia should be subject to the same transparency as other sectors, and that the recent results of a Eurobarometer survey showed public support for rankings. Given the likely persistence of "league table", the LERU paper concludes by lending its qualified support to the Commission's initiative to develop a rankings pilot project as a means for exploring the potential to mitigate the problems of other systems.
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Opportunities for HEIs
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Call for tender - quality assurance in vocational education and training
The European Commission has published a Call for Tender for the promotion and development of the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework in Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET). The deadline for receipt of tenders and requests to participate is 27 September 2010.
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Call for tender - Professional Qualifications Directive
The European Commission has published a Call for Tender for a study evaluating the Professional Qualifications Directive against recent educational reforms in EU Member States. The deadline for receipt of tenders is 31 August 2010.
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Call for contributions - EQAF
Contributions are called for the Fifth European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF 2010) on 18 - 20 November 2010 at University Claude Bernard Lyon I, France. EQAF 2010 is being organised by the EUA, ENQA, EURASHE and ESU with the theme is “Building Bridges: Making sense of QA in European, national and institutional contexts�. The objective is to examine how quality assurance tools and processes implemented at institutional and agency level relate to both the European and national level policy, and interact with institutional quality frameworks and quality culture.
Three types of contributions are sought: papers, workshop propositions and proposals for holding a stand in the Forum Café. The deadline for contributions is 26 July 2010.
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Diary dates
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August
27 European Centre for Strategic Management of Universities (ESMU) workshop, Benchmarking in European Higher Education, Budapest, Hungary.
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September
1-4 EUPRIO (European Universities Public Relations and Information Officers association) Annual Conference, 'University Communicators establish their roles towards 2020, Stresa, Italy.
13-14 EUA Experts Conference 'Towards Financially
Sustainable Universities II: Diversifying Income Streams', Bologna, Italy.
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October
14-15 EURASHE 20th Annual conference, 'Implementing Bologna, from rhetoric to reality' Tallin, Estonia.
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November
18-20 Fifth European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF 2010),
Lyon, France
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