E-Newsletter

Feature

Notes from the field on university-business collaboration

As the European Commission begins focussing its research and higher education activities more closely around the post-Lisbon paradigms of innovation and knowledge, the relationship between universities and businesses is becoming increasingly central in European affairs.

Brno - Czech Republic - was in late January the venue of a European Commission conference on university-business collaboration - part of the Commissions wider University-Business Collaboration Forum initiative. The forum "From the Crisis to Recovery - the Role of Higher Education Institutions and Business Co-operation" covered topics ranging from upskilling the workforce and making graduates fit for the future, to corporate social responsibility, and was attended by over a hundred delegates, including 12 representatives from the UK.

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Bologna Process

Franco-British Academic Partnerships : The next chapter

Celebrating Franco-British cooperation in higher education was the central theme at a conference hosted by the French Embassy in the United Kingdom and the Franco-British Council, in association with the Times Higher Education magazine on 5 February at the Institut Français in London.

The French Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, welcomed more than 100 delegates from both France and the UK to the event. He conveyed a message to the conference from the French Minister for Higher Education, Mme Valérie Pécresse, that the new powers of autonomy granted to French universities by the government are an important step in improving France and Europe’s global competitiveness.

EUA is calling for participation in a project it is launching to examine the internal ‘quality culture’ within European universities, and how this has developed within the framework of the Bologna process reforms. Together with its partners the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and QAA (Quality Assurance Agency) Scotland, EUA will analyse the development of quality culture in HEIs across Europe and provide an overall picture of the internal quality assurance in place in HEIs across the 46 Bologna Process countries. It will also seek to identify and disseminate good practices that apply to internal quality assurance. The first step of the project will involve a survey of European universities and higher education institutions. EUA encourages all its members to take part in the survey before the deadline of 30 March 2010. Click to take the survey

EUA has published a new study comparing institutional diversity in five national higher education systems: England, France, Norway, Slovenia, and Sweden. Entitled ‘Institutional Diversity in European Higher Education: tensions and challenges for policymakers and institutional leaders’, the study analyses the complex interplay of the factors driving diversification or convergence, such as legal frameworks, funding incentives and quality assurance procedures. To view the report, click details.

European HE organisations have been responding to the European Commission’s consultation on its 2020 Strategy, which is intended as the successor to the current Lisbon strategy. EUA’s response highlights the role of universities in advancing the European Knowledge Society. It highlights the need for increased investment in HE and research, and calls for clear investment targets to ensure the progress of all member states towards agreed objectives. The European Students’ Union’s response welcomes the attention given to education in the Commission’s document, but is concerned it fails to capture the essence of the strategy unless specific targets are drafted. Following the outcomes of this consultation the Commission intends to adopt a formal Communication addressed to the forthcoming Spring 2010 European Council that will include proposals for action at both national and community level.

German University rectors have called for continued financial support for the Bologna Process. Margret Wintermantel, President of the HRK (Germany’s union of higher education rectors), said “the European higher education institutions are working intensively on the reforms, but we need the necessary political support, even in Germany.”

On 7 January six members of the UK team of Bologna Experts attended a joint seminar with members of the German Team of Bologna Experts in Bonn to discuss aspects of the Bologna Process and its impact in the two countries. Discussion focussed around a number of themed sessions, including trends and challenges of national higher education and transnational mobility; the three cycle system, quality assurance and aspects of curriculum development (learning outcomes orientation, usage of ECTS, integration of mobility and standards); and  promotion of the Bologna Process.

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Research

The Council of the European Union has agreed draft conclusions on mobility and careers of European researchers. The text welcomes the consultation launched by the Commission on the future ‘EU 2020’ strategy, and outlines scope for further measures aimed at fostering the mobility of researchers in Europe. It identifies five areas in which specific action is required: provision to individual researchers of tailored information on social security rights in case of trans-national mobility; solutions for social security needs of researchers; addressing the issue of supplementary pensions for researchers; applying the common principles of ‘flexicurity’ to research careers; contributing to the 'new skills for new jobs' agenda.

The European Commission has published an expert group report on ‘Assessing Europe’s University-Based Research’. The report considers the question of how to create a new and more coherent methodology to assess the research produced by European universities. The report makes a number of recommendations, including: the assessment of university based research should be designed in relation to purpose and articulated objectives, and employ methodologies that are fit for purpose; assessment of university-based research should combine quantitative indicator-based data with qualitative information; assessment of university-based research should be undertaken at the level of ‘knowledge clusters’, the precise scale and nature of which depends on the purpose of the research exercise.

The European Commission has published a webpage following the Erasmus Mundus Info day in January. The page includes the documents, presentations and videos from the day. It also provides detailed information on the 2010 call for proposals under the three actions of the programme: Joint Programmes, Partnerships and Promotion of European higher education.

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News in brief

The European University Association (EUA) is to publish an annual review of worldwide university rankings. The aim of this new pilot project will be to provide universities with transparent information about international rankings by critically evaluating their methodologies, assessing potential biases and suggesting improvements. The review is aimed to assist universities in develop strategies to cope with rankings, as well as encouraging alternative approaches to enhance transparency. The annual review will appear for the first time in 2011, and will include a compendium of different international ranking initiatives. EUA also plans to organise an annual rankings seminar for university leaders across Europe.

EUA has welcomed 12 new members at its recent Council meeting in Brussels. The following universities were welcomed as full members: Kärnten University of Applied Sciences (Austria); Belarusian State University (Belarus); University of Haute-Alsace (France); Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (Germany); Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany); Bremen University of Applied Sciences (Germany); Aston University (United Kingdom); Ulster University (United Kingdom); Lutsk National Technical University (Ukraine); National Pedagogical Dragomanov University (Ukraine). The Campus 02 University of Applied Sciences Graz (Austria) and Maltepe University (Turkey) have joined as individual associate members.

The European Students' Union (ESU) has published a letter of support for the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) in its objections to the Irish Universities Associations' assertion that the definition of student services should be extended to core academic services. ESU and USI see the move as a threat to the existence and quality of the social services, and as an attempt to introduce tuition fees through the back door.

ESU chairperson Ligia Deca has identified financing and recognition as the two obstacles to student mobility. During a speech at a conference about the Erasmus exchange programme, Deca said “... there are several countries in Europe in which students are protesting about exactly this kind of problems, with the legitimate claim that the national implementation of the Bologna Process hampered flexible learning paths and mobility opportunities”

The European Commission has published an independent expert report calling for immediate action to solve Europe’s skills deficiencies. The report, 'New Skills for New Jobs: Action Now', stresses the need to provide the right incentives for people to upgrade their skills, to better link education, training and work, to develop the right mix of skills, and to better anticipate those skills needed in the future. The report is part of the European Commission's 'New Skills for New Jobs' agenda, and calls for action in four main areas: providing better incentives for employers and individuals to up-skill and investment in skills; opening up the worlds of education and training by making education and training institutions more innovative and responsive to both learners' and employers' needs, and by developing relevant qualifications that focus on concrete learning outcomes; offering a better mix of skills that is more suited to labour market needs; and better anticipation of future skill needs.

Unions from across Europe have joined together and called for better representation of university support staff. Delegates from UNISON (England), SIPTU (Ireland), and HK/ST (Denmark) and a number of institutions jointly met with MEPs early this month to discuss future activity to support those staff they represent. Following the meeting, which was Chaired by Danish socialist MEP Britta Thomsen, MEP Mary Honeyball reported that one of the aims of the collective union is to establish a European network for support staff. A second aim is to lobby for the inclusion of support staff in bids to the EU Research Framework Programme.

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Diary dates

February

18 Feb - NARIC training session “Evaluating International Qualifications”, London

18 Feb - UK NARIC training session “Using UK NARIC’s International Comparisons”, London

March

11 Mar - European University Association conference “Trends 2010: The European Higher Education Area – Achievements and future challenges”, Vienna

11-12 Mar - Bologna Ministerial Anniversary Conference 2010, Budapest and Vienna

11-15 Mar - European Council of doctoral candidates and young researchers (Eurodoc) Annual Conference 2010 “Stocktaking and prospects: Doctoral Training and Research – The Link between EHEA and ERA”, Vienna

18 Mar - Universities UK conference “The Growth of Private and for Profit HE Providers in the UK: Competition or Collaboration?”, London

18 Mar - “Promoting the Student International Experience – Bologna 2010”, a joint conference from NUS Scotland, Universities Scotland, Sparqs and the Education Academy, Glasgow

18-19 Mar: Third EUA-CDE Workshop: "Researchers' Careers - Support and Development", hosted by Ghent University, Belgium Belgium

18-19 Mar German Academic Exchange Service Conference “New Perspectives of Legal Education in Europe”, Berlin
For more information email kleinheidt@hrk.de

April

22-23 Apr - European University Association conference “Towards Financially Sustainable Universities II: Diversifying Income Streams”, Italy

May

16-18 May - ACA Annual Conference “Brains on the move. Gains and losses from student mobility and academic migration”, Spain

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