ONE of the big education stories of our times is the drive towards ‘internationalisation’ by universities all over the world. I’ve written about this already this year for BBC online news and EUPRIO, the European Universities Public Relations & Information Officers. One thing standing out is the rush to create courses entirely taught in English […]
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What’s driving the urge for universities to merge?
Universities across Europe are talking about merging or forming alliances and concentrating faculties like never before. Since the start of the 21st century, the European University Association (EUA) has recorded nearly 100 on its interactive merger map. And the pace is accelerating, with eight super-universities or clusters identified in 2012; 12 in 2013 and 14 in […]
Read the rest of this entry »What can we learn from U-Multirank 2015?
The new global university rankings recently released by the European Commission funded U-Multirank were largely ignored by the British media, so here’s a brief résumé of what they tell us about who is best at what! U-Multirank claims it is not about creating overall league tables of winners and losers in the world university ranking […]
Read the rest of this entry »University ‘excellence schemes’ under the microscope
The European University Association has published a new report examining ‘excellence schemes’ and their impact on universities in Europe, which I looked at for the European Universities Public Relations and Information Officers’ association, or EUPRIO. Here’s the blog: From Britain’s recent Research Excellence Framework, or REF, used to decide where public funded research is best […]
Read the rest of this entry »‘Reward scientists who can communicate with the public’
A German think tank is recommending rewarding scientists who are good at engaging with the public, writes NIC MITCHELL. Scientists who engage with the public deserve not just support and appreciation, but also “remuneration and incentives,” says a position paper from the Siggen Circle. The paper entitled, The Siggen Call for Action – Shaping science […]
Read the rest of this entry »Reciprocity should be key to study abroad flows
NIC MITCHELL previews another step on the road to getting more British students to study abroad for at least part of their higher education. Many of Britain’s study abroad advocates are expected to gather in London’s Caledonian Club on Tuesday March 11 for a seminar – with the lengthy title of “Implementing the Outward Student […]
Read the rest of this entry »A warm Euro welcome – and in English, too!
Times Higher Education published a story on 10 October about continental European universities – ‘rivals’ in their words – adopting English in a fight for overseas students. Here’s the original story and my online comment. An abridged version of my reply was published in the ‘Letters’ section of the printed magazine on 17 October. 10 […]
Read the rest of this entry »Is Sweden recovering from the international student crash?
Swedish universities are looking to build on the first signs of recovery in the international student market following the collapse in overseas applications when ‘full-cost’ tuition fees were introduced for non-EU/EEA students in 2011.But they face a massive uphill task. Many feel more should be done to sweeten the attractiveness of Sweden’s higher education with […]
Read the rest of this entry »Getting more UK students to study abroad!
Anne-Marie Graham, head of the UK Higher Education International Unit’s new Outward Student Mobility programme, talks to NIC MITCHELL about the aims and aspirations of the new government-backed initiative. As someone who has benefited from study-abroad exchanges in France and Spain, Anne-Marie Graham speaks with authority about the value of schemes like European higher education […]
Read the rest of this entry »Stormy start to 2013 for German higher education
A new series of occasional blogs on higher education trends in different countries and issues facing European universities starts by looking at Germany. I have Sweden and the UK lined-up on the horizon and hope the blogs help increase understanding on what’s happening in in higher education around Europe. NOT the start to 2013 that […]
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