EUA releases new data on public funding for universities
The findings of the 2017 Public Funding Observatory are now available on the EUA website. The study, fuelled by data from EUA members, is presented in a report and online tool. It captures the very latest funding trends in Europe and offers the most up-to-date information on 34 different higher education systems.
The analysis reveals that since the 2008 financial crisis, the divide between higher education systems that increase public funding, and those that reduce investment, is getting wider. It also shows that while 2012 was the most difficult year in terms of cuts, any recovery that can now be detected is slow and fragile.
“Once university funding is cut, it takes a long time to catch up. Decreases may hit all activity areas, including teaching, research, infrastructure and staff,” explains Thomas Estermann, EUA’s Director of Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development. “If Europe sees more economic growth, we need to seize the opportunity to invest in higher education and set the stage for long-term sustainable funding trends.”
Student numbers and dynamic economic contexts affect university funding. A handful of countries have increases that match student numbers and GDP growth, while others demonstrate the need to investment more in order to close the gap.
Read more |
|
On 8 December 2017, the European Commission and the British government declared that they had reached an agreement on citizens’ rights after Brexit, the status of the Irish border, and the financial settlement. EU member states’ leaders still have to formally agree to it at the summit on 15 December, but it is very likely that they will follow the recommendations by the European Commission. This means that the second phase of negotiations, dedicated to the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union after March 2019, can begin next year.
Read more
The EU Competitiveness Council convened on 1 December 2017 and made a forceful commitment to the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. EUA welcomes the Council’s conclusions as they were very much in line with proposals presented in the Association’s recently published recommendations. However, EUA calls on the Council to take a deeper look at several matters that need to be addressed to make the next Framework Programmea powerful successor to Horizon 2020.
Read more
More than 30 higher education managers, policy makers and sector representatives met in Dublin last week with the aim to exchange good practices in efficiency and effectiveness of higher education management at various levels. This second USTREAM peer learning seminar was jointly organised by the Irish Universities Association (IUA) and EUA on 4 and 5 December.
Read more
EUA’s Secretary General, Lesley Wilson, took part in an international conference on the topic of “Academic freedom: a universal right at stake!?”, held on 8 December in Berne, Switzerland. The event was convened by the Delegate for Human Rights of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences.
Read moreOn 24 November vice-rectors and managers from 20 EUA member universities met at the University of Lille – Human and Social Sciences in France to discuss institutional approaches and strategies towards diversity and inclusiveness.
Read more
Apply before 20 December 2017 under the call for participation launched in November 2017 by the European Forum for Enhanced Collaboration in Teaching (EFFECT) project, funded under the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme and coordinated by EUA.
Read more
The Iranian Supreme Court considered and confirmed on 9 December the imprisoned scholar Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali’s death sentence, initially issued on 21 October. In grave concern of Dr. Djalali’s critical situation and in a collective effort to increase international pressure that can facilitate his release, the European University Association is urging all members to send their own letter to the Iranian authorities to state their support to the imprisoned scholar, and request the reversing of his death sentence.
Read moreThe conference, which was organised in Bucharest, Romania, on 27-29 November, is part of the European Higher Education Area official calendar of events and conferences, promoting and sustaining the development of EHEA. It aims at providing a unique forum for dialogue between researchers, experts and policy makers in the field of higher education. The conference brought together higher education researchers ahead of the Bologna Process Ministerial Conference to be held in Paris in May 2018.
Read moreEUA, as the stakeholder organisation representing European universities, participated to the 6th Asia-Europe Education Ministers’ Meeting (ASEM ME6), which took place in Seoul, Korea, on 21-22 November.
Read more
After a year of looking back into the evolution of what started as a student mobility programme in 1987, today marks the end of the Erasmus+ programme 30th anniversary celebration. This is a great opportunity to take stock of the Erasmus+ achievements, suggest improvements and raise the bar for an even more ambitious scheme beyond 2020.
Read more
|
|
Registration is open for the EUA Annual Conference 2018 on ‘Engaged and responsible universities shaping Europe’. The event will take place at the University of Zurich, Switzerland on 5-6 April 2018.
Read more
The EUA Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE) is currently looking for members to host its two main events in 2019. Hosting an EUA-CDE event is a unique opportunity to showcase the achievements of your institution in the field of doctoral education to a European audience of academic leaders and doctoral education professionals.
Read more |
|
The European University Association team wishes you happy holidays.
Our newsletter will be back on 19 January 2018 |
|
|
