Warwick International Programme in the Leadership and Management of Higher Education, Warwick, UK (7-20 April 2013)
The University of Warwick is holding its ‘International Programme in the Leadership and Management of Higher Education’ from 7 to 20 April. The Warwick IPLM is an intensive two-week programme for university leaders and senior managers from within and outside the UK. It is aimed at academic and non-academic managers and designed to provide opportunities to explore strategic issues and management challenges in international higher education management with experienced professionals. To find out more, please visit the programme website.

Destination Europe Conference, Cambridge (Massachusetts), USA (22 February 2013)
The European Commission’s next Destination Europe Conference will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 22 February. Destination Europe is a forum for European research organisations, funders and industry to present the opportunities they offer to researchers and innovators from anywhere in the world. The conference showcases Europe’s research and innovation culture and enables participants to learn about opportunities, ask questions, network and discuss with people who have chosen to work in Europe. Destination Europe is a joint initiative of the European Union and its member states. To find out more or to register by 5 February 2013, please visit the conference website.

At the beginning of January, Ireland took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Cyprus. Outlining Ireland’s education priorities for the EU Presidency Ireland’s Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. said: “Ensuring sustainable growth and jobs is the main theme of Ireland’s EU Presidency, and education and training have a key role to play in this and in tackling the unemployment crisis.”
The Irish Presidency said it had identified the following ‘legislative priorities’ for education during the course of the Presidency:

• Regulation establishing “Erasmus for All”
• New Directive to amend Directive 2005/36 on the recognition of professional qualifications
• Regulation on the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF)
• Decision on the Strategic Innovation Agenda of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) & Regulation amending 2008 Regulation which established the EIT

In terms of priority topics, the Presidency said there would be a focus on the social dimension of higher education. National Qualification Frameworks and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) would also be another priority area. In addition to a Presidency conference on ‘quality assurance in qualifications frameworks’, there would also be a focus on how employment sector actors are engaged in quality assurance and on quality assuring learning outcomes in relation to the needs of the labour market. The Presidency programme also highlights that the Commission’s recent communication on ‘Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes’ will “inform consideration of wider education reform’s”. The adoption of Council conclusions responding to the Communication would be proposed for the February 2013 Education Council. In terms of Research and Innovation, the Presidency’s programme outlines that it is aiming for agreement on Horizon 2020, the EU programme for research and innovation (within the context of overall agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework). In addition to an agreement on the two dossiers that make up the EIT proposal, it said it would attach strong importance to the European Research Area. Reflecting the “priority attached to boosting the Union’s innovation capacities”, the Presidency said it would host a number of conferences in Dublin in  2013 aimed at supporting this objective. Innovation would also be one of the main topics of the informal Competitiveness Council. Download the Irish Presidency Programme here.

The 2013 thematic workshop of the EUA Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE) focused on interdisciplinary doctoral programmes, outlining the possibilities and challenges interdisciplinary perspectives present for doctoral education. The workshop, which took place from 17 to 18 January 2013, was hosted by the Politecnico di Torino in Italy and attracted more than 90 participants from over 20 countries. At the workshop, members of EUA-CDE presented case studies of how and why universities engage in interdisciplinary training of doctoral candidates. Staff from Technische Universität München and Newcastle University introduced two major case studies from the point of view of university management, researchers and doctoral candidates in order to show the different motivations and perspectives from the parties involved in such programmes. Ten other case studies were presented in parallel sessions over the two days of the workshop. More information about the EUA-CDE is available here.

Following last year’s EUA Funding Forum, EUA has published the first contributions to its newly created “University Funding Articles Series”. This collection of articles, available on the EUA website, aims to provide the reader with a variety of updated sources on the topic of higher education funding from practitioners in the field.
This first series of contributions stems directly from EUA’s Funding Forum, which took place at the University of Salzburg in June 2012. A number of experts who presented their work at the event have authored the papers. The selection of papers covers different topics such as the future of European research funding for universities; the evolution towards formula-based funding for teaching and the introduction of performance indicators in university funding. The first series of articles also explore models for income diversification at universities and business schools, and the European Students’ Union has contributed a piece on “financing the students’ future”.
This series can be read in conjunction with a number of other useful resources gathered on this page, along with the various presentations given at the Funding Forum itself. Visit the University Funding Article Series here.

Das Geld für Auslandsaufenthalte wird knapp in Spanien: Erhielten Studenten früher bis zu 800 Euro pro Monat, wird der Zuschuss jetzt stark zusammengestrichen. Können die Spanier trotzdem ihren Titel als Erasmus-Europameister verteidigen?
Die Euro-Krise bekommen jetzt auch spanische Studenten zu spüren, die mit dem Erasmus-Programm ins europäische Ausland gehen wollen. Das wirtschaftlich angeschlagene Land kürzt die nationalen Zuschüsse für seine weltoffenen Studenten. Bis zu 800 Euro erhielten die jungen Spanier bisher pro Auslandsmonat, bezahlt aus der Kasse ihrer Heimatregion. Das soll nun deutlich weniger werden - und den Verhältnissen in anderen Ländern angeglichen werden, wo die Zuwendungen in der Regel wesentlich knapper ausfallen. Deutsche Erasmus-Studenten beispielsweise werden laut DAAD nur mit durchschnittlich 200 Euro im Monat unterstützt. Mehr...

UNIVERSITIES have slammed a federal government decision not to increase their funding as a lost opportunity to boost productivity and economic growth.
Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans responded today to the 2011 higher education base funding review by pointing to the “unprecedented investment” Labor had made in universities since 2007.
“Given the record investment in recurrent and capital funding for our universities made by this government, there will be no further general increase in base funding at this stage,” Senator Evans said in a statement.
He cited an Ernst & Young report which last year found that funding per student place had grown by 10 per cent with Labor's increased investment.
Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said the government's response was a “disappointing dismissal” of the report's call for increased funding. Read more...

By Beatrice Siu. The number of Hong Kong students studying abroad will slightly increase over last year, education consultants say.
This comes as more than 7,100 parents and students visited the two-day biennial British Council's Education UK Exhibition.
Some Secondary Six students were seeking opportunities to study overseas as another option, while others said they prefer dropping out of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination to study abroad because of competition for SAR university places.
As of January 14, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service already received 3,803 applications for entry to British universities. Read more...

By Nishant Kumar. With a majority of engineering and technology courses being either bilingual or taught in English, France is emerging as a study abroad destination for Indian students. Nishant Kumar reports from Paris.
With the global education sector undergoing a substantial transformation , the focus of Indian students is shifting from traditional educational destinations like the UK, US and Australia. In fact, given the variable palate that Europe has been offering in recent times, countries like France, Germany and Spain are emerging as study abroad destinations for Indian students. While the latter two are more popular for postgraduate, research and management studies , France has come up as a more holistic choice for Indian students. Read more...