Several universities in Taiwan and China signed an agreement last week, with the aim of establishing a system to index Chinese-language academic journals, write Stanley Cheung and Kay Liu for CNA. Read more...

A flawed higher education system has been an issue in Lithuania for many years, but the recent data and a growing discontent with inefficiencies in the higher education system among prominent education specialists, economists, students and the heads of the state, suggests it has reached a breaking point, reports Xinhua. Read more...

Researchers in Japan are one step closer to their goal of getting an artificial intelligence accepted by Tokyo University. The artificial intelligence, called Todai Robot Project, has passed the standardised Japanese universities entrance exam with higher than average marks, making it clever enough to get into most Japanese universities, writes Cara McGoogan for Wired. Read more...

Several universities are being threatened with tough penalties for allegedly providing data that would artificially boost their performance on prestigious research rankings used to allocate government funding, writes Matthew Knott for Sydney Morning Herald. Read more...

Revelations that leading academics in the UK are earning more than £600,000 (US$916,000) while other staff have seen their pay cut, is evidence that the benefits awarded to vice-chancellors are “completely out of control”, according to a universities union, writes Richard Adams for the Guardian. Read more...

The Kerala government is getting ready to set up a first-of-its-kind university in the country, exclusively for research-oriented studies related to gender, reports PTI. Read more...

The student government at the University of Southern California has been left divided over a resolution which will request the institution to set aside spaces and scholarships for Syrian refugees, with one member describing it as having ‘poor timing’, writes Aftab Ali for the Independent. Read more...

By William Patrick Leonard. It has been projected that as many as 40% of United States tertiary institutions have placed themselves on a non-sustainable financial trajectory with chronic high costs and accompanying debt. Read more...

By Nicola Jenvey. Greek philanthropist Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, 48, who is best known for founding easyJet, the low-budget airline, and the Stelmar shipping line, was born into a wealthy ship-owning family from Cyprus. Read more...

By Alain Mayeur. As part of its digital strategy for education, the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research has recently recast its France Université Numérique Internet portal as sup-numerique.gouv.fr.
This new website is aimed at everyone who wants to teach or learn ‘online’, and amounts to a one-stop-shop for digital higher education. Read more...