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Harmonised EU entry and residence rules that will make it easier and more attractive for students and researchers from third countries to study or do research at EU universities were informally agreed by MEPs and ministers on Tuesday. The deal also has provisions to clarify and improve conditions for non-EU interns, volunteers, school pupils and au pairs, so as to facilitate cultural exchanges. These rules still need to be approved by Parliament as a whole and the Council of Ministers.
"Today's agreement means without a doubt that our European universities are strengthening their competitiveness in the global arena, becoming more attractive than ever for talented, ambitious and highly-educated people from other countries, who will receive considerably improved conditions here", said Parliament's lead MEP on the file Cecilia Wikström (ALDE, SE).
The new rules merge two existing directives (one on students and one on researchers) to ensure that:

• students and researchers will have the right to stay at least nine months after finishing their studies or research in order to look for a job or to set up a business, which should also ensure that Europe benefits from their skills. Today, it is individual EU member states which decide whether students and researchers from third countries may stay on after their studies or research have ended,
• it will be easier for students and researchers to move within the EU during their stay. Under the new rules, they will have to notify only the member state to which they are moving, for example to do a one-semester exchange, instead of having to submit a new visa application and wait for it to be processed, as is the case today. Researchers will also be able to move for longer periods than those currently allowed.
• researchers will have the right to bring their family members with them, also when they move within the EU, and these family members will also have the right to work during their stay in Europe, and
• students will have the right to work at least 15 hours a week

In addition to the rules on students and researchers, the new directive also has provisions for interns and volunteers under the European Volunteer Scheme, who will benefit from uniform conditions to enter Europe and increased protection once there, as well as optional provisions for other volunteers, school pupils and au pairs. This is the first time that third-country au pairs have been included in an EU law. More...

Harmonised EU entry and residence rules that will make it easier and more attractive for students and researchers from third countries to study or do research at EU universities were informally agreed by MEPs and ministers on Tuesday. The deal also has provisions to clarify and improve conditions for non-EU interns, volunteers, school pupils and au pairs, so as to facilitate cultural exchanges. These rules still need to be approved by Parliament as a whole and the Council of Ministers.
"Today's agreement means without a doubt that our European universities are strengthening their competitiveness in the global arena, becoming more attractive than ever for talented, ambitious and highly-educated people from other countries, who will receive considerably improved conditions here", said Parliament's lead MEP on the file Cecilia Wikström (ALDE, SE).
The new rules merge two existing directives (one on students and one on researchers) to ensure that:

• students and researchers will have the right to stay at least nine months after finishing their studies or research in order to look for a job or to set up a business, which should also ensure that Europe benefits from their skills. Today, it is individual EU member states which decide whether students and researchers from third countries may stay on after their studies or research have ended,
• it will be easier for students and researchers to move within the EU during their stay. Under the new rules, they will have to notify only the member state to which they are moving, for example to do a one-semester exchange, instead of having to submit a new visa application and wait for it to be processed, as is the case today. Researchers will also be able to move for longer periods than those currently allowed.
• researchers will have the right to bring their family members with them, also when they move within the EU, and these family members will also have the right to work during their stay in Europe, and
• students will have the right to work at least 15 hours a week

In addition to the rules on students and researchers, the new directive also has provisions for interns and volunteers under the European Volunteer Scheme, who will benefit from uniform conditions to enter Europe and increased protection once there, as well as optional provisions for other volunteers, school pupils and au pairs. This is the first time that third-country au pairs have been included in an EU law. More...

ESU believes that TTIP, TiSA and future trade agreements which consider education as a tradeable commodity, are a threat to the intrinsic values of education and will have irreversible consequences on education systems. Therefore ESU urges for the exclusion of education as a whole from EU, EEA and EFTA trade agreements. More...

By Joe Myers. While governments around the world are wringing their hands over a lack of gender diversity in the sciences, some countries are managing to buck the trend with more women than men working in research and development.
Globally, just 28% of R&D workers are women, according to a study by UNESCO. Although in a few countries more than half of researchers are women, and in Myanmar, the highest scoring country, the figure is 86%. More...

By Quirin Schiermeier. Social scientists launch integration studies and warn of need to counter rising xenophobia.
After civil war broke out in Syria, Mohammad Khamis lost his parents and his home — but not his dream of becoming a scientist. In July 2013, he boarded a flight from Damascus, where he had studied electrical engineering, to Egypt. In Alexandria, he paid traffickers about €5,000 (US$5,500) for a boat passage to Europe. More...

In light of the upcoming Re-imagine Education Awards, the innovative global competition launched last year by QS and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to find the world’s top higher education pedagogical innovation. I started reminiscing about my own university experience, and one particular course came to mind when I looked closely at Hybrid Learning. At QSIU, we are proud to have a team with a diverse skill set, a range of over 12 languages, and have come from various different universities from around the world. Below is an account of a few QSIU team members who share their own memorable experience of past pedagogical methods that have been particularly effective. More...

By Leonardo Silveira. Employability has been a hot topic for the Higher Education industry for years. With far easier access to a far broader selection of universities, it became an even more relevant aspect of students’ decision making. QS has been measuring employability in all of its rankings, with our Employer Reputation Survey running for over 20 years. But given the public’s special interest in this topic, it was time to expand the analysis, step out of the comfort zone, and create a new, specific ranking. More...