By Jan Petter Myklebust. The European Institute of Innovation and Technology, or EIT, last week announced the winners of its 2014 calls for two new KICs – Knowledge and Innovation Communities – in health and raw materials. There were five bids for the health and two for the raw materials KIC. Read more...

By Mohamed Ag Ahmedou. Niger is seeking to enhance higher education by opening four new universities, each specialising in an area key to development. The West African country’s universities continue to face challenges, but experts hail the development as a boost to the education system.
Last August, the government approved the creation of universities in Agadez, Dosso, Diffa and Tillabéri, said Abdoul Karim Alpha Gado, science editor at a Niger monthly magazine SEEDA. The universities are anticipated to open next year. Read more...

By Maina Waruru and Gilbert Nganga. Kenya has extended an extra US$2.7 million to the Pan African University for the construction of facilities at its campus near Nairobi – the Institute of Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation, or PAUSTI – one of five regional ‘nodes’ being developed across the continent. Last month the campus graduated its first ever masters students. Read more...

By Jane Marshall. The Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, or AUF, has launched two higher education initiatives aimed at French-speaking African and other developing countries. They are to introduce massive open online courses, or MOOCs, in partnership with the Swiss École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, and to establish an ‘equality for women’ network to counter gender discrimination in universities. Read more...

By Tunde Fatunde. Education fairs held annually in Nigerian cities are attracting attention for potentially harbouring fraudsters. The fairs, aimed at students seeking admission to universities abroad, have mushroomed in response to the exodus of Nigerian students seeking quality education in other countries. According to the British Council, in the UK alone there are nearly 18,000 Nigerian students. Read more...

By Karen MacGregor. Universities have been enthusiastic but academics appear unconvinced about the Canada First Research Excellence Fund or CFREF, a CAD1.5 billion (US$1.3 billion) initiative over 10 years that was announced in the budget earlier this year and launched by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on 4 December. Read more...

9 établissements français sont classés : École Normale Supérieure Paris (17), HEC-Paris (24), École des Mines ParisTech (42), École Centrale Paris (49), École de Management de Lyon (72), ESSEC (73), Sciences Po Paris (94), Université Pierre et Marie Curie (104), Université Paris-Sud (122).
The Global Employability University Survey and Ranking
The days of ivory towers are over. According to a ground-breaking survey of what recruiters of major companies are looking for in university systems round the world, the only clouds tomorrow’s graduates are to have their heads in are i-clouds. Their feet, meanwhile, should be firmly planted in their field of expertise as a result of practical training and internships. Employability is the no.1 criterion recruiters look at when choosing a university according to 37.1% of respondents.
For the fourth year running, French Human Resources consultancy Emerging has joined forces with German polling institute Trendence to interview 4,500 recruiters in 20 different countries and produce a global picture with a unique ranking of today’s best universities in terms of the employability of graduates, while also obtaining an enlightening vision of tomorrow’s university. This ranking differs from others by focusing less on academic achievement in terms of research and development, more on the working skills of graduates, and by covering a considerably wider range of countries. It is a valuable tool for employers, but also for educational establishments and students.
The findings of this year’s Global Employability survey and ranking answer crucial questions regarding the university of the future, outlining a global model, identifying the secrets behind winning brands known as hotbeds of talent to recruiters, and signalling urgent issues that need to be addressed.
Particularly notable is the globalisation of higher education, on a par with that of employment and information. 60.7% of respondents believe that a global university model is going to arise. “On the whole, the results of this year’s survey and the ensuing ranking confirm that ‘global’ is the key word for tomorrows university”, says Laurent Dupasquier, Associate director of Emerging, who uses a football metaphor to explain this. “The top tier players, global brands (which tend to be all American and British), continue to lead, while other Anglo-Saxon universities, those that are mainly regional players, tend to fare less well, with an average of 5 places lost in comparison with last year. Like the premiere league the champions have an international community of students and think internationally, unlike their more locally oriented counterparts”.
While the top tier remains Anglo-saxon with just under 50 % of the total (3% below last year and with the US accounting for 28%), the remarkable rise of Asian universities in the ranking is a crucial factor. 30 Asian establishments now represent 20% of the total ranking compared with only 10% in the first edition in 2010. This is particularly significant for China (7), where the universities already in the ranking have gone up an average of 5 places, and two new ones have entered the ranking. Also noteworthy are the very good results of South Korea (4 with 2 new entrants) and Hong Kong universities and the rise (albeit from a very poor position) of Indian universities (5 with 2 new entrants).
At this rate it would appear urgent that western stalwarts consider how they can stay in the game.
Colours and crests remain essential. A guarantee of quality, university brands are evolving beyond the traditional ivy league. Borders are being opened up, notably with the aid of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), which are proving a reliable support for branding as well as having a major impact on teaching methods.
Recruiters do appear open to structures that differ from traditional academia. This can be detected in the ranking of French universities and schools, which, despite doing less well as in last year’s edition, with 10 present (- 2), still fare much better than in other rankings, because employability is what the ‘grandes écoles’ (the top schools in higher education) are all about. Spain and Italys’ rapid ascension testify to this.
This success is largely due to close contact with the business world – a point most respondents tend to agree upon: the university of tomorrow must prepare students for the realities of work with a balanced mix of theoretical and practical training. Expertise in one field of competence is the second most important priority to look for when choosing a university according to 32.2% of respondents.
Another lead is that universities with a focus on the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) spectrum of subjects tend to do much better in this ranking. This is exemplified by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and its fellow US STEM specialist the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), which have gained 5 places this year, and by the rise of the technological institutes in Germany and Scandinavian countries. In general, the universities that have some form of technical expertise or specialization tend to do much better this year.
Finally, regarding funding, the ranking also suggests that one solution can be found in small countries, notably in Europe, that have a high wage base and strong public investment which have been shown to do very well, as exemplified by Switzerland (7 universities), Belgium (2), The Netherlands (5) and the Scandinavian countries (8).
On the whole, The 2014 Global Employability ranking indicates that university systems round the world are evolving towards a fundamental reshuffle. We can look forward to further proof of this next year.

By Holly Else. The budget of the European Union’s flagship research and innovation programme should be ring fenced, an association of research funders has said. More...