By Eugene Vorotnikov. The government of Bulgaria is planning widespread reform in national science and higher education to improve competitiveness in the global arena, with help from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Policy Support Facility. Read more...

By Sharon Dell. The transformation of universities has become a burning issue in South Africa, but is real change possible without adequate student funding? If discussions at the Second National Higher Education Summit held in the coastal city of Durban last week are any indication, it seems unlikely. Read more...

By Brendan O'Malley and Jan Petter Myklebust. The European Commission is to invest almost €16 billion (US$18 billion) in research and innovation in 2016 and 2017 under its Horizon 2020 programme, it was announced last Tuesday. Read more...

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In a Special Report on the “Higher Education Futures” conference organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, and the Singapore government, Yojana Sharma reports that the OECD has not abandoned its attempts to compare learning outcomes internationally and is planning a new project aimed at benchmarking the performance of higher education systems. She also reports from the conference that China has announced a new scheme, dubbed ‘World Class 2.0’, to ensure that its best universities achieve world-class status, and she writes that the rise of Asia is set to change the bipolar world of higher education dominated by Europe and North America.
In another Special Report from a different part of the globe, Karen MacGregor reports from the world conference of the International Council for Open and Distance Education held in South Africa that the boundaries between institutions and developers of technology-enhanced learning ought to be broken down in the interests of sustainable development. Also, Stephen Coan reports on keynote speaker Laura Czerniewicz’s message that higher education leaders would have to learn to manage uncertainty associated with rapid changes in learning technologies, and Munyaradzi Makoni covers another keynote emphasising that education expansion must balance increased access with greater equality of access.
The Commentary section focuses on rankings this week, with Richard Holmes, who produces the University Ranking Watch blog, arguing that the Times Higher Education rankings’ methodology changes have led to some remarkable fluctuations, questioning their credibility. In contrast, Waldemar Siwinski is very upbeat about the dependability and future of national university rankings, which are on the increase worldwide. Philip G Altbach bemoans the irrationality of contemporary science in which systems of scientific credit have run amok, partly due to the obsession with rankings.
In our World Blog, Anna Notaro urges European universities to become intellectual benefactors in the refugee crisis that has engulfed their continent.
And finally, in Features, Rebecca Warden reports on a gathering of international academics to review the blueprint for the UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals on education. Read more...

By Stefanie Botelho. There was, first of all, the matter of what to call him. “Dr.-Almost Carvalho” tumbled out of the interviewer’s mouth. The interviewee, André Luiz Carvalho, laughed. He, in fact, almost does have that Ph.D. More...

Submitted by Stefanie Botelho. Pearson announced today that the new REVEL Efficacy Report, which details the results following six implementations of the technology and best practices for a successful implementation, is now available. More...

Submitted by Stefanie Botelho. The federal government’s oldest grant program that helps low-income students gain access to college may be on the chopping block. More...

Submitted by Stefanie Botelho. There are 430 different types of bird species in Alabama but researchers with the University of Alabama say that number is quickly declining. More...

Submitted by Stefanie Botelho. The U.S. Department of Education announced today a grant of $20M to the University of Wisconsin for a pilot project through the Disability Innovation Fund— Automated Personalization Computing Project (APCP). More...

Submitted by Stefanie Botelho. When the Obama administration agreed this summer to erase the federal loan debt of some former students at Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit school that filed for bankruptcy in the face of charges of widespread fraud, education officials promised to “protect students from abusive colleges and safeguard the interests of taxpayers.” More...