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Do you believe in the Erasmus spirit and the benefits of living abroad? We've lived them all and we are sure of them!
On October 16th we are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the biggest student organisation in Europe - the Erasmus Student Network. We want to share our message with the world together with YOU! More...

Another edition of the ARWU Shanghai ranking brings another top-score performance of US universities. On the overall list of top 500 universities in 2014, US institutions take up 146 places and 16 of them are amongst the top 20. Just like every year, Harvard tops the list, followed by Stanford in the 2nd, MIT in the 3rd and Berkeley in the 4th place, and then come other usual suspects. The four high-scorers outside the US are European: Cambridge still at number 5, Oxford at the 9th place and the Swiss ETH Zurich at 19th, both up one place since last year. The University College London is again after 3 years among the top 20, leaving behind the University of Tokyo and adding up to the UK top 20 score.
Europe is represented by 205 universities overall - 5 more than last year - as well as by 5 more among the top 200 (80). Most European institutions come from Germany (39) and the UK (38), followed by France and Italy with 21 universities each in the top 500 list. KU Leuven and University of Amsterdam are two European universities to appear for the first time amongst the top 100 universities on the Shanghai scoreboard. China is still the second most represented country after the US. With 44 universities this year – 2 more than in 2013 - it shows a continual increase over years. However, it still needs to pave its way to the top 100 group, which - apart from the US and Europe - hosts universities from Australia (4), Canada (4), Japan (3) and Israel (2).  Out of 10 Latin American universities on the overall list, the highest ranked ones are the University of Sao Paulo and the University of Buenos Aires, but neither made it to the top 100. African universities are still fewest – only 5. The only two African countries represented in the ranking are South Africa with 4 and Egypt with 1 institution. Australia scores quite consistently. For the fourth year in a row, 19 Australian institutions appear among top 500 institutions. Their number among top 100 has been fluctuating between 3 and 5 in the last five years but, in general, no major shifts have taken place. More...

The interest in the DAAD’s new funding programme for outstanding postdoctoral researchers P.R.I.M.E. (Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience) was very high in the first round of applications. As already presented in the ACA Newsletter - Education Europe of February 2014, P.R.I.M.E. provides funding for 18 months, during which 12 months have to be spent abroad and 6 months (re-integration phase) are spent at a German university. The novelty is that the programme is open to all nationalities and that the DAAD is funding a position at a German host institution, not a scholarship. More...

A survey is now open for admissions officers and others occasionally dealing with the evaluation of foreign qualifications (e.g. quality assurance staff, student counsellors and ombudspersons). The consultation is the start of the STREAM project and aims to collect input from end users on a good practice and training platform in recognition, which is to be developed for admissions officers as part of the project. The platform will allow admissions officers in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) to work on recognition questions relevant to their context and exchange good practice. The platform will open in the course of 2015.
STREAM builds further on the European Area of Recognition (EAR) and EAR – Higher Education Institutions (EAR HEI) projects, both of which produced recognition manuals - EAR for the ENIC-NARIC networks and EAR HEI for admissions officers in higher education institutions. The aim of offering practical recommendations based on the principles of the Lisbon Recognition Convention is to streamline recognition practices in the EHEA. In 2012, the use of EAR was recommended by the 47 Ministers of Education of the EHEA in the Bucharest Communiqué. More...

ACA's first European Policy Seminar after the summer break is on Liberal Arts (and Sciences) education in Europe. It will provide an introduction into the philosophy and the main features of Liberal Arts education, amongst them the college system, undergraduate research and (small) size. The seminar will also present and analyse varied examples of successful Liberal Arts programmes in different European countries. Its aim is to also to clarify the concept of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the core idea behind such education.
Liberal Arts education originated from Europe and it was based on the seven liberal arts – artes liberales – which comprised those focusing on language (grammar, rhetoric and logic) and those with mathematical elements (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and theory of music). The idea behind artes liberales was that education should, above all, lead to a well-rounded and – free - person. Thus the seven liberal arts were the foundation for any further training and specialisation. More...

The latest edition of Higher Education Policy (HEP) has just been released and features a selection of articles on a wide range of issues such as student assessment in Portugal, job satisfaction and gender, and policy change in East Europe:

Higher Education, Learning Regions and the Malaysian Transformation Policies – Norzaini Azman, Morshidi Sirat and Abdul Razak Ahmad;

Student Assessment in Portugal: Academic Practice and Bologna Policy – Cristina Sin and Maria Manatos;

In the Shadow of Celebrity? World-Class University Policies and Public Value in Higher Education – Leon Cremonini, Don F Westerheijden, Paul Benneworth and Hugh Dauncey;

Job Satisfaction of Academics: Does Gender Matter? - Maria de Lourdes Machado-Taylor, Kate White and Odilia Gouveia;

Volunteered Volunteers: Role Expectations and Performance of the US University President and Chancellor’s Partner – Juanita Gamez Vargas;

When and How Does Europe Matter? Higher Education Policy Change in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia - Martina Vukasovic.

For more information, abstracts and ordering, please visit the Journal’s homepage on Palgrave Macmillan's website.