Sunday 30 October 2011

University World News 0195 - 30th October 2011

This week's highlights

A special report this week looks at news and issues around student finance. It includes commentaries by STEVE CHATMAN of Berkeley on how financial aid has alleviated the impacts of the wealth gap on student satisfaction in the US, and by student leader ALLAN PALL on Europe's proposed loan scheme to encourage greater student mobility. In Features, SUVENDRINI KAKUCHI reports on the Campus Asia project aimed at harmonising higher education and encouraging student exchange between Japan, China and South Korea. And in Commentary, ELSPETH JONES outlines 10 key indicators of a university that has achieved comprehensive internationalisation, while MARTIN GRABERT describes how Germany's Excellence Initiative has quickly achieved positive results for elite universities and the higher education system.

Special Report on student finance

Student finance has been in the news, with tuition fees rising and more
governments shifting the burden of higher education costs from the public to the student purse. In India massification is driving exponential growth in the loan market, and in the United States and elsewhere student debt and loan defaults are rising rapidly. The European Commission is floating a loan scheme to help fund student mobility. This special report provides a snapshot of developments and challenges in student finance in selected countries around the world.

US: Mixed victory for students under Obama loan plan

Eileen Travers Marching along the shaded valley beneath skyscr apers housing major bank headquarters in midtown Manhattan, some students in the Occupy Wall Street movement said United States President Barack Obama's new loan plan was too little too late, with real savings totaling no more than $10 a month per low-income borrower.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Aid prevents big wealth gap impact on students
Research into student experience and income in America shows that the effect of family income on student satisfaction is limited due to the financial aid programmes that support them. However, students are cutting back across the board and it is important to keep analysing the impact, particularly if aid programmes are reduced, says STEVE CHATMAN of the Center for Studies in Higher Education at Berkeley.
Full report on the University World News site:

INDIA: Soaring demand doubles student loan numbers
Alya Mishra
While the middle classes in India have traditionally pursued higher education for their children, rising aspirations among the lower-middle class and poor have led to soaring demand for student loans, despite families having to put assets on the line. The number of students applying for loans has more than doubled in five years.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Do loans create an indebted generation?
The European Commission has published an agenda for modernising higher education, which includes a proposal for a loan scheme to encourage greater mobility for students. But will this create an indebted generation and fuel inter-generational tension? asks ALLAN PALL, chair of the European Students' Union.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Fund rescues non-fee-paying graduates
Sharon Dell
A R200-million (US$25.5 million) fund to provide loans to nearly 20,000 graduates whose degree and diploma certificates have been withheld by educational institutions because of outstanding fees, is among a clutch of recent initiatives by the South African government to boost the efficiency of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and broaden its reach.
Full report on the University World News site:

THAILAND: Defaults prompt new student loan criteria
Suluck Lamubol
As the number of students defaulting on the government's low-interest student loan scheme increases, Thailand's education minister has proposed making government loans contingent on an applicant's future income and employment prospects. But critics say this could turn education into a commodity and could widen social inequalities.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Students pay for the privilege
Geoff Maslen
More than 1.2 million students are enrolled in Australian higher education institutions this year and almost every one of them pays for the privilege, including the 335,000 foreign students who must meet the full cost of their courses.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

BRAZIL: Science students offered study-abroad grants
Tom Hennigan
In the latest move in a campaign to boost its economy's scientific base, Brazil is offering 75,000 grants by the end of 2014 to science students keen to study abroad. The goal of the Science Without Frontiers programme is to increase the number of Brazilian pre- and post-doctoral students in leading foreign institutions. In return, the government says it will work to create similar opportunities for foreign students in Brazilian institutions.
Full report on the University World News site:

SWEDEN: Minister says universities may merge
Jan Petter Myklebust
Sweden's coalition government is to tackle a sharp drop in student numbers by allocating more funding to universities where there is a strong demand for places, forcing less popular institutions to seek mergers to survive, Education Minister Jan Björklund has warned.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Australia in from Commonwealth funding cold
David Jobbins
Australia is to resume funding for Commonwealth university scholarships and the Commonwealth of Learning, the pioneering distance learning agency with a focus on the developing world, seven years after it pulled the plug in an economy drive.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Scholarships effective in supporting democracy
Jacquie Withers
Two evaluation reports from the UK's Commonwealth Scholarship Commission were launched last week ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia - one based on a survey of more than 2,000 former scholars and fellows around the Commonwealth, and the other focusing on 15 Commonwealth countries in Asia.
Full report on the University World News site:

LEBANON: Quality assurance agency to be created
Wagdy Sawahel
Lebanon plans to establish a national quality assurance agency to strengthen the competitiveness of its sole state university and numerous private universities. The aim is to develop a higher education system of international quality.
Full report on the University World News site:

INDIA: Protests continue over academic freedom curb
Alya Mishra
Students and teachers at Delhi University went on marches last week to protest against the removal of a celebrated essay by the late scholar and linguist AK Ramanujan on the Hindu epic, the Ramayana.
Full report on the University World News site:

MALAWI: Presidential reversal reinstates lecturers
Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika has reinstated four lecturers who were suspended as a result of industrial action over erosion of academic freedoms, and said higher education liberties were guaranteed in the African nation. Many campuses have been closed for much of the year due to unresolved lecturer protests over what has been seen as an increasingly autocratic climate in the country.
Full report on the University World News site:

MOZAMBIQUE: University u-turn on 'Bologna' degrees
Munyaradzi Makoni
Fifteen faculties of Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane University will change from a three-year back to a four-year bachelor degree programme in the 2012 academic year, reversing the adoption of the Bologna process degree structure. The switch is aimed at producing better-trained, labour-marketable graduates.
Full report on the University World News site:

ZAMBIA: Three new universities, job creation planned
Zambia's newly elected President Michael Sata has outlined plans to review the higher education sector as well as establish three new universities, to fulfil his election manifesto. Job creation for higher education graduates would also be prioritised.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

ASIA: Building bridges through higher education
Suvendrini Kakuchi
Western countries are by far the most favoured destinations for students from East Asia seeking higher education abroad, and reversing that trend will not be easy. But an ambitious plan to usher in exchanges between universities in Japan, China and South Korea is under way under the auspices of the three governments.
Full report on the University World News site:

COMMENTARY

GLOBAL: Internationalisation - Aid, trade, pervade
Discussing definitions of internationalisation in higher education shows that we have not advanced enough, says ELSPETH JONES. If we are still having a debate, we are not devoting ourselves sufficiently to doing internationalisation. She outlines 10 key indicators of a university that has achieved 'comprehensive' or 'integrated' internationalisation.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Germany's Excellence Initiative reaps rewards
Germany's Excellence Initiative has brought visible benefits and quickly, says MARTIN GRABERT. Concentrating support where it can have the most impact through a bottom-up two-tiered approach has achieved results for elite universities and has also had wider benefits for the higher education system.
Full report on the University World News site:

SCIENCE SCENE

SOUTH AFRICA: A 100,000-year-old workshop
An ochre-rich mixture that was possibly used for decoration, painting and skin protection 100,000 years ago has been discovered stored in two abalone shells at Blombos Cave, 300 kilometres east of Cape Town. The discovery represents an important benchmark in the evolution of complex human thought.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK-AUSTRALIA: Energy-converting protein
British and Australian researchers have made a world-first discovery that will provide the most accurate understanding to date of the structure and function of the most important energy-converting protein, critical to the functioning of all organs and a cause of disease when malfunctioning.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Mirror coating of NASA telescope
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, has reached a major milestone in its development: the mirrors that will fly aboard the telescope have been completely coated with a microscopically thin layer of gold, selected for its ability to properly reflect infrared light from the mirrors into the observatory's science instruments.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRIA: Dissipation to engineer quantum states
Theoretical physicists at the University of Innsbruck have formulated a new concept to engineer exotic so-called topological states of matter in quantum mechanical many-body systems. They linked concepts of quantum optics and condensed matter physics to show a way to build a quantum computer immune from perturbations.
Full report on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

University World News has a new Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews. Even if you were one of the 2,800 members of the original Facebook community you will need to rejoin, or become a fan once again via this page. That way, you will be able to see our regular updates, post on our wall and communicate with us and other University World News fans. Please take a few minutes to rejoin and to inform your friends about our new Facebook page. You can also follow University World News on Twitter @uniworldnews

WORLD ROUND-UP

HONG KONG: An open door to foreign students
Well-positioned in world university rankings, Hong Kong has an open-door policy towards international students. The Hong Kong government has invested HK$1 billion (US$128 million) in a bursary fund, with the interest to be used to fund scholarships for international students, writes Stephen Hoare for The Independent.
More on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Universities put revenue before standards
The state of Victoria's ombudsman has uncovered worrying evidence that universities have been putting the need for student fee revenue ahead of the ability of students to complete their courses, apparently enrolling students with too-poor English skills, writes Andrew Trounsen for The Australian. But universities have rejected the criticism.
More on the University World News site:

CHINA-AFRICA: Universities to boost collaboration
The 2011 UNESCO-China-Africa University Leaders Meeting was held last week in Paris at the headquarters of the United Nations agency, aimed at boosting collaboration between Chinese and African universities, reports the Xinhua news agency.
More on the University World News site:

US: High cost of community college dropouts
A new national study reports that federal, state, and local governments in the US invested nearly $4 billion in full-time community college students who subsequently dropped out after their first year, writes Rita Giordano for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
More on the University World News site:

US: Real higher education costs now clearer
How much will college really cost? For American families, the answer may soon become clearer. Starting on 29 October, any college or university participating in federal student aid programmes must have a net-price calculator on its website, writes Emily Glazer for the Wall Street Journal.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Education spending 'falling fastest since 1950s'
Public spending on education in the UK is falling at the fastest rate since the 1950s, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The independent financial researchers say spending will fall by 13% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15, writes Sean Coughlan for the BBC.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Drop in soft subject applications
Softer university subjects such as communication studies and creative arts have seen a drop in applications of up to 40% as students seek value for England's controversial £9,000 (US$14,400) tuition fee, according to figures released last week, writes Victoria Ward for The Telegraph.
More on the University World News site:

UK: 'Free' Oxbridge masters degrees under fire
It is as traditional as punting, elite clubs and one-to-one tutorials with dusty dons, but the 'complimentary' masters degrees awarded to Oxford and Cambridge graduates is under fire, writes Julie Henry for The Telegraph.
More on the University World News site:

ISRAEL: 'Privatised enclaves' rise in universities
Study programmes funded by non-public sources in Israeli universities have doubled during the past six years. The number of such programmes has risen from 26 to 51 in a trend that is at variance with a decision reached in 2007 by Israel's Council for Higher Education to withhold recognition of new study programmes, writes Asaf Shtull-Trauring for Haaretz.
More on the University World News site:

US: Political science 'too slow to change' - Report
Political science is being held back as a discipline by its failure to sufficiently engage in issues of race and inequality, and by the homogeneity of its faculty members, according to a report released last week by the American Political Science Association, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed.
More on the University World News site:

CANADA: Universities need to step up - Toope
The world is becoming a more competitive place than ever as far as universities are concerned and Canadian institutions, working with real funding shortages, need to focus on their teaching mission to remain in the game, according to Stephen Toope, president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, writes Karen Seidman for The Gazette.
More on the University World News site:

CANADA: University head apologises to aboriginals
In an unusual move, the president of a Canadian university has issued a formal apology to aboriginals across the country for his institution's failure to speak out against the "national shame" of residential schools, writes Louise Brown for The Star.
More on the University World News site:

Tuesday 25 October 2011

University World News 0194 - 23rd October 2011

This week's highlights

In Features ALYA MISHRA writes that while the first India-US higher education summit provided recognition of the growing international importance of India's universities, there is a wide gap between what India needs and what American institutions might provide. YOJANA SHARMA reports on rising hopes in Malaysia that a draconian law restricting student political activity on campuses might be scrapped, and SARAH KING HEAD looks at differentiation of institutional mission in Canadian higher education, as discussed at the "Stepford Universities?" conference in Toronto. In Commentary, RICHARD HOLMES critiques the latest global university rankings produced by Times Higher Education, and BIANKA SIWIÑSKA charts the dramatic growth of private higher education in Poland - and the dire threats it faces today. KATE ASHCROFT highlights the central messages in a just-published book she co-authored on dilemmas of development work in African universities.

A reason to celebrate

GLOBAL: University World News turns four On the face of it, there is nothing special about a fourth anniversary. Other annual milestones - first, fifth, tenth and so on - seem more appealing. But when University World News was launched on 14 October 2007 the journalists involved were uncertain that their audacious idea of producing the planet's first international higher education newspaper would last four months. So we are celebrating reaching four years. Full report on the University World News site:

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

ASIA: Higher education in East Asia must improve Yojana Sharma University access has increased dramatically in low- and middle-income countries of East Asia, but higher education is "not yet fulfilling its potential", according to the World Bank. The emerging economies and developing countries of Asia need to improve higher education to maintain economic growth and "climb the income ladder", it said in a just-released report.
Full report on the University World News site:

IRAQ: Sweeping higher education reforms planned Wagdy Sawahel Iraq plans to rebuild its war-torn higher education system by giving financial and administrative independence to universities, establishing spec ialised institutions and allowing foreign universities to open branches in the country.
Full report on the University World News site:


FRANCE: Ministers divided on foreign student rules Jane Marshall Laurent Wauquiez, France's minister for higher education and research, is embroiled in a row with Claude Guéant, the interior minister, over whether new immigration measures have made it more difficult to attract talented foreign students.
Full report on the University World News site:


SPAIN: Study highlights progress on fair access Paul Rigg Spanish universities help to neutralise social inequality, according to the largest study of university students undertaken in Spain. The research shows that 51% of university students come from families whose parents never accessed higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:


EGYPT: Elections reinstate some university leaders Ashraf Khaled Four university presidents in Egypt have kept their posts in unprecedented elections, just weeks after they were forced to step down. The elections were held recently at the public universities of Cairo, Beni Suef, Benha and South Valley.
Full report on the University World News site:

SINGAPORE: Research manipulation claims probed Emilia Tan Huge expansion in Singapore's science research could be leading to stresses in the system. A former professor at the top-rated National University of Singapore has come under scrutiny for possible fabrication of research data.
Full report on the University World News site:


GLOBAL: Nobel prizes for science and economics Geoff Maslen Seven distinguished scientists have received Nobel prizes for science this year although one of them, Canadian professor Ralph M Steinman, died of pancreatic cancer three days before news of the award reached him. It is the first time a Nobel prize has been awarded posthumously, although this is against the Nobel Foundation's statutes. On Monday the economic sciences prize in memory of Alfred Nobel went to two US macro-economists.
Full report on the University World News site:

BRAZIL: Silence greets collaboration plan with Europe Tom Hennigan Brazil and the European Union will hold a meeting next year to focus on improving academic and student mobility, as part of a drive to strengthen cooperation in higher education and research. The partnership with the EU has so far been greeted by silence in Brazil, with no comment from higher education organisations or any apparent press coverage.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Powerful search tool now includes books Jacquie Withers Thomson Reuters last week launched a Book Citation Index, a new resource that includes scholarly books within the Web of Knowledge search and discovery platform and will enable academic libraries to increase the visibility of their book collections, the company says. Starting with 25,000 books, the number will double by the end of 2013.
Full report on the University World News site:


N IGERIA: Terror agenda sparks debate on campuses Tunde Fatunde The political and ideological agenda of Boko Haram, a Muslim fundamentalist group that opposes 'Western education', has ignited debate at N igerian universities. The group has attacked buildings and threatened to send suicide bombers onto campuses. The university community has roundly condemned terror, but is polarised over Boko Haram's intentions.
Full report on the University World News site:


SOUTH AFRICA: Young scientists recognised in academy Munyaradzi Makoni An early-career scientists' academy aimed at nurturing the development of top young academics and unlocking their collective potential to tackle national and global problems, has been launched in South Africa. It is the latest offshoot of the rapidly growing Global Young Academy. Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

INDIA: Higher education summit with US reveals gaps Alya Mishra The first India-US higher education summit, between India's Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week, was aimed at strengthening collaboration between the two countries. It provided symbolic recognition of the importance of India's university and research sectors for international interaction. But in India academics and students were expressed scepticism that it would yield any real change in education outcomes, with a wide gap between India's needs and what US institutions might provide.
Full report on the University World News site:


MALAYSIA: Repressive university act under review Yojana Sharma Hopes that a draconian law that restricts political activity on university campuses in Malaysia might be scrapped have risen dramatically in recent weeks, with government ministers publicly calling for change. But academics say it will only be a partial opening up, with lecturers and university staff still subject to controls.
Full report on the University World News site:


CANADA: Driving the differentiation bus Sarah King Head Differentiation of institutional mission in Canadian higher education seems inevitable and undisputed. But how to drive the "differentiation bus" across the sector was the question that framed discussions at an armchair panel session of the recent "Stepford Universities?" conference.
Full report on the University World News site:


COMMENTARY

GLOBAL: Rankings - Despite changes, questions persist There are now a large number of global university rankings. Each has its own strength, but they have drawn a lot of scepticism from the higher education sector. The latest, the Times Higher Education-Thomson Reuters rankings, have been revised substantially since last year, making comparisons impossible, says RICHARD HOLMES. There are improvements but still also inconsistencies, leaving the compilers facing some difficult questions.
Full report on the University World News site:

POLAND: Private higher education under threat The emergence and growth of private higher education in Poland has been widely regarded as one of the greatest achievements of the country's transformation in the 1990s, writes BIANKA SIWIŃSKA. Now, however, the sector is endangered - not only due to great demographic pressure, but also to unfair treatment of private institutions by the state.
Full report on the University World News site:

AFRICA: Dilemmas of development work in universities Most Sub-Saharan African problems are multilayered, requiring social, cultural, economic and scientific solutions that work together, writes KATE ASHCROFT, co-author of the just-published book Higher Education in Development: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa. The central message is that, if real change is to be sustained, it takes time and much working together in partnership, enquiry, reflection and tackling real day-to-day problems in situ. This is more difficult than finding an off-the-shelf 'cure' to a problem and applying it.
Full report on the University World News site:

SCIENCE SCENE

EUROPE: State of biomedical research The European Medical Research Councils group has published a white paper assessing the current status of biomedical research in Europe in a global context. It says European biomedical research is advancing "at a great pace" given the relatively small funds available and, with more money, it could do better. Full report on the University World News site :

US: Light to detect colon cancer Short bursts of light from an endoscope could be a less invasive way for physicians to detect abnormal cells in the colon, according to bio-engineers at Duke University in North Carolina. The finding could lead to improvements in the detection of dysplasia, abnormal cells with the potential to turn cancerous in the epithelium, which forms the lining of various tissues including the oesophagus and colon.
Full report on the University World News site :


GLOBAL: Combating multi-resistant bacteria An international quest launched by the Infectious Diseases Society of America to produce 10 antibiotics to combat multi-resistant bacteria by 2020 has taken a step towards the goal with the recreation of the DNA of an ancestral wallaby gene from 60 million years year ago.
Full report on the University World News site:


FACEBOOK

University World News has a new Facebook group: facebook.com/UniversityWorldNews. Even if you were one of the 2,800 members of the original Facebook community you will need to rejoin, or become a fan once again via this page. That way, you will be able to see our regular updates, post on our wall and communicate with us and other University World News fans. Please take a few minutes to rejoin and to inform your friends about our new Facebook page.You can also follow University World News on Twitter @uniworldnews

WORLD ROUND-UP

US: Billion dollar green challenge for campuses The Sustainable Endowments Institute, along with 15 partner organisations, last week launched the Billion Dollar Green Challenge to encourage higher education and non-profit institutions in the US to invest a total of $1 billion in green revolving funds to finance energy efficiency improvements, writes Joshua Bolkan for Campus Technology.
More on the University World News site:


CHILE: Student leaders seek support abroad Representatives of Chile's confederation of university students, Confech, will travel to Europe to seek international support and raise the profile of their push for sweeping reforms to the nation's education system, writes Joe Hinchliffe for the Santiago Times.
More on the University World News site:


HUNGARY: Students protest higher education bill More than 1,000 students protested against the government's new higher education concept in front of the University of Debrecen in eastern Hungary last week. The students gathered in protest against cuts in funding and an expected curtailment of student rights and autonomy, reports Politics.hu.
More on the University World News site:


UK: Universities could be bought 'in six months' A private equity firm or private higher education provider will buy a UK university in whole or part "within the next six months", according to a legal expert. The prediction by Glynne Stanfield, a partner in the education group Eversheds, came as government documents revealed that a US private equity firm, Warburg Pincus, had twice met with David Willetts, the universities and science minister, writes John Morgan for Times Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:


UK: Business-backed technical colleges to open A new wave of comprehensive colleges backed by firms including the developers of the BlackBerry, Toshiba, Boeing and Rolls Royce will open in England next year as part of a new generation of vocational schools in which businesses will help shape the curriculum, write Jeevan Vasagar and Jessica Shepherd for the Guardian.
More on the University World News site:


UK: Internet ends neat chancellorship succession Cambridge University's chancellorship, a ceremonial post created in 1246, has long passed serenely among aristocrats, bishops, generals and princes. Dons in dark gowns would meet in ivy-covered colleges to orchestrate the transition. Now, the internet age has spoiled all that, writes Frances Robinson for The Wall Street Journal.
More on the University World News site:


UK: University to scrap first-class degrees University College London will stop telling students whether they have received a first, second or third, and instead give them an American-style 'grade point average', writes Julie Henry for The Telegraph. The new system gives students a score based on all the courses they have taken as undergraduates.
More on the University World News site:


UK: Wales helps stranded Tasmac students The University of Wales has set up an email helpline to assist hundreds of students from a London college that closed suddenly, reports the BBC. Tasmac London School of Business awarded degrees validated by the university until it ceased trading. Many of the 650 overseas students had paid thousands of pounds in fees to the private college before it went under.
More on the University World News site:


NORWAY: Universities stick to no-fee-for-all policy As Sweden introduces tuition fees of up to £13,145 (US$20,567) for non-European Union students this year, Norway is now one of the few European states to stick to the once-sacrosanct belief in free education for all, writes Jack Grove for Times Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:


KENYA: Maathai rejected lucrative memoir offers The late Professor Wangari Maathai's deep love for and attachment to Kenya made her resist several bids from top foreign universities for her memoirs, write Walter Menya and Daniel Wesangula for The Daily Nation. More on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Academics condemn Iran Baha'i attack More than 40 distinguished philosophers and theologians from 16 countries have joined in the condemnation of Iran's policy to bar young Baha'is and others from higher education. In a global initiative the 43 prominent academics - of Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim backgrounds - have signed an open letter, published in The Telegraph, UK, and reported in Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo.
More on the University World News site:

IRAQ: Coveted jobs breed diploma fraud For two years, an assistant dean at Iraq's largest university received threats from a police officer: sign a fraudulent document certifying that the officer had graduated from the university, the dean was told, or he would be arrested or even killed, write Michael S Schmidt and Omar Al-Jawoshy for The New York Times.
More on the University World News site:


US: Columbia probed for 'steering' student The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into a complaint filed by Kenneth L Marcus, the director of the Initiative on Anti-Semitism at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, writes Arnold Ahlert for Front Page Mag.
More on the University World News site:


US: Ransom library acquires JM Coetzee archive The archive of Nobel prize-winning author JM Coetzee has been acquired by the Harry Ransom Center library at the University of Texas at Austin. The $1.5 million acquisition includes 155 boxes of the author's essays, manuscripts, notebooks, letters and speeches dating back to 1956, reports the BBC.
More on the University World News site:

SAUDI ARABIA: Biochemistry students 'neglected' Biochemistry students at Saudi universities complain that they are neglected by the ministries of higher education, health and labour, which do not recognise the significance of their branch of study for the country's development, writes Joud Al-Amri for Arab News.
More on the University World News site:

LEBANON: Essay-writers for hire degrade academia A new academic year begins and "an ugly practice" continues to degrade the integrity of Lebanon's higher education system, writes Niamh Fleming-Farrell for The Daily Star. Essay-writers for hire and the 'entrepreneurs' who solicit work for them continue to defy deterrence and remain a threat to institutions' integrity.
More on the University World News site:

Sunday 16 October 2011

University World News 0193 - 16th October 2011

This week's highlights

In Features ALYA MISHRA writes that while the first India-US higher education summit provided recognition of the growing international importance of India's universities, there is a wide gap between what India needs and what American institutions might provide. YOJANA SHARMA reports on rising hopes in Malaysia that a draconian law restricting student political activity on campuses might be scrapped, and SARAH KING HEAD looks at differentiation of institutional mission in Canadian higher education, as discussed at the "Stepford Universities?" conference in Toronto. In Commentary, RICHARD HOLMES critiques the latest global university rankings produced by Times Higher Education, and BIANKA SIWIÑSKA charts the dramatic growth of private higher education in Poland - and the dire threats it faces today. KATE ASHCROFT highlights the central messages in a just-published book she co-authored on dilemmas of development work in African universities.

A reason to celebrate

GLOBAL: University World News turns four
On the face of it, there is nothing special about a fourth anniversary. Other annual milestones - first, fifth, tenth and so on - seem more appealing. But when University World News was launched on 14 October 2007 the journalists involved were uncertain that their audacious idea of producing the planet's first international higher education newspaper would last four months. So we are celebrating reaching four years.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

ASIA: Higher education in East Asia must improve
Yojana Sharma
University access has increased dramatically in low- and middle-income countries of East Asia, but higher education is "not yet fulfilling its potential", according to the World Bank. The emerging economies and developing countries of Asia need to improve higher education to maintain economic growth and "climb the income ladder", it said in a just-released report.
Full report on the University World News site:

IRAQ: Sweeping higher education reforms planned
Wagdy Sawahel
Iraq plans to rebuild its war-torn higher education system by giving financial and administrative independence to universities, establishing spec ialised institutions and allowing foreign universities to open branches in the country.
Full report on the University World News site:

FRANCE: Ministers divided on foreign student rules
Jane Marshall
Laurent Wauquiez, France's minister for higher education and research, is embroiled in a row with Claude Guéant, the interior minister, over whether new immigration measures have made it more difficult to attract talented foreign students.
Full report on the University World News site:

SPAIN: Study highlights progress on fair access
Paul Rigg
Spanish universities help to neutralise social inequality, according to the largest study of university students undertaken in Spain. The research shows that 51% of university students come from families whose parents never accessed higher education.
Full report on the University World News site:

EGYPT: Elections reinstate some university leaders
Ashraf Khaled
Four university presidents in Egypt have kept their posts in unprecedented elections, just weeks after they were forced to step down. The elections were held recently at the public universities of Cairo, Beni Suef, Benha and South Valley.
Full report on the University World News site:

SINGAPORE: Research manipulation claims probed
Emilia Tan
Huge expansion in Singapore's science research could be leading to stresses in the system. A former professor at the top-rated National University of Singapore has come under scrutiny for possible fabrication of research data.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Nobel prizes for science and economics
Geoff Maslen
Seven distinguished scientists have received Nobel prizes for science this year although one of them, Canadian professor Ralph M Steinman, died of pancreatic cancer three days before news of the award reached him. It is the first time a Nobel prize has been awarded posthumously, although this is against the Nobel Foundation's statutes. On Monday the economic sciences prize in memory of Alfred Nobel went to two US macro-economists.
Full report on the University World News site:

BRAZIL: Silence greets collaboration plan with Europe
Tom Hennigan
Brazil and the European Union will hold a meeting next year to focus on improving academic and student mobility, as part of a drive to strengthen cooperation in higher education and research. The partnership with the EU has so far been greeted by silence in Brazil, with no comment from higher education organisations or any apparent press coverage.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Powerful search tool now includes books
Jacquie Withers
Thomson Reuters last week launched a Book Citation Index, a new resource that includes scholarly books within the Web of Knowledge search and discovery platform and will enable academic libraries to increase the visibility of their book collections, the company says. Starting with 25,000 books, the number will double by the end of 2013.
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NIGERIA: Terror agenda sparks debate on campuses
Tunde Fatunde
The political and ideological agenda of Boko Haram, a Muslim fundamentalist group that opposes 'Western education', has ignited debate at Nigerian universities. The group has attacked buildings and threatened to send suicide bombers onto campuses. The university community has roundly condemned terror, but is polarised over Boko Haram's intentions.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Young scientists recognised in academy
Munyaradzi Makoni
An early-career scientists' academy aimed at nurturing the development of top young academics and unlocking their collective potential to tackle national and global problems, has been launched in South Africa. It is the latest offshoot of the rapidly growing Global Young Academy.
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FEATURES

INDIA: Higher education summit with US reveals gaps
Alya Mishra
The first India-US higher education summit, between India's Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week, was aimed at strengthening collaboration between the two countries. It provided symbolic recognition of the importance of India's university and research sectors for international interaction. But in India academics and students were expressed scepticism that it would yield any real change in education outcomes, with a wide gap between India's needs and what US institutions might provide.
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MALAYSIA: Repressive university act under review
Yojana Sharma
Hopes that a draconian law that restricts political activity on university campuses in Malaysia might be scrapped have risen dramatically in recent weeks, with government ministers publicly calling for change. But academics say it will only be a partial opening up, with lecturers and university staff still subject to controls.
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CANADA: Driving the differentiation bus
Sarah King Head
Differentiation of institutional mission in Canadian higher education seems inevitable and undisputed. But how to drive the "differentiation bus" across the sector was the question that framed discussions at an armchair panel session of the recent "Stepford Universities?" conference.
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COMMENTARY

GLOBAL: Rankings - Despite changes, questions persist
There are now a large number of global university rankings. Each has its own strength, but they have drawn a lot of scepticism from the higher education sector. The latest, the Times Higher Education-Thomson Reuters rankings, have been revised substantially since last year, making comparisons impossible, says RICHARD HOLMES. There are improvements but still also inconsistencies, leaving the compilers facing some difficult questions.
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POLAND: Private higher education under threat
The emergence and growth of private higher education in Poland has been widely regarded as one of the greatest achievements of the country's transformation in the 1990s, writes BIANKA SIWIŃSKA. Now, however, the sector is endangered - not only due to great demographic pressure, but also to unfair treatment of private institutions by the state.
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AFRICA: Dilemmas of development work in universities
Most Sub-Saharan African problems are multilayered, requiring social, cultural, economic and scientific solutions that work together, writes KATE ASHCROFT, co-author of the just-published book Higher Education in Development: Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa. The central message is that, if real change is to be sustained, it takes time and much working together in partnership, enquiry, reflection and tackling real day-to-day problems in situ. This is more difficult than finding an off-the-shelf 'cure' to a problem and applying it.
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SCIENCE SCENE

EUROPE: State of biomedical research
The European Medical Research Councils group has published a white paper assessing the current status of biomedical research in Europe in a global context. It says European biomedical research is advancing "at a great pace" given the relatively small funds available and, with more money, it could do better.
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US: Light to detect colon cancer
Short bursts of light from an endoscope could be a less invasive way for physicians to detect abnormal cells in the colon, according to bio-engineers at Duke University in North Carolina. The finding could lead to improvements in the detection of dysplasia, abnormal cells with the potential to turn cancerous in the epithelium, which forms the lining of various tissues including the oesophagus and colon.
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GLOBAL: Combating multi-resistant bacteria
An international quest launched by the Infectious Diseases Society of America to produce 10 antibiotics to combat multi-resistant bacteria by 2020 has taken a step towards the goal with the recreation of the DNA of an ancestral wallaby gene from 60 million years year ago.
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FACEBOOK

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WORLD ROUND-UP

US: Billion dollar green challenge for campuses
The Sustainable Endowments Institute, along with 15 partner organisations, last week launched the Billion Dollar Green Challenge to encourage higher education and non-profit institutions in the US to invest a total of $1 billion in green revolving funds to finance energy efficiency improvements, writes Joshua Bolkan for Campus Technology.
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CHILE: Student leaders seek support abroad
Representatives of Chile's confederation of university students, Confech, will travel to Europe to seek international support and raise the profile of their push for sweeping reforms to the nation's education system, writes Joe Hinchliffe for the Santiago Times.
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HUNGARY: Students protest higher education bill
More than 1,000 students protested against the government's new higher education concept in front of the University of Debrecen in eastern Hungary last week. The students gathered in protest against cuts in funding and an expected curtailment of student rights and autonomy, reports Politics.hu.
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UK: Universities could be bought 'in six months'
A private equity firm or private higher education provider will buy a UK university in whole or part "within the next six months", according to a legal expert. The prediction by Glynne Stanfield, a partner in the education group Eversheds, came as government documents revealed that a US private equity firm, Warburg Pincus, had twice met with David Willetts, the universities and science minister, writes John Morgan for Times Higher Education.
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UK: Business-backed technical colleges to open
A new wave of comprehensive colleges backed by firms including the developers of the BlackBerry, Toshiba, Boeing and Rolls Royce will open in England next year as part of a new generation of vocational schools in which businesses will help shape the curriculum, write Jeevan Vasagar and Jessica Shepherd for the Guardian.
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UK: Internet ends neat chancellorship succession
Cambridge University's chancellorship, a ceremonial post created in 1246, has long passed serenely among aristocrats, bishops, generals and princes. Dons in dark gowns would meet in ivy-covered colleges to orchestrate the transition. Now, the internet age has spoiled all that, writes Frances Robinson for The Wall Street Journal.
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UK: University to scrap first-class degrees
University College London will stop telling students whether they have received a first, second or third, and instead give them an American-style 'grade point average', writes Julie Henry for The Telegraph. The new system gives students a score based on all the courses they have taken as undergraduates.
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UK: Wales helps stranded Tasmac students
The University of Wales has set up an email helpline to assist hundreds of students from a London college that closed suddenly, reports the BBC. Tasmac London School of Business awarded degrees validated by the university until it ceased trading. Many of the 650 overseas students had paid thousands of pounds in fees to the private college before it went under.
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NORWAY: Universities stick to no-fee-for-all policy
As Sweden introduces tuition fees of up to £13,145 (US$20,567) for non-European Union students this year, Norway is now one of the few European states to stick to the once-sacrosanct belief in free education for all, writes Jack Grove for Times Higher Education.
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KENYA: Maathai rejected lucrative memoir offers
The late Professor Wangari Maathai's deep love for and attachment to Kenya made her resist several bids from top foreign universities for her memoirs, write Walter Menya and Daniel Wesangula for The Daily Nation.
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GLOBAL: Academics condemn Iran Baha'i attack
More than 40 distinguished philosophers and theologians from 16 countries have joined in the condemnation of Iran's policy to bar young Baha'is and others from higher education. In a global initiative the 43 prominent academics - of Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim backgrounds - have signed an open letter, published in The Telegraph, UK, and reported in Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo.
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IRAQ: Coveted jobs breed diploma fraud
For two years, an assistant dean at Iraq's largest university received threats from a police officer: sign a fraudulent document certifying that the officer had graduated from the university, the dean was told, or he would be arrested or even killed, write Michael S Schmidt and Omar Al-Jawoshy for The New York Times.
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US: Columbia probed for 'steering' student
The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into a complaint filed by Kenneth L Marcus, the director of the Initiative on Anti-Semitism at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, writes Arnold Ahlert for Front Page Mag.
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US: Ransom library acquires JM Coetzee archive
The archive of Nobel prize-winning author JM Coetzee has been acquired by the Harry Ransom Center library at the University of Texas at Austin. The $1.5 million acquisition includes 155 boxes of the author's essays, manuscripts, notebooks, letters and speeches dating back to 1956, reports the BBC.
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SAUDI ARABIA: Biochemistry students 'neglected'
Biochemistry students at Saudi universities complain that they are neglected by the ministries of higher education, health and labour, which do not recognise the significance of their branch of study for the country's development, writes Joud Al-Amri for Arab News.
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LEBANON: Essay-writers for hire degrade academia
A new academic year begins and "an ugly practice" continues to degrade the integrity of Lebanon's higher education system, writes Niamh Fleming-Farrell for The Daily Star. Essay-writers for hire and the 'entrepreneurs' who solicit work for them continue to defy deterrence and remain a threat to institutions' integrity.
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Sunday 9 October 2011

University World News 0192 - 9th October 2011

This week's highlights

In Features, BRENDAN O'MALLEY reports on a 10th anniversary event held by Scholars at Risk in New York last week, and the targeting of academics in Syria for assassination. In India, ALYA MISHRA previews this week's meeting between India's education minister and the US secretary of state that will use education diplomacy to build relations between the two countries, and HIEP PHAM looks at quality problems facing non-formal higher education in Vietnam. In Commentary, DARIA LUCHINSKAYA says Russia's efforts to modernise higher education by developing world-class universities and attracting top international academics could work, Canada's MARY CATHARINE LENNON says there is a need to develop financial literacy programmes and strategies that focus on access to higher education, and in Egypt SHERIF KAMEL argues that business schools need to be agents of change rather than mere objects of change if they are to influence real-world situations.

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

GLOBAL: How to create a world-class university
Yojana Sharma
Although some of the world's top-ranked institutions such as Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford are hundreds of years old, a series of case studies of successful world-class research universities, prepared by the World Bank, shows that a faster and more effective approach to achieving world-class status is to establish a new institution.
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SOMALIA: Students killed in Mogadishu car blast
Ahmed Mohamoud Elmi
A truck bomb exploded in a government compound in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people - most of them students waiting for examination results and hoping for scholarships to study in Turkey. The compound, which houses eight ministries including education, was targeted for an attack described as the deadliest in months.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Some surprises in new THE university rankings
Karen MacGregor
The California Institute of Technology has edged Harvard out of the global top slot in the just-published Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2011-12. The new ranking places Hong Kong as best in the world in university performance relative to gross domestic product, which tries to normalise the rankings for country size and wealth.
Full report on the University World News site:

LATIN AMERICA: Brazil leads new regional ranking
David Jobbins
Brazil has more universities in a new top 200 ranking for Central and South America than any other country in the region. The lusophone nation hosts 65 of the top 200 universities in the QS University Rankings: Latin America, with the University of São Paolo topping the table.
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ITALY: Billion euro boost for southern universities
Lee Adendorff
The Italian government is to pump more than EUR1 billion (US$1.3 billion) into universities in the south of the country as part of a regeneration plan for the region. The decision was announced last week by Raffaele Fitto, minister for regional relationships and territorial cohesion, and Mariastella Gelmini, the education minister.
Full report on the University World News site:

DENMARK: New premier to expand higher education
Jan Petter Myklebust
Denmark's new government has set ambitious targets for increased access to university education but has yet to outline how it will fulfil its election pledge to end DKK1 billion (US$180 million) underfunding to higher education.
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ISLAMIC STATES: Ministers back university actions
Ameen Amjad Khan
Ministers of higher education and research from 57 countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation agreed to a "fresh look" at university systems in their countries, at an IOC meeting in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Wednesday. There was a need to reexamine higher education quality and relevance "in view of the demands of the market forces of knowledge economies," the ministers said, and to implement key performance indicators.
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PAKISTAN: Bank loan to rescue higher education plan
Ameen Amjad Khan
Pakistan's five-year higher education development plan, which has been languishing in the doldrums for lack of funding, is now expected to be implemented after the World Bank agreed to release US$300 million to the country's Higher Education Commission.
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GERMANY: Lifeline for dropouts and left-outs
Michael Gardner
A number of German universities and colleges are to benefit from around EUR400 million (US$536 million) of federal and European funding for tailor-made programmes to increase access to higher education for people who have dropped out of or missed out on university or vocational training.
Full report on the University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Science under siege
Geoff Maslen
The very basis of science and of an informed, progressive and enlightened society are under siege, Australia's Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb told a conference on Thursday. Chubb said scientists were caught up in a rearguard action against critics who sought to question and tear down "the very ideals, the values, the principles and the practices of science".
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EGYPT: First African business school round-table
Ashraf Khaled
Leaders of business schools in Africa and elsewhere gathered in Egypt last week to discuss effective ways to enhance their institutions' roles in helping the continent grapple with food security challenges, and to forge academic collaborations aimed at tackling African problems. Full report on the University World News site: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20111009095654421 See also the article by Sherif Kamal in Commentary

US: Writers sue universities over digital books plan
Alison Moodie
A controversial plan involving a host of prominent American universities to digitise thousands of copyrighted books suffered a setback last month as a number of organisations that represent authors sought to halt digitisation efforts and an 'orphan works' initiative.
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UAE: Universities face tougher accreditation
Wagdy Sawahel
New accreditation standards for higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates are being introduced as part of a government strategy aimed at achieving a first-rate education system and competitive knowledge economy.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Uproar over Dalai Lama visa mess
Munyaradzi Makoni
Outraged over South Africa's failure to give the Dalai Lama a visa, academics and students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) took to the streets on Wednesday. The Tibetan spiritual leader was due to speak at two universities, and to attend former Archbishop Desmond Tutu's 80th birthday celebrations.
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ZIMBABWE: Water woes and strike hit higher education
Kudzai Mashininga
Zimbabwe's government has appointed a ministerial team headed by its deputy prime minister to deal with a water crisis at two of its universities. Meanwhile, lecturers at polytechnics and teacher colleges have gone on strike for better pay on the eve of examinations.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

GLOBAL: Academics facing death for their ideas
Brendan O'Malley
Professors and students are being singled out for assassination, according to a leading scholar in the Syrian opposition movement who last week addressed the Human Rights Council in Geneva. "We have fears for scholars on the ground. More than 10 professors have been killed, mostly at Homs, in the past two weeks," said Radwan Ziadeh, a visiting scholar at the Dubai Initiative in the Kennedy School, Harvard. "The situation is escalating and we expect more killings."
Full report on the University World News site:

INDIA: Indo-US higher education initiative set to fly
Alya Mishra
India and the US will soon cement collaboration in higher education, with India's Education Minister Kapil Sibal meeting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on 13 October in a high-profile visit to use education diplomacy to build relations between the two countries.
Full report on the University World News site:

VIETNAM: Non-formal sector faces quality crisis
Hiep Pham
Hong Loan, a teacher of English at a high school in Hanoi, holds an associate bachelor degree. Every afternoon she travels 20 kilometres by motorbike to an adult education class at the University of Foreign Languages and International Studies. "This equips me with more knowledge but, more importantly, a bachelor degree will help upgrade my salary," she said.
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COMMENTARY

RUSSIA: Modernising the higher education system
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently called for the urgent modernisation of higher education. Strategies include the development of flagship universities as world-class institutions and inviting key foreign academics to work in Russian universities. This could work, writes DARIA LUCHINSKAYA, but only if the plans also extend to the development of other, non-status universities and improving working conditions for teaching and research staff.
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA: Low financial literacy hampers access
Despite the increasing complexity of financing higher education and concerns about widening access, there are few financial literacy programmes and strategies in the world that focus on the particular issue of access to higher education for low-income youth, says MARY CATHARINE LENNON. A forthcoming conference will address the issue.
Full report on the University World News site:

EGYPT: Business schools need to be agents of change
Business schools need to be agents of change rather than mere objects of change, says SHERIF KAMEL. They need to alter both their curriculum and the way they teach in order to be more proactive in the community and influence real-world situations, particularly the kind of social and political upheavals that have been occurring in the Middle East and North Africa.
Full report on the University World News site:

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports worldwide
Noemi Bouet*
In Syria, a nuclear physicist who was shot in the head has become the latest victim of a series of murders targeting scientists in the city of Homs. Iranian Omid Kokabee, the Texas University doctoral student detained in Tehran's Evin prison on espionage charges, went on trial last week. And in China, the authorities have cancelled the classes of a prominent Uyghur professor at the Beijing Minorities University, and 20 Uyghur professors have been dismissed from a teaching college in the northwestern region of Xianjiang for failing to be fluent in Mandarin.
Full report on the University World News site:

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WORLD ROUND-UP

CHILE: Striking students break off talks
Leaders of Chile's striking students broke off negotiations with the government last week, complaining of official intransigence over their demands for free public education, writes Eva Vergara for Associated Press. Hours after the talks collapsed, a student march for free education was broken up by police, using water cannons and tear gas.
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US: The University of Wherever
For more than a decade educators have been expecting the internet to transform that bastion of tradition and authority, the university, writes Bill Keller for The New York Times. Digital utopians have envisioned a world of virtual campuses and 'distributed' learning. They imagine a business model in which online courses are consumer-rated like products on Amazon, tuition is set by auction services like eBay, and students are judged not by grades but by skills they have mastered, like levels of a videogame.
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GLOBAL: Battle of the knowledge superpowers
Knowledge is power - economic power - and there's a scramble for that power taking place around the globe. In the United States, Europe and in rising powers such as China, there is a growth-hungry drive to invest in hi-tech research and innovation, writes Sean Coughlan for the BBC.
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AFGHANISTAN: Kabul University terror cell broken up
Afghan officials said last week that they had broken up an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist cell at Kabul University that was planning to assassinate President Hamid Karzai and carry out attacks in the United States, writes Habib Zohori for McClatchy Newspapers.
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FRANCE: Sarkozy's reforms herald French 'Ivy League'
Radical plans to create a French 'Ivy League' are gathering pace as the first winners of a new elite universities scheme worth EUR7.7 billion (US$10.1 billion) start to receive cash, writes Jack Grove for Times Higher Education.
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NEW ZEALAND: Canterbury University staff asked to quit
Canterbury University is calling on staff to consider taking voluntary redundancy as it struggles to balance the books after losing students because of the earthquake that struck the city earlier this year, reports TVNZ.
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UK: Thousands of university places may go to colleges
Up to 6,000 undergraduates will be taught at colleges instead of universities from next year as part of a UK coalition government plan to drive down student tuition fees, writes Graeme Paton for The Telegraph.
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UK: Lecturers threaten strike over pension changes
Lecturers at half of Britain's universities have threatened to stop marking students' work unless a battle over their pensions is resolved, writes Jessica Shepherd for the Guardian.
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UK: Oxford head warns cuts could lead to brain drain
Cuts to government funding of universities mean the UK is now "treading water" and risks losing top academics and students to its international competitors, the vice-chancellor of Oxford University has warned, writes Jessica Shepherd for the Guardian.
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WALES: Calls to wind up University of Wales
The vice-chancellors of five Welsh universities have called for the University of Wales to be wound up following highly damaging revelations in a TV programme last Tuesday, writes Martin Shipton for Wales Online.
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JAPAN: University mulls change to academic calendar
Discussion on starting in the autumn and graduating Japanese students in the late spring or autumn has been around since the 1980s, but the debate has moved up a gear with news that the University of Tokyo, known as Todai, is mulling the move. An internal panel is expected to report by the end of the year, reports David McNeill for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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SOUTH AFRICA: MBA plan 'not a downgrade'
The debate in South Africa over the academic status of a master of business administration degree was about a 'technical issue', rather than downgrading the qualification, Council for Higher Education CEO Ahmed Essop said last week, writes Karl Gernetzky for Business Day.
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AUSTRALIA: Push for research funding overhaul
A leading scientist says Australia is squandering its intellectual wealth through a federal system of short-term grants rewarding publication of academic papers ahead of long-term research to develop and manufacture new products, writes Rosslyn Beeby for The Canberra Times.
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CANADA: Intellectual centre of gravity 'shifting west'
Ontario universities are lagging behind their counterparts in Alberta and British Columbia, a higher education expert said last week in a bleak forecast made just days before voters were to head to the polls, writes Matthew Pearson for The Ottawa Citizen.
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EGYPT: Mubarak-era university president resigns
Maged El-Deeb, president of Ain Shams University, has officially submitted his resignation letter to Egyptian Minister of Higher Education Moataz Khorshed, writes Nada Hussein Rashwan for Ahram Online.
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MALAWI: Students accuse council of contempt
The president of Malawi's Chancellor College students union, Patrick Phiri, said last week that students would file contempt charges against the university council. Students said the council, charged with running the University of Malawi, had refused to reopen two of its college campuses despite a high court ruling, reports Peter Clottey for Voice of America.
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PAKISTAN: Turkey to help set up technology parks
Turkish experts will assist Pakistan's Higher Education Commission in establishing technology parks in Pakistani universities, writes Peer Muhamamd for The Express Tribune.
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