Sunday 24 July 2011

University World News 0181 - 24th July 2011

Announcement - Break and summer debate

As in previous years, University World News is taking a two-week break over the northern hemisphere summer holidays. We will continue to cover breaking news and for the first time will publish a 'summer debate' series, which we will send to you on 31 July and 7 August, instead of the usual newswire.

First debate, 31 July Is too much emphasis being put on world-class universities to the detriment of issues like widening participation? With Ellen Hazelkorn of the Dublin Institute of Technology, Danny Byrne of international rankings spec ialists QS, Phil Altbach, editor of International Higher Education, and Maria Cristina Parra from the University of Zulia in Venezuela.

Second debate, 7 August How much say should students have in how a university is run, and does the increasing focus on the student experience raise or lower quality? With Catherine Montgomery of the UK's Northumbria University and author of Understanding the International Student Experience, and William Leonard, vice-dean of SolBridge International School of Business in Korea.

This week's highlights

In Features, ARD JONGSMA looks at the EU's efforts to increase mobility to
and from its eastern neighbours. YOJANA SHARMA explains why China's top students are opting to study in Hong Kong, and LINDA YEUNG reports on Chinese artist and rights activist Ai Weiwei's decision to take up a professorship in Germany. They also probe the troubles besetting China's experimental South University of Science and Technology. ALISON MOODIE unpacks a new report, The Undereducated American, which found that the US needs an extra 20 million college educated workers by 2025. In commentary, RAHUL CHOUDAHA argues that an incoherent regulatory framework and lack of standards in Indian higher education are risking the quality and potential of foreign partnerships. HIEP PHAM says Vietnam needs to reduce bureaucracy and bias against young researchers if it wants to attract back top students who study abroad, and BIN WU and JOHN MORGAN write that China has entered a new stage in the internationalisation of higher education. Finally, STEVE WOODFIELD reviews Reinventing Higher Education, edited by Ben Wildavsky, Andrew P Kelly and Kevin Carey.

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

PERU: Student strike unabated amid bloody conflict
María Elena Hurtado
Students from Huancavelica National University in central Peru remain on strike despite concessions by the government in a conflict that has left three people dead, hundreds injured and several regional government buildings sacked and burned to the ground.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: EC invites bids for record research funds
Jan Myklebust and Brendan O'Malley
European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has announced the biggest ever invitation to researchers and innovators to compete for nearly EUR7 billion (US$10 billion) funding. It is expected to attract 16,000 participating institutions, create up to 174,000 jobs in the short term and nearly 450,000 jobs and EUR80 billion in economic growth over 15 years.
Full report on University World News site:

AUSTRALIA: Collapse in foreign student numbers
Geoff Maslen
Australia's universities face further sharp falls in enrolments of overseas students, with many institutions already suffering the effects of a massive downturn and the loss of millions of dollars in fee revenues. A report released last week predicts a continuing decline following a government clampdown on foreign graduating students gaining permanent residency.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: Investment in Tibet universities questioned
Yojana Sharma
China has pledged to raise university enrolment in the Tibet Autonomous Region to 30% over the next five years in a new focus on higher education - a move that experts and Tibetans in exile say may not benefit ethnic Tibetans, but could increase the numbers of Han Chinese moving to the region.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: 'Model' university criticised by advisors
Linda Yeung
A new research university set up in Shenzhen as its first 'autonomous' institution with an independent administration and curriculum, and billed as a model for higher education reform, has been criticised by its Hong Kong advisors for poor governance. Now Chinese government officials have assumed control of the governing board, contradicting its much-touted claims of autonomy. More in the Features section.
Full report on the University World News site:

GERMANY: Universities set for huge surge of students
Michael Gardner
Universities in Germany are expecting an enormous increase in first-year students next semester. This is due not only to studying becoming more popular in recent years, but also to double cohorts of higher secondary school-leavers and the country ending conscription.
Full report on the University World News site:

NIGERIA: Terrorist threats close universities
Tunde Fatunde
The fundamentalist Islamic organisation Boko Haram has unleashed violence in the north-west Nigerian university city of Maiduguri. Clashes with security forces have claimed the lives of civilians, including two lecturers. With security agents failing to contain the growing violence, higher education institutions - which have been targeted by the fundamentalists for being outposts of 'Western civilisation' - have been closed indefinitely.
Full story on the University World News site:

SOUTH KOREA: Universities will be asked to cut fees
Yojana Sharma
South Korean universities are autonomous bodies that set their own tuition fees and the government will "request" them to lower fees that have become among the world's highest, sparking major student protests in May and June, a vice-minister has said.
Full report on the University World News site:

FRANCE: Students charged illegal fees, union finds
Jane Marshall
A third of French universities are "illegally" charging students for services that should be covered by statutory fees, claims Unef, France's biggest student union. And students have criticised the new Minister for Higher Education and Research, Laurent Wauquiez, for his first ministerial decision - to raise their living costs.
Full report on the University World News site:

UAE: Smart system to prevent degree fraud
Wagdy Sawahel
A smart chip system to prevent the use of fake university certificates has been adopted in the United Arab Emirates. More than 30 universities and educational institutions have partnered with technology company Amricon to implement the Smart Document Attestation Solution.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

EUROPE: Brussels pushes for more east-west mobility
Ard Jongsma
The European Union wants to increase mobility to and from its eastern neighbours. In general, the eastern neighbours agree. But a recent conference in Warsaw found that hurdles such as brain drain, visa issues, recognition and reciprocity still hamper a significant volume increase.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: Top students opt for Hong Kong
Yojana Sharma
Both China and Hong Kong were agog at the news earlier this month that the top performers in China's ferociously competitive national university entrance examination (gaokao) have opted to study at Hong Kong universities rather than China's own prestigious institutions.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: How a 'model' university hit the rocks
Yojana Sharma
A bold experiment in China to set up a university free of Communist Party control appears to have run aground in its first year of operation, with experts saying the university president, although a distinguished academic, may have bitten off more than he could chew in taking on the party structure.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: Dissident artist accepts German professorship
Linda Yeung
Prominent Chinese artist and rights activist Ai Weiwei, one of the designers of the 'Bird's Nest' Olympic stadium in Beijing, is unlikely to take up the guest professorship offered by Berlin University of the Arts before next year, even though he has been released from detention in China.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Extra 20 million graduates needed by 2025
Alison Moodie
Since 1980 the United States has produced too few college graduates to meet demand in the workplace, according to a new study from the University of Georgetown, and has lost its place as the world's most educated nation. America needs an additional 20 million college educated workers by 2025.
Full report on the University World News site:

COMMENTARY

INDIA: A crisis of confidence in higher education?
India needs a more coherent regulatory framework, enforcement of its regulations and higher professional standards, or it risks jeopardising potential partnerships with foreign universities, argues RAHUL CHOUDAHA.
Full report on the University World News site:

VIETNAM: Young academic talent not keen to return
Vietnam has been trying to reform its higher education system. But it needs to address a university culture that is excessively bureaucratic and is biased against younger researchers if it wants to attract back students who have studied abroad, argues HIEP PHAM.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: A new internationalisation era for Chinese
We are entering a new stage in the internationalisation of higher education for Chinese students. Western higher education providers need to focus more on strategic engagement with relevant Chinese stakeholders and issues of quality, with a particular emphasis on broad social knowledge, cross-cultural communication and the practice of engagement with society, say BIN WU and JOHN MORGAN.
Full report on the University World News site:

BOOK REVIEW

US: Reinventing Higher Education
Reinventing Higher Education: The promise of innovation paints a picture of the structural problems facing American higher education. But it is hampered by a lack of student and international perspectives, says STEVE WOODFIELD.
Full review on the University World News site:

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports worldwide
Noemi Bouet*
In Iran, jailed pro-democracy student activist Abdollah Momeni has been denied medical leave despite serious and worsening health problems. An Iranian postgraduate student at a US university, imprisoned for five months in Tehran for allegedly plotting conspiracy, has asked for a chance to defend himself in a fair trial. In Saudi Arabia prominent scholar Yusuf al-Ahmad has been arrested for criticising the authorities' lack of judicial process for security detainees. Malaysian students have rallied in 25 cities around the world to support free and fair elections in the country, and in Zimbabwe charges of treason against six activists have been downgraded to inciting public violence.
Full report on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

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higher education worldwide. More than 2,750 readers have joined. Sign up to the University World News Facebook group to meet and communicate directly with academics and researchers informed by the world's first truly global higher education publication. Click on the link below to visit and join the group.
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WORLD ROUND-UP

US-INDIA: Summit to expand higher education dialogue
India's Minister of External Affairs Shri SM Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met in New Delhi last week for the second annual meeting of the US-India Strategic Dialogue, reports the Asian Scientist. The two countries plan to host a higher education summit in Washington DC on 13 October to find ways for their higher education communities to collaborate.
More on the University World News site:

GERMANY: Cash tempts university guardians
As a textbook example of how not to manage the relationship between private industry and the academy, Deutsche Bank's agreement with two leading German universities to sponsor their joint institute for applied mathematical research has a lot going for it, writes DD Guttenplan for The New York Times.
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CHINA: World's universities forge local alliances
Foreign universities are getting ready to grab a bigger slice of the education pie in China by firming up existing partnerships and forging new alliances with Chinese educational institutions, writes Wang Chao for China Daily.
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MALAYSIA: Ministry cracks down on errant universities
For a long time, errant private higher education providers in Malaysia deliberately broke the rules and got away with it. Anything more than a cursory disciplinary glance from the relevant authorities - or the occasional media frenzy - would be as good as it got, and misdemeanours largely passed under the radar. No longer, writes Richard Lim for The Star.
More on the University World News site:

CANADA: Colleges see surge in Indian students
Canada, which has long promoted its eagerness to attract foreigners, is experiencing a surge in the number of Indian students heading there for higher education, writes Vir Singh for The New York Times.
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AUSTRALIA: Universities fail to impress Indian pupils
Australia appears to be struggling in the all-important perception stakes, with a new survey of Indian students showing that the UK and US are considered to have higher quality institutions and a better quality of life, writes Julie Hare for The Australian.
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NORTH KOREA: Students must pick medicinal herbs
In addition to requiring university students to help in the construction of 100,000 houses in Pyongyang, the North Korean authorities have placed another heavy obligation on students - they must help collect medicinal herbs - writes Kang Mi Jin for the Daily NK.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Postgraduate fee hike warning
UK universities are raising their fees for home and European Union postgraduate students sharply, a survey suggests, prompting warnings about access to academia and other professions, writes John Morgan for Times Higher Education.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Tough times ahead for 100,000 students
More than 100,000 students will face a double disappointment when they fail to find a place at university this summer and are hit with the prospect of trebled tuition fees when they try again in 12 months' time, writes Daniel Boffey for the Guardian.
More on the University World News site:

UK: Open University sets £5,000 tuition fees
The Open University has announced tuition fees of £5,000 (US$8,801) per year for the equivalent of a full-time place for students in England from next year, writes Sean Coughlan for the BBC. This will mean that the Open University, which provides degree courses by distance learning, will have among the lowest fees in England.
More on the University World News site:

SCOTLAND: English fees to price out Scots
Scots could be priced out of leading English universities including Oxford and Cambridge by the rise in fees south of the border and confusion over what financial support is on offer, writes Eddie Barnes for Scotland on Sunday.
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US: Student visa quest ends in tragedy
With his new student visa, Prasanth Goinaka was on a path toward his dream: an MBA from an American university in the heart of Silicon Valley, writes Lisa M Krieger for Mercury News. That's why his parents back in India were stunned when their 28-year-old son was killed while manning a cash register at a convenience store in Oklahoma City - 2,400 kilometres from campus.
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US: Embattled psychologist resigns from Harvard
Marc D Hauser, the Harvard psychologist found responsible for eight counts of scientific misconduct by the university, has resigned, ending speculation about whether the embattled professor would return to campus this autumn, writes Tom Bartlett for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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UGANDA: Makerere University staff threaten strike
The Makerere University Academic Staff Association, Muasa, has warned that members will not teach at the beginning of the next academic year unless Uganda's government pays the balance of their savings with the National Insurance Corporation, writes Patience Ahimbisibwe for the Daily Monitor.
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TAIWAN: First private inter-university system
The Taiwan-based Buddhist monastic order Fo Guang Shan has combined its four institutions of higher learning, located in three different countries, to establish Taiwan's first private inter-university system, reports Taiwan Today.
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Sunday 17 July 2011

University World News 0180 - 17th July 2011

This week's highlights

In Features, PHILIP FINE reports on the new University of Seychelles, which is hoping to turn the 155-island nation off Africa's east coast into more than a honeymoon destination. In Commentary PHIL BATY, Editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, defends reputation surveys. KAZUKO SUEMATSU says the Japanese earthquake in March smashed higher education internationalisation plans but was also an opportunity to rethink the way forward, and FRANCOIS THERIN articulates his fears for the long-term sustainability of international higher education in the Gulf. Finally, JONATHAN HARLE writes that access to academic journals has improved markedly in Africa thanks to electronic publishing, but there are still barriers to overcome.

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

CHILE: Reform plan fails to stop student protests
María Elena Hurtado
Disappointed by the higher education measures announced by President Sebastián Piñera, which include a $4 billion education fund, tens of thousands of Chilean students staged a massive strike in Santiago and Chile's main cities on 14 July. Vice-chancellors of Chile's 25 state-run universities, who have buried their hatchets and are talking to the government again, are attempting to forge a common position with students.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Higher education is a 'global public good'
Yojana Sharma
Higher education does not merely benefit individuals or contribute to countries' economies but is a 'global public good' with the potential to solve major global problems and lift people out of poverty, an international meeting of education ministers and high-level officials heard in Hong Kong last week.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH KOREA: Degrees taught in English to continue
Yojana Sharma
South Korean university degrees taught in English will continue as part of the country's globalisation efforts, even though learning in another tongue may be stressful for some local students, a Korean vice-minister for education told University World News last week.
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Students feel financial squeeze
David Jobbins
Students across Europe feel they are hard-pressed financially, according to Eurostudent IV, the latest in a series of in-depth studies of student life in 25 European countries. In more than half the countries covered, at least a third of students strongly felt they had insufficient means to meet monthly expenses.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: Four in 10 universities to charge maximum fee
Brendan O'Malley
Nearly four in 10 universities in England will charge the maximum £9,000 (US$14,335) tuition fee across all courses, but together they will spend an extra £195 million a year on widening access, the Office for Fair Access has confirmed.
Full report on the University World News site:

GERMANY: Another minister faces plagiarism claims
Michael Gardner
Yet another senior German politician is the focus of questions about his doctoral thesis. Bernd Althusmann, Lower Saxony's Minister of Cultural Affairs, is alleged to have quoted incorrectly several sources in his dissertation, creating the impression that he originated more of the content than was actually the case.
Full report on the University World News site:

CANADA: University unveils the CNN of universities
Sarah King Head
A Toronto university has made it possible for the international university community to stay connected in real time without the cost of expensive and often-unreliable satellite links. The Global Campus Network is expected to make Ryerson University a hub for up to 4,100 higher education institutions worldwide within the next couple of years by using full high-definition streaming technology and existing broadband networks.
Full report on the University World News site:

PAKISTAN: Court moves on bogus universities
Ameen Amjad Khan
Pakistan's High Court in the city of Lahore has issued a notice to the Higher Education Commission and to the federal government requiring them to explain their position on bogus universities. Such institutions, said barrister Javaid Iqbal Jaffery in a petition to the court, are "operating freely and their number is increasing sharply".
Full report on the University World News site:

EGYPT: Public university leaders to be replaced
Ashraf Khaled
A recent decision by the Egyptian government to replace the current heads of public universities and college deans has drawn angry reaction from these leaders, who deny having political links with the former regime. And academics have vowed to continue protesting until further demands are met.
Full report on the University World News site:

ISLAMIC STATES: Plan to measure university standards
Wagdy Sawahel
Ministers of 57 Islamic states have agreed to establish a system to measure the performance of universities, in an effort to promote innovation and world-class higher education standards.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Intellectual property rights failing
Sharon Dell
South Africa's current intellectual property rights regime is failing to support the national system of innovation and is actively disadvantaging local inventors while facilitating exploitation by foreign interests, according to new research to be published in the September edition of the South African Journal of Science.
Full report on the University World News site:

NIGERIA: ICT aids testing of 1.5 million candidates
Tunde Fatunde
N igeria's Joint Admission and Matriculation Board has employed technology to improve administration of its entrance examination for the 1.5 million candidates struggling to gain admission into higher education institutions next October. Among the feats recorded this year was the release of the exam results within four working days.
Full report on the University World News site:

ZIMBABWE: Higher education, science plan launched
Kudzai Mashininga
Zimbabwe's unity government has launched an ambitious five-year science and higher education plan that it hopes will reverse the brain drain and arrest falling standards emanating from a political and economic crisis that has rocked the country for a decade. The plan includes funding, integration of research efforts, strategic partnerships and boosting universities' capacity in science and technology.
Full report on the University World News site:

NEWSBRIEFS

UK: Cloud computing cuts research costs
The launch of a shared research cloud platform via a high-performance computing resource last week will enable British universities to access more real-time processing than they could afford to individually.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Academic collaborates with Ben-Gurion
Munyaradzi Makoni
A University of Johannesburg academic will continue research on water purification with Israel's Ben-Gurion University, despite the severing of ties between the two universities in March this year.
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

SEYCHELLES: More than a honeymoon destination
Philip Fine
It may just be the smallest university in the world but its aspirations are big, and the need it is filling for its equally small country of 86,000 people runs deep. Inaugurated late last year and with only 300 students registered and 12 degree programmes, the University of Seychelles is hoping to turn the 155-island tourist destination off Africa's east coast into a knowledge economy for the region.
Full report on the University World News site:

COMMENTARY

GLOBAL: Reputation surveys important to rankings
One of the most controversial elements of university rankings systems is the reputation survey, which has been dismissed as little more than a catalogue of prejudices. But such surveys, if done correctly and as one element of a broader ranking methodology, can give important insight into a university's standing, argues PHIL BATY, Editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Full report on the University World News site:

JAPAN: Where to after the earthquake?
The Japanese earthquake earlier this year has set back the country's internationalisation plans for higher education, says KAZUKO SUEMATSU. But it is also an opportunity for Japan to learn some lessons and rethink the way forward.
Full report on the University World News site:

GULF: When will its higher education business models implode?
Higher education business models in the Gulf fall into four main groups, but all struggle with the issues of quality higher education and student numbers, says FRANCOIS THERIN. He analyses the different models and articulates his fears for the long-term sustainability of international higher education in the region.
Full story on the University World News site:

AFRICA: The availability of academic journals
While lack of access to academic journals, books and data has been regularly cited as an impediment to African scholars, the shift to electronic publishing means more immediate access is becoming available. However, says JONATHAN HARLE, there are still barriers to overcome, particularly developing students' ability to find the latest material and boosting the status of university librarians.
Full report on the University World News site:

SCIENCE SCENE

GLOBAL: Arctic sea ice melting
Rising air temperatures in the Arctic region have led to an increase in rainfall and a decrease in snowfall, making the sea ice more susceptible to melting, a new study has revealed. The Arctic region is warming more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth, say the researchers.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Milky Way a galactic cannibal
The Milky Way has a history of devouring smaller neighbouring galaxies that get too close. One such incident that occurred early in the life of our galaxy could be responsible for its shape, according to two international astronomers.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Healthy diets overcome depression
Health researchers have found that people with healthy diets are less likely to have depression and anxiety. Researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway and Deakin University in Melbourne analysed data collected from more than 5,700 middle-aged and older adults from western Norway
Full report on the University World News site:

EUROPE: Neanderthals created material culture
The question whether symbolically mediated behaviour is exclusive to modern humans or shared with earlier populations such as the Neanderthals has been hotly debated for decades. Now researchers at four European universities believe they have confirmed that personal ornaments and other objects uncovered in French caves were made by Neanderthal people.
Full report on the University World News site:

UNILATERAL

US: Tweet your way to a free MBA
Has the 400-word application essay been replaced with the 140-character tweet? That's the buzz as the University of Iowa's Henry B Tippie College of Business announced that it had swapped an essay question with a call for tweets, writes Jenna Ross for Star Tribune.
More on the University World News site:

US: Is Google replacing our memory?
A Columbia University study has found that Google and other search engines are literally changing the way our brains process and retain information, writes Matt Weinberger for ZDNet. The research was conducted by Columbia psychologist Betsy Sparrow and presented in a paper Science magazine published entitled "Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive consequences of having information at our fingertips".
More on the University World News site:

FACEBOOK

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higher education worldwide. More than 2,750 readers have joined. Sign up to the University World News Facebook group to meet and communicate directly with academics and researchers informed by the world's first truly global higher education publication. Click on the link below to visit and join the group.
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WORLD ROUND-UP

RUSSIA: Corruption in medical schools sparks uproar
An exposé in the Russian edition of Esquire has roiled education and health officials by detailing corruption at six medical schools. The magazine in April published nine short articles by medical students describing the various ways they can pay professors in exchange for passing tests, writes Anna Nemtsova for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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UK: British bid to attract 10,000 Brazilian students
Government ministers have been accused of seeking to plug a black hole in university funding by arranging for 10,000 fee-paying Brazilians to study in the UK, writes Daniel Boffey for The Observer.
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WALES: University mergers urged in shake-up
Ministers have been handed proposals for cutting the number of universities in Wales through mergers, reports the BBC. Education Minister Leighton Andrews, who last year said universities must "adapt or die", is backing the proposals which would cut the number of universities in Wales from 11 to six.
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SCOTLAND: Universities face huge funding shortfall
The true scale of the financial crisis facing Scottish universities has been laid bare after it was confirmed that they will require another £268 million (US$432) per year to keep up with their English competitors, writes Simon Johnson for The Telegraph.
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HONG KONG: Group opposes competitive research policy
The University Grants Commission Concern Group has complained that new policies proposed by the commission may backfire and diminish the high standing of Hong Kong's higher education, writes Andrea Deng for China Daily.
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MALAYSIA: Autonomy for five universities
Malaysia's five research universities are set to receive full autonomy by 2015, according to Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin. He said the ministry's Readiness for Autonomy Audit showed that the research universities should be ready by then, writes Richard Lim for The Star.
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AUSTRALIA: Playing the zero sum game
Should governments use scarce public research money to build a small number of brilliant universities that can share and initiate global conversations? Or should they build genuine research capacity in all universities, in provincial cities and outer metropolitan areas as well as sandstone heartlands? asks Simon Marginson in The Age.
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PAKISTAN: Universities must submit rankings data
Friday was the deadline for universities in Pakistan to submit data for a national rankings process to the Higher Education Commission, reports The News. But an official said only around 10 out of 132 universities had done so.
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SOUTH KOREA: Universities brace for fewer students
Private universities in Korea are preparing for declining revenues due to a persistently low birthrate, mirroring the situation in Japan, which has seen a string of bankruptcies among private colleges due to the same problem, reports The Chosunilbo.
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US: Finance difficulties hindering graduation rates
Estranged from his family at age 17, Jake Boyd put himself through Macomb Community College in suburban Detroit by working nearly 100 hours a week, writes Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Report. It took Boyd almost five years to earn his associate degree in law enforcement from Macomb, the campus where President Barack Obama announced his American Graduation Initiative in 2009, setting a goal of restoring the country to first place by 2020 in the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees.
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US: Campus affirmative action may head to top court
The debate over racial preferences in higher education admissions could be headed back to the US Supreme Court, writes Andrea Billups for The Washington Times. After a federal appeals court decision striking down the Michigan's voter-approved ban two weeks ago and a renewed effort afoot to overturn a similar law in California, colleges and universities may be seeking further guidance on how to legally create racial diversity in their student bodies.
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US: Third of Alabama students need remedial classes
More than a third of Alabama high school graduates who attend college in-state must take remedial courses in their freshman year because they cannot do college-level work, an analysis of new data from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education shows, writes Marie Leech The Birmingham News.
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US: Law schools get practical
Looking to attract employers' attention, some law schools in the US are throwing out decades of tradition by replacing textbook courses with classes that teach more practical skills, writes Patrick G Lee for The Wall Street Journal.
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NEW ZEALAND: Innovation 'shopfront' launched
Nine universities and crown research institutes have launched the Kiwi Innovation Network, KiwiNet, to take more of a New Zealand Inc approach to commerc ialising science and technology research, writes Fiona Rotherham for Business Day.
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AFRICA: Distance learning 'struggling'
Open and Distance Learning in Africa is struggling with credibility issues as governments have very few policies for quality assurance, according to Association of African Universities Secretary General Olugbemiro Jegede. There is an apparent lack of interest in establishing national quality assurance systems to improve education, writes Polycarp Machira for The Citizen.
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FIJI: Universities aplenty
For a small islands nation, Fiji has too many universities that are creating waste and un-necessary duplication of roles and courses, a Fiji-born lawyer and former diplomat has said, writes Samisoni Pareti for Islands Business.
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Sunday 10 July 2011

University World News 0179 - 10th July 2011

This week's highlights

In Features, ALECIA D McKENZIE looks at a Europe-Africa undergraduate programme to be launched by France's elite Sciences Po. YOJANA SHARMA reports on the huge debts borne by universities in China as a result of massive student expansion over the past decade, and in Commentary QIANG ZHA argues that the East Asian model China has followed in growing higher education risks increasing social inequality. CECILE HOAREAU writes that recent reforms in France show the country has been responding to challenges kicked up by the internationalisation of higher education, despite its anti-globalSaving...isation reputation. And in Student View BERT VANDENKENDELAERE, outgoing head of the European Students' Union, says now is the time for greater investment in the long-term future of Europe and in higher education.

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

EUROPE: Plan for one million new research jobs
Jan Petter Myklebust
European Union Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn is planning to create one million jobs in research and innovation in Horizon 2020, the next seven-year research programme. The announcement came as a new report revealed that Europe's investment in research and innovation has been outstripped by its competitors since the mid-1990s.
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: France, Germany top in higher education aid
Yojana Sharma
The world's biggest higher education aid donors have emerged as France and Germany. France provides some US$1.36 billion and Germany around $1.05 billion a year, mostly in the form of scholarships and fellowships, according to VN Varghese, Secretary General of the International Working Group on Education, a Paris-based group of aid agencies.
Full report on the University World News site:

IRAN: Ahmadinejad halts segregation, firings
Yojana Sharma and Shafigeh Shirazi
Plans to segregate male and female students in Iran's universities have been put on hold after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad intervened personally last week to oppose the move. He also insisted that no more professors should be forcibly 'retired' until new ministry guidelines have been approved - but purges of some professors in the humanities are already underway.
Full report on the University World News site:

US: Black colleges find role with overseas partners
Alison Moodie
Historically black universities and colleges in the US have seen dwindling international growth in recent years, but an ambitious new coalition hopes to change that. The International Collaboration Group, launched in the spring, will support internationalisation efforts at 11 public institutions including York College, Central State University and Texas Southern University.
Full report on the University World News site:

RUSSIA: Plan to fund 10,000 a year to study abroad
Eugene Vorotnikov
The Russian government has announced plans to fund up to 10,000 students a year to study abroad at the world's leading universities. Most are expected to go to the United States - and efforts will be made to ensure they return.
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EUROPE: Serbia and Kosovo strike degrees deal
Zlatko Conkas
The European University Association has welcomed an agreement between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo that will pave the way for the mutual recognition of degrees issued by their universities. The deal was stuck in Brussels on 2 July. A communiqué said Belgrade and Pristina would identify a "mutually agreed international body or third party academic institution" to certify the degrees.
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GERMANY: Dropouts pledge secures university funding
Michael Gardner
The 37 public higher education institutions in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia have signed an agreement with the state government that secures funding up to 2015 in return for a commitment to reduce dropouts, improve access and raise teaching standards.
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GLOBAL: QS releases final subject rankings
David Jobbins
A pattern of domination by universities in the United States and United Kingdom established in international subject rankings compiled by QS, the UK-based education network, is repeated for the final two groups of subjects. Social sciences and the arts and humanities are confirmed as the near-exclusive preserve of the developed, English speaking world, despite some strong performances by universities in the Far East.
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KENYA: Professional bodies reject degrees
Gilbert Nganga
Kenya's higher education sector is battling a fresh crisis after two key professional bodies refused to recognise the degrees of hundreds of engineering and law graduates, prompting uncertainly over their futures.
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World Conference of Science Journalists

The World Conference of Science Journalists was held in Doha, capital of Qatar, from 27 to 30 June. University World News was there.

EGYPT: Revolution turns over new leaf for universities

Munyaradzi Makoni Higher education in Egypt is set to become a model for Africa and the Middle East as a result of the popular revolution that removed former president Hosni Mubarak and his regime from power and ushered in a new era of improvements. So said Dr Alaa Ibrahim of the American University in Cairo at the World Conference of Science Journalists in Doha.
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AFRICA: Call to strengthen research for development
Ameen Amjad Khan
The World Conference of Science Journalists in Doha called for massive investment in university research for sustainable development in Africa. Delegates from across the world agreed that research taking place in African universities should be linked to development-related issues such as biotechnology, to tackle food security problems on the continent.
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GLOBAL: Pseudo-scientific research still rife
Ameen Amjad Khan
Pseudo-science - theories, assumptions and methods erroneously regarded as scientific - continues to be studied and 'researched' in many universities around the world, with billions of dollars 'wasted' on research into fake medical sciences, the World Conference of Science Journalists held in Qatar heard.
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NEWSBRIEF

UK: Nottingham tops crime list for students
Brendan O'Malley
The Complete University Guide has published a list of the best and worst cities in the UK for the types of crime that most affect students
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FEATURES

CHINA: Alarm over high university debts
Yojana Sharma
Universities in China continue to languish under huge debts as a result of runaway university expansion in the last decade. Despite government moves a few years ago to write off the worst debts Liu Liyun, a senior official with the National Audit Office (NAO), said last week that more than 1,100 of the country's universities had racked up a total debt of CNY263 billion (US$40.7 billion) by the end of 2010.
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FRANCE: Elite university launches Africa programme
Alecia D McKenzie
After years of "worrying" about Africa's brain drain, one of France's top universities has decided it is time to set up a special undergraduate programme for African students and others interested in the continent. The Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, known more simply as Sciences Po, will inaugurate its Europe-Africa programme in Paris this September, with an initial intake of around 40 students.
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COMMENTARY

CHINA: Massification has increased inequalities
China has dramatically increased the number of students taking part in higher education. But the way that it has done this, which most closely mirrors the East Asian model, risks increasing social inequality, argues QIANG ZHA.
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FRANCE: Responding to pressures to internationalise
France has traditionally been seen as anti-globalisation, but a series of recent reforms show that it has been responding to the challenges presented by the internationalisation of higher education, if in its own style, writes CECILE HOAREAU.
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AFRICA: Continent needs its own science indicators
Policies to stimulate African development require evidence that is difficult to obtain using existing indicators, says policy analyst WATU WAMAE. Science, technology and innovation indicators that are sensitive to the African context are needed to inform evidence-based policy that is effective in mobilising innovation for development.
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STUDENT VIEW

EUROPE: Time for higher education investment is now
BERT VANDENKENDELAERE looks back on his year as chair of the European Students' Union and says now is the time for greater investment in the long-term future of Europe and in higher education. He calls on Europe's 11 million students to voice opposition to political malpractice, and for faster Bologna implementation and more student-centred learning.
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ACADEMIC FREEDOM

GLOBAL: Academic freedom reports worldwide
Noemi Bouet*
A Guinean student in The Gambia has been released after more than two months in prison or under house arrest, following accusations that he had been planning an uprising. In the UK an Oxford academic has been allowed, under freedom of information laws, to read formerly secret data on climate change. Ireland's Royal College of Surgeons has come under fire for urging staff and students at its medical school in Bahrain not to become involved in politics and for failing to take a stand against the repression of doctors. And in Malaysia, a South Korean student has been arrested after attending a pro-democracy protest.
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FACEBOOK

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WORLD ROUND-UP

CHILE: Student protests net $4 billion fund proposal
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, facing ongoing student protests, has proposed the creation of a US$4 billion fund for higher education, reports the BBC. In a televised speech, Pinera outlined measures including more grants and cheaper student loans.
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AUSTRALIA: Universities over-enrol in numbers game
Almost a quarter of Australia's universities expect to be over-enrolled by more than 20% this year. And more than two-thirds began the year planning to take on extra students without any federal teaching subsidy to offset the cost, writes Bernard Lane for The Australian.
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US: Promoting global science
A new partnership between the National Science Foundation and the US Agency for International Development will allow scientists from developing countries to apply and compete for support of research projects involving NSF-funded US colleagues, writes Susan R Morrissey for Chemical and Engineering News. The NSF will fund the US component of these projects, while USAID will foot the bill for the international researchers.
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US: California cuts weigh heavily on colleges
The doors to the California's newest medical school are already open, technically. A gleaming building with new labs is ready to house researchers and students. But when the state budget was approved last week, the plans to open the medical school at the University of California's campus were shelved for at least another year, writes Jennifer Medina for The New York Times.
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CANADA: Anti-Semitism rising at universities - claim
A committee of current and former parliamentarians has concluded that incidents of anti-Semitism are growing in Canada, especially on university campuses, writes Gloria Galloway for The Globe and Mail. But critics say the work of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism was a poorly disguised attempt to suppress legitimate criticism of Israel.
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SWITZERLAND: Scientists fear quick results pressure
Generations of schoolchildren have learned that Switzerland has only two raw materials: water and brainpower. But important as it is, education has never had a ministry of its own, writes Renat Kuenzi for SwissInfo. Last week, after more than 10 years of discussion, responsibility for higher education and research was switched from the interior to the economics ministry, which already looked after professional training.
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MALAYSIA: Private university surveillance stepped up
Malaysia's Higher Education Ministry is stepping up surveillance on private institutions of higher learning to ensure they adhere to regulations under Act 555, reports the official agency Bernama. Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung said this would ensure quality human capital.
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BRAZIL: Vocational education expands to meet boom
In one corner at this Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology, four teenagers are learning how to use lathes, writes Andrew Downie for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Next door, a group of young adults is crowded around a desk testing electronic circuits.
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US: What can universities do to keep costs down?
If the top business officers at America's universities and colleges had their druthers, professors would have heavier teaching loads and tuition fees would keep rising, writes Stacy Teicher Khadaroo for The Christian Science Monitor.
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UK: Study reveals extent of Oxbridge divide
Four schools and one sixth-form college sent more pupils to Oxford and Cambridge between them over three years than 2,000 schools and colleges across the UK, according to a new study that analyses university admissions from individual schools, writes Jeevan Vasagar for The Guardian.
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INDIA: Amity university to open in Dubai
Amity, one of India's largest private universities, is preparing to open its doors in September, adding one more to Dubai's array of branch campuses, writes Melanie Swan for The National. Its chancellor, Atul Chauhan, said Dubai was one of 25 countries in which the university plans to set up over the next four to five years.
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EUROPE: EU funding for European Neighbourhood, Russia
The European Commission last week announced new funding to boost higher education projects and improve teaching across the European Neighbourhood and Russia, writes Eugene Eteris for the Baltic Course. It will allocate -47 million (US$67 million) under the Tempus programme.
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JAPAN: Female graduates get more jobs
Among those who graduated from universities Japan this past spring, 66.4% of women found full-time employment, surpassing 57.7% of new male graduates who secured regular work, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.
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NIGERIA: Academics oppose nine new universities
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has opposed a move by Nigeria's federal government to establish nine universities, writes Jide Orintunsin for The Nation. The union said there had been no proper planning, as existing universities have not been adequately funded.
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US: University arson suspect arrested in China
A decade after the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture burst into flames, the person accused of making the firebombs that started the blaze has been arrested, reports Brandi Kruse for MyNorthwest.
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Sunday 3 July 2011

University World News 0178 - 3rd July 2011

This week's highlights

In Features, HAN-SUK KIM writes that South Korea's slashing of tuition fees will require a painful restructuring of universities. YOJANA SHARMA reports on a new research centre being set up by the UK's Birmingham University in China, which provides an alternative model to branch campuses, and SHARON DELL describes a new project that aims to re-think the study of Africa. In Commentary, BINOD KHADRIA argues that some countries may be hiding a global marketing mechanism behind their international scholarship programmes. BRUCE MACFARLANE says universities need to reconsider what they want from professors beyond income generation, JOHN HIGGINS writes that the humanities in South Africa are caught between a rock favouring applied sciences and the hard place of 'applied nationalism', and AMANDA SELVARATNAM describes an initiative between UK and N igerian universities to build transnational links.

NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report

UK: Reforms make universities compete harder
Brendan O'Malley
Universities in England will have to compete harder with each other to attract students under higher education reforms outlined in the government's long-awaited white paper last week. Top-ranking universities and institutions charging low fees are most likely to benefit.
Full report on the University World News site:

NORTH KOREA: Learning stops as students must work
Yojana Sharma
Close watchers of North Korean affairs were caught on the hop last week by reports that universities in the hermit kingdom could be closed from 27 June for up to 10 months while students are sent to work on farms, in factories and in construction.
Full report on the University World News site:

FRANCE: Degree reform to boost employability
Jane Marshall
A minimum of 1,500 teaching hours, programmes tailored to individual students and work experience for all students who want it are key features of the reformed licence, France's three-year equivalent to the bachelor degree.
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FRANCE: New minister will continue reforms
Jane Marshall
Laurent Wauquiez has replaced Valérie Pécresse as France's Minister for Higher Education and Research in the government reshuffle announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday, following the appointment of finance minister Christine Lagarde to the International Monetary Fund.
Full report on the University World News site:

SWEDEN: International students shun tuition fees
Jan Petter Myklebust
The number of international students studying in Sweden will fall more than 75% next academic year, following the introduction of tuition fees, according to new figures on the number of advance payments made.
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ISLAMIC STATES: Space for higher education planned
Wagdy Sawahel
Islamic states are to foster mutual recognition of degrees among universities and cooperate to enhance exchange of information, experience, researchers and students following the launch of an Islamic 'space' for higher education.
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GERMANY: Plagiarism MEP loses second post
Michael Gardner
Silvana Koch-Mehrin has bowed to pressure from Germany's major higher education and research organisations and stepped down from her new post in the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. Koch-Mehrin only recently resigned as Vice-President of the European Parliament, having been caught up in a copycat affair concerning her doctoral thesis.
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BRAZIL: Government under pressure to not botch exam
Tom Hennigan
The troubled efforts of Brazil's government to build a national standardised university entrance examination received a major boost after the country's second-ranked university said it would accept results from the federal exam for courses starting in 2012.
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SRI LANKA: Moves to step up foreign student intake
Dinesh De Alwis
Sri Lanka's Higher Education Ministry has taken steps to award 150 scholarships to foreign students to study in local universities, as part of its plan to turn the country into a higher education hub and attract up to 50,000 international students in the next decade.
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MIDDLE EAST: SESAME opens links
Geoff Maslen
The project is called SESAME and it has already opened lines of communication between nine countries that have at times been at war with each other. The acronym stands for Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East and, interestingly, it is backed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority as well as Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey.
Full report on the University World News site:

MALAWI: Closed campuses set to reopen
Malawi's government and lecturers have been racing against time to reach an agreement on the reopening of closed campuses next week. Following an appeal by President Bingu wa Mutharika for university staff to resume lectures as originally scheduled on 4 July, lecturers indicated willingness to end their academic freedom protests, which began in February.
Full report on the University World News site:

EGYPT: Academics heartened by landmark election
Ashraf Khaled
Until a few months ago, deans at Egypt's public universities were selected by the authorities after obtaining approval from security agencies. But since former president Hosni Mubarak was swept aside in a popular revolt in February, academics have been pushing for a say in choosing their leaders. And some have just taken an unprecedented step towards this aim.
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NIGERIA: State vice-chancellor jobs precarious
Tunde Fatunde
Vice-chancellors of Nigeria's regionally controlled universities are being fired or resigning due to instability and excessive politicisation at the institutions. And industrial unions in these state universities are constantly at loggerheads with the authorities over issues of autonomy and failure to follow due process.
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AUSTRALIA: Climate denier lord condemned
Geoff Maslen
More than 50 Australian academics signed a letter last week calling on the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle to cancel a lecture by controversial climate change sceptic Lord Christopher Monckton. The Conservative Scottish peer arrived in Perth on Wednesday to deliver a lecture at Notre Dame titled "The Climate of Freedom".
Full report on the University World News site:

FEATURES

SOUTH KOREA: University reforms after fee climb-down
Han-Suk Kim
The South Korean government's announcement of a reduction in tuition fees of up to 30% by 2014 fell short of the 50% cut demanded by protesting students. But it has emerged that even the scaled-down offer will require a painful restructuring of universities. Cross-party talks last week reached little agreement on how the fee reduction will be financed or implemented.
Full report on the University World News site:

CHINA: Joint research: Alternative to branch campus?
Yojana Sharma
Tie-ups between China and Western universities are announced almost every month. But a new collaborative research centre being set up by England's Birmingham University in Guangzhou in southern China highlights another model of cooperation, with none of the drawbacks of the more popular 'branch campus'.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Re-thinking the study of Africa
Sharon Dell
What is Africa? Who and what is the study of Africa for? These surprisingly complex questions have inspired a new postgraduate project at South Africa's Rhodes University, which aims to contribute towards "re-thinking the study of Africa" and pursue an innovative approach to teaching-led research.
Full report on the University World News site:

COMMENTARY

INDIA: Doing the maths behind scholarship figures
Who funds international students and who gains most from international scholarship programmes? According to BINOD KHADRIA, India may be a net loser in terms of its funding for Indian students in America, while the US may be the net gainer. Are some countries hiding a global marketing mechanism behind their scholarship programmes?
Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Professors: Cash cows or intellectual leaders?
Universities need to re-think what they want from their professors beyond the narrow confines of income generation, says BRUCE MACFARLANE. Professors are much more than this. They play a crucial role in inter-generational scholarly renewal and progress and this role needs to be nurtured.
Full report on the University World News site:

SOUTH AFRICA: Dilemma of the humanities
The humanities in South Africa are caught between a rock and a hard place, writes JOHN HIGGINS. The rock is that of a global higher education policy template which increasingly favours applied science to all other forms of knowledge, enquiry and training, while the hard place is a local one: the hard place of what we might call applied nationalism.
Full report on the University World News site:

UK: Universities build transnational links in N igeria
Transnational education is not new, but the focus in the past has been on recruiting overseas students. Now the aim is to work in partnership with universities in students' home countries, says AMANDA SELVARATNAM. She outlines a recent initiative between UK and N igerian universities.
Full report on the University World News site :

SCIENCE SCENE

EUROPE: Super-fast internet speeds
Thirteen photonics research projects are being launched in the field of high-speed fibre broadband networks with the aim of developing technologies to deliver super-fast internet speeds to the home in excess of 1 Gigabit per second. The projects were jointly selected last year by the European Commission, Austria, Germany, Poland, the UK and Israel, which together are paying a total of EUR22.3 million.


Full report on the University World News site:

GLOBAL: Plant biomass largest renewable resource
An international multidisciplinary team of researchers from Argentina, Australia, the US, Denmark and Brazil have uncovered the key steps for controlling plant growth. The team has shown how the assembly of components of the plant cell wall regulates growth of root hairs, a finding that has implications for expanding world food production.
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AUSTRALIA: Moon dust not what it seems
Long-accepted interpretations of lunar dust experiments carried out during the Apollo moon missions in the 1970s have just been shown to be wrong - 33 years later. The experiments were supposed to measure cosmic dust hitting the moon's surface but the results were actually caused by electrical interference.
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AUSTRALIA: Space rock passes through satellite belt
Astronomers around the world breathed a sigh of relief when an asteroid passed within 12,000 kilometres of Australia, closer than communication satellites, last Monday night.
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FACEBOOK

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UNI-LATERAL

UK: Death of the Oxford comma
Late on Friday morning, the sky fell in, with the Oxford University style guide recommending the abandoning of the 'Oxford comma', writes Michael Bywater for The Independent.
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WORLD ROUND-UP

BAHRAIN: Students pay the price for protests
As the summer heat sets in, most university students in Bahrain are eagerly looking forward to getting out of class. But 19 year-old Mohammed and his friends are struggling to get back in, reports Reuters.
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IRAN: Government may separate s exes at universities
When Iranian students return to university in September, men and women may find themselves in separate classes, laboratories, canteens, buses and even administration offices, writes Maryam Sinaiee for The National.
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ISRAEL: Arabs under-represented in universities
The Arab population of Israel suffers from underrepresentation in the country's higher education system and the government will make efforts to remedy this situation, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on Monday, reports Ben Hartman for The Jerusalem Post.
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GERMANY: Once-lauded education system under fire
Germany, the birthplace of kindergarten and the modern university, has long been admired for its commitment to education and for good reason: for generations its spec ialised schools produced more than their share of Nobel Prize winners, as well as the highest skilled tradesmen - high-octane fuel for Europe's economic powerhouse - writes Vanessa Fuhrmans for The Wall Street Journal.
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UK: Two English universities consider going private
Two English universities are actively considering becoming private institutions, research suggests, writes Angela Harrison for BBC News. This would mean they would no longer get direct funding for research or teaching from the government.
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UK: Universities recruit more foreigners to earn cash
Research by The Sunday Telegraph has revealed that nearly a quarter of universities in England, including Cambridge, plan to recruit more international students for the academic year which begins in the autumn, while their number of home students will fall or remain static, write David Barrett and Rebecca Lefort.
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AUSTRALIA: International students save universities
Australian universities are so chronically under-funded in their teaching activities that every domestic undergraduate is effectively subsidised to the tune of AUD1,200 (US$1,293) by international student fees, write Andrew Trounson and Julie Hare for The Australian. That almost matches the government's own subsidy for domestic law and business students of $1,765 a year.
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US: Big jump in California's non-resident students
The University of California's campaign to recruit more high-paying non-resident students appears to be paying off, reports Terence Chea for Associated Press. New data released on Thursday showed big jumps in out-of-state and international students who intend to enroll at the university's nine undergraduate campuses this autumn.
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US: Agents recruiting foreign students criticised
The practice of using commissioned agents to bring in foreign students to American colleges and universities came under sharp criticism during an international education conference organised by the US State Department, with one panelist comparing it to contracting out the student recruitment process to a car salesman, writes Karin Fischer for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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US: Plan to rank online colleges
The annual college rankings by US News & World Report, demonised by many college leaders as being overly simplistic yet touted by institutions that score well, will soon expand to include online programmes, write Rachel Wiseman and Jeffrey R Young for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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US: Obama announces technology partnership
President Barack Obama visited a university research centre outside Pittsburgh on 24 June to announce a new partnership between the government, industries and leading universities to speed the movement of technological advances to commercial users, writes Jackie Calmes for The New York Times.
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IRELAND: Measuring the yield from research spending
A hard-hitting review of engineering research in Irish universities and its potential for making a contribution to economic development was recently published by the Irish Academy of Engineering, writes Professor John Kelley for the Irish Times.
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IRELAND: Student number surge to spark funding crisis
Ireland's government is facing a massive financial headache because of a projected explosion in student numbers at schools and colleges, reports Katherine Donnelly for The Irish Independent. The number of enrolments over the coming years is estimated to be much higher than previously thought.
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THE NETHERLANDS: Universities to get tougher
Dutch universities are planning to introduce a range of measures, including compulsory attendance at lectures, in an effort to boost standards, the Volkskrant reported on Thursday.
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