Le fil d'actualité : News Tank Academic

Minister, university leaders, alliances...: a tour of our interviews from April to June 2024

News Tank Academic interviewed diverse European (and one American) stakeholders of the higher education and research sector on their position on policies, new projects for their institutions, partnerships, executive education, funding and the European degree from April to June 2024.Sylvie Retailleau, French Minister of Higher Education and Research, called the OECD ministerial council meeting "a...

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European elections: "Discussions around collaboration must develop positively" (M.Björnmalm, Cesaer)

"Far-right populism often brings scepticism towards the EU and international collaboration. We must mitigate these negative directions, whether it is around EU scepticism or broader reluctance towards international cooperation. It is essential that these discussions develop positively so that universities can contribute effectively to these areas", states Mattias Björnmalm, Secretary General of...

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R. DesRoches (Rice University) to News Tank: partnership with PSL (France), its priorities worldwide

"Université PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres, France) and Rice University (U.S.) have great strategic complementary research areas, and we announced that we will collaborate in four of them. The research we do aim to solve challenges that cities like Paris and Houston face", says Reginald DesRoches, President of Rice University to News Tank on 23/05/2024. In this exchange, he looks back at the...

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Indignation in Italy after anti-Semitic engravings on the door of a Florence university professor

"Unacceptable. There are no other words to describe what happened at the Department of Legal Sciences at the University of Florence", says Giovanna Iannantuoni, president of the Italian Rector's Conference (CRUI) on 22/05/2024. This declaration is in reaction to the engraving of a Star of David and threats on a Florence University professor's door on 21/05/2024."An intimidating and violent act...

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Ulysseus expanding its R&I agenda beyond the European shores with partners in Vietnam and Canada

Ulysseus, one of the 50 existing European University alliances, is working towards becoming an R&I hub reaching beyond the European shores, it says on 21/05/2024 during an online workshop presenting its partnership with the University of Laval (Canada) and the University of Da Nang (Vietnam)."This partnership with these extra-European universities is a prime example of Ulysseus’ commitment...

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European elections: "Get university communities out to vote" (A-L. Claeys-Kulik, EUA)

"We invite our members to mobilise university communities, students, and staff to go out and vote. It's about the civic role of universities to inform students and staff that these elections are happening and that they have an impact", Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik, Deputy Director of Policy Coordination and Foresight at the EUA, tells News Tank on 17/05/2024.According to her, "what is at stake in this...

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Spanish Government to invest €18.4 Bn in science, "the largest investment in history"

"The State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2024-2027 increases funding by 32% compared to the previous plan", says the Government of Spain on 07/05/2024."The Council of Ministers has approved the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research (PEICTI) for the period 2024-2027, which plans to allocate €18.4 Bn to promote science and knowledge through calls for...

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THE Young University Ranking 2024: France first European ranked with five universities in the top 20

PSL Research University Paris (France) is the first European institution ranked in the Times Higher Education Young University Ranking 2024, published on 14/05/2024 and showing the world’s best universities that are 50 years old or younger.The French university appears in second place (up from third last year), after Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), arriving first for the second...

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France: Rennes School of Business's Equis accreditation renewed for five years

Rennes School of Business (France) has been awarded renewal of its Equis accreditation by the EFMD for five years, i.e. the maximum period of time possible, the school announces on 06/05/2024."Among the points praised by the auditors are the differentiation supported by its strategic plan, the solidity of its international positioning and the strong anchoring of CSR at Rennes SB", says the...

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ETH Zurich: "With less funding the quality of teaching decreases" (S. Spiegel, VP for Finance)

"We have to look to the future, and the federal budget won't increase so we think that it will be very difficult to maintain ETH’s high quality in the coming years. Financial boundaries will stay and so will the pressure on our budget, therefore we need to take structural measures – possibly even ones that hurt the university. We need to see what’s possible", says Stefan Spiegel, Vice...

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European funding of dual-use technologies: concerns and revendications from Leru, Cesaer and VLIR

VLIR (the Flemish Interuniversity Council), Cesaer (the association of Universities of Science and Technology in Europe) and Leru (a consortium of European research universities) express their reactions, on 24/04 and 30/04/2024 respectively, after the publication of the European Commission's White Paper "On options for enhancing support for research and development involving technologies with...

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OECD ministerial council meeting: "A success of scientific diplomacy" (S. Retailleau to News Tank)

"The discussions over the last two days have been a great success of scientific diplomacy", says Sylvie Retailleau, French Minister for Higher Education and Research, to News Tank on 26/04/2024. She co-chaired the ministerial meeting of the OECD's Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy (CSTP) in Paris on 23 and 24/04. The meeting resulted in the "Declaration on Transformative Science,...

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