27 February 2022  Issue No: 681

Pressure is mounting on the European Union to sever science ties with Russia following a coordinated push by the German Ministry of Education and Research and the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany to halt scientific cooperation in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Strict border controls that have kept out thousands of international university students are set to ease, but many universities are concerned that much damage has already been done to Japan’s reputation as a country that welcomes international students, undermining internationalisation of higher education.

The Biden administration in the United States has terminated the controversial China Initiative, set up to probe scientific and economic espionage by China, citing the rise in anti-Asian hate crime and the negative impact on science of targeting American scholars of Chinese descent as factors behind the decision.

When, why and how did higher education become central to the European project? The process of forging greater cooperation around higher education in Europe is important and the details and context matter, even more so in this era of misinformation about the European Union.

The recent dismissals of academics and senior leaders at Bogazici University represent an authoritarian attack on free speech and democratic values with wide-ranging consequences for academic freedom, as the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is trying to establish a clear chain of command over universities.

China’s new first-class higher education project actively promotes disciplines over universities and a uniquely Chinese academic evaluation system with a view to improving the global competitiveness of Chinese higher education and potentially changing the global landscape of higher education and research.

She started school at the age of four and, at the age of 11, a lesson on astronauts sparked a lifelong love for and dance with the sciences. Senamile Masango started to think about her goals after the geography teacher said that no African had ever been to space.

Dutch universities are calling on the government to cap the number of international students, to maintain the quality of degree programmes in the face of rapidly rising numbers of students from abroad and stagnant funding. So says Drs Pieter Duisenberg, president of the Association of Universities of the Netherlands.