In the increasing global competition for the best ‘brains', the quality and attractiveness of an institution does no longer depend only on its academic, teaching and research standards: services to students have come to play an important role in the quality assessment of institutions. However, several continental European universities seem to be lagging behind their competitors internationally. But what services should be available, and which of them are essential and which simply ‘nice to haves'? What do international students really need, and how can those needs be addressed within the institutional and national frameworks? What is the impact of services on the attractiveness of an institution in the international higher education “market”? These and other issues will be addressed at the ACA European Policy Seminar to take place in Brussels on 19 March 2010 and entitled “Taking care of the ‘brains' Principles and practice in international student support”. The expert-packed seminar will look at the overall trends and present models of good institutional and national practice in support for international students. It will also present the main outcomes of a recent student survey run by ACA on the support needs of international students. “What’s new in Brussels?”, the traditional start-of-the year ACA seminar, is fast filling up, but a few places are still available. Please register for both events through our events web pages: ACA