ACA hosted, like most associations these days, its autumn General Assembly in an online format, on 26 and 27 November 2020, in line with COVID-19 related restrictions in place in many countries. The meeting was presided over by ACA President Ulrich Grothus.   In additional to the typical agenda items (membership fees, exchange...

ACA’s flagship European Policy Seminar “What’s new in Brussels? Recent developments in European policies and programmes”, will take place online on:  28 January 2021 (13:30 – 17:00 CET) and on   29 January 2021 (09:00 – 13:00 CET).    The year 2021 will mark a new stage in European higher education. Not only will it kick...

On 6 November, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) published recommendations on the development of academic exchange with Belarus. In the impulse paper, the DAAD suggests maintaining and expanding academic exchange in the current situation, in order to keep channels...

On 10 November, the DAAD Executive Board confirmed the proposal for the appointment of Dr. Kai Sicks to succeed the previous Secretary-General, Dr. Dorothea Rüland. Looking back at a 30-year career in the organisation, Rüland contributed greatly to the internationalisation of German universities and to Germany's world-wide reputation as an excellent education and research location. ...

Following the retirement of ACA’s long-term Director Bernd Wächter, and the start of Irina Ferencz as ACA’s new Director in September 2020, several new staff members also joined the ACA team this autumn.  Veronika Kupriyanova joined the Secretariat in the role of Senior Policy Coordinator, with core responsibilities over policy...

On November 18, more than 45 colleagues participated in the online training of STUDY IN ACAdemy series co-organized by ACA and DZS as part of the Study in Czech Republic initiative. The Webinar #2 featured a combination of contextual knowledge based on Robert Coelen’s 25 years of experience in international education and Jan-Frederic...

The nexHack Edtech lasted 48 hours, with 130 participants from 45 different countries. No fewer than 23 innovative projects were submitted. The aim? To create a digital solution designed to meet the challenges of higher education, internationalisation and digitisation.  Organised by the Swiss national Agency Movetia in collaboration...

In November, the ACA Secretariat staff attended several EU policy events focused on the impact of COVID-19 on higher education and contributed to the discussions with the related evidence shared by ACA members.   The Secretariat presented the latest information on the impact of the pandemic on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) and other mobility programmes at a dedicated stakeholder...

The ACA Secretariat and two ACA members – the Slovak Academic Information Agency (SAIA) and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) – started work on the UniWellS project (see ACA Newsletter – October 2020 edition) aimed to support internationalisation of higher education through professionalising services for mobile academic staff. Coordinated by SAIA, this EU-funded Erasmus+ project targets incoming...

The CEEPUS programme (Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies) celebrated its 25th anniversary in the academic year 2018-2019. On this occasion, the Hungarian coordinator of the programme, Tempus Public Foundation commissioned a study, which seeks to look back upon...

With the successfully completed EU Online Talk, the Horizon2020 funded CARe project, which supports labour market integration of researchers with refugee background, is slowly coming to its official end in December 2020. Nevertheless, the connections established in the framework of the project will be strongly fostered and the project’s results...

European Commission’s (EC) Directorate Generals for Education and Culture, Research and Innovation and Joint Research Centre have published a joint action plan together with the Committee of Regions (CoR). It will cover four priority areas of collaboration with 26 concrete actions aimed at increasing the...

On 12 November 2020, Commissioner Mariya Gabriel launched the Education & Training Monitor 2020. This is the ninth year of the Monitor, which yields twenty-seven detailed country reports regarding the status of education and training, allowing for a pan-European comparison....

On 10 November, the European Parliament budget negotiators and the Council Presidency reached a compromise outlining a political agreement on the EU’s long-term budget (Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027).   In the compromise, Parliament obtained EUR 16 billion on top of the package agreed by heads of state or...

The EHEA Rome 2020 Ministerial Conference took place in virtual format on 19 November. The Conference proceedings were opened by the Minister for Universities and Research, Prof. Gaetano Manfredi, and by the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, followed by the participation...

Earlier this month, the Austrian Government launched its National Mobility and Internationalisation for Higher Education strategy. This document was developed by Austria’s Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) and intends to place mobility and internationalisation at the core...

On 30 October 2020, the Norwegian Minister for Higher education and Research, Henrik Asheim, presented a White Paper on student mobility entitled A World of Opportunities: International student mobility in higher education, drafting national policy until 2027.    The ambitions outlined in the policy document, which is to be further discussed in the Norwegian Parliament, are...

Following Australia and the United Kingdom (UK), Canada announced on 12 November a number of measures to support Hong Kong residents, including young activists being arrested and convicted for actions in peaceful protests that are not considered an offence in Canada. The Canadian measures will fill the gap of the UK’s...

Votes in the United States of America are still being counted after 3 November’s elections, but it is clear now that Joseph R. Biden has won and is preparing to take office on 20 January, 2021. During the election campaign...

In late in November, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) came out with the 2020 edition of Wissenschaft weltoffen, a publication modelled on Open Doors of the Institute of International Education (IIE) on international mobility into and out of the US...

Strengthening academic freedom in European policies and national legislation is becoming ever more relevant as a reaction to numerous reports on individual pressures, discriminatory administrative practices and political decisions targeting higher education community in many countries worldwide. The recent Rome Ministerial Communique highlighted the importance of fundamental values...

The European Commission has decided today to launch a €1 billion call for research and innovation projects that respond to the climate crisis and help protect Europe's unique ecosystems and biodiversity. This Green Deal Call differs in important aspects from...

Scholars at Risk. (2020). Free to Think 2020.  Publications by Scholars at Risk.  New York, NY. Free to Think 2020 analyses 341 attacks on higher education communities in 58 countries between September 1, 2019 and August 31, 2020. The report...

Rumbley, Laura. (2020). Systemic University Change Towards Internationalisation for Academia in European higher education institutions: An exploratory study. SUCTIA Network.  Brussels, Belgium. This exploratory study serves as the first intellectual output of Systemic University Change Towards Internationalisation for Academia (SUCTIA)....

Curaj, Adrian,  Deca, Ligia and Pricopie, Remus, Ed.  (2020) European Higher Education Area: Challenges for a New Decade. Springer. Bucharest, Romania  This open access book highlights the major outcomes of the fourth edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (January 2020), which has...

The promotion of student mobility abroad is one of the central objectives of the Bologna Process. The recognition of academic achievements achieved abroad plays an important role in this process. Since 2007, the NA DAAD has been analysing the practises...

European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice (2020). The European Higher Education Area in 2020: Bologna Process Implementation Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.   This 2020 Bologna Process Implementation report has been prepared for the EHEA Ministerial Conference in Rome, Italy, on 19 November 2020, on...

Van Hees, Valérie and Montagnese, Dominique. (2020). Making mobility programmes more inclusive for students with disabilities Inclusive Mobility - Research Report. Support Centre Inclusive Higher Education (SIHO).  On the 9th of November the EPFIME research report was launched by the Support Centre Inclusive Higher Education (SIHO) and the Flemish Ministry for Education and Training.  The EPFIME project is a 2-year project co-funded by Erasmus+ KA3 Support to Policy reform "Support to the implementation of EHEA reforms - 2018-2020".  The...

ACA Events   28 and 29 January 2021   ACA European Policy Seminar: "What’s new in Brussels? Recent developments in European Policies and Programmes" More information     22 April 2021 Zürich (TBC) Innovation through internationalisation. How international cooperation and...