Breaking News
RUSSIA
Nina Izmailova
Since the attack on Ukraine in 2022, Russian universities have moved from passive enablers of the war to active recruiters, with professors counselling enlistment over theses. This betrayal represents one of the most alarming developments in global higher education since the invasion itself.
UNITED KINGDOM
Brendan O’Malley
SWEDEN
Jan Petter Myklebust
Top Stories
GLOBAL-UNITED KINGDOM
Assumption that stability is the norm no longer holds
Fadime Sahin
The Middle East conflict is just the latest in a decade of once-in-a-generation shocks piling up. Universities need to treat disruption as the new normal, which means they need flexible, scenario-based planning approaches so they can adapt quickly as conditions shift.
MIDDLE EAST-IRAN
Wagdy Sawahel
CANADA
Nathan M Greenfield
AUSTRALIA
Angel Calderon
News
INDIA-CANADA
Shuriah Niazi
Canada and India are deepening their higher education ties with the launch of a new Canada-India Talent and Innovation Strategy that aims to move beyond traditional student flows and create a structured, long-term framework for research collaboration, skills development and innovation-led growth.
AFRICA-ITALY
Wagdy Sawahel
PAKISTAN
Ameen Amjad Khan
NETHERLANDS
Jan Petter Myklebust
EGYPT
Tarek Abd Elgalil
In Egyptian universities, publishing in a prestigious journal can bring a financial bonus of between US$100 and US$400 per paper. For academics with modest salaries and growing economic pressures, research output has become more than a scholarly obligation. It is a parallel income stream.
DENMARK
Jan Petter Myklebust
Denmark continues to hold its own among global research leaders, according to a recently launched international report produced by Elsevier that points to high quality in Danish research, strong international cooperation and close links between academic researchers and industrial partners.
CAMEROON
Elias Ngalame
Three years since their creation, Cameroon’s three new universities of Bertoua, Ebolowa, and Garoua are in distress. Infrastructure has been delayed, there is no internet connectivity, staff are insufficient, and students must cope with a perilous study environment. Authorities are now seeking funds to rectify the problems.
NORWAY
Jan Petter Myklebust
Edtech, AI and Higher Education
GLOBAL
Karen MacGregor
An international survey of university academics and students by Coursera, the massive online learning platform, has revealed highly positive attitudes towards generative AI and that more than 95% make use of AI tools. But a weighty 56% fear that higher education is unprepared to handle AI.
World Blog
GLOBAL
Nita Temmerman
The ability of universities to meet their responsibilities to society is being ever more eroded by a reality which sees universities increasingly being forced to make decisions based on the bottom line and cost effectiveness rather than academic value and public good.
SDGs
BOTSWANA
Clemence Manyukwe
Growing up on her grandparents’ farm in Botswana, crop science PhD student Kelebonye Ramolekwa witnessed how low-yielding crops led to repeated poor harvests, experiences that sparked her long-standing interest in agricultural science. She was recognised recently with a L’Oréal-UNESCO award for young women in science.
Top Stories from Last Week
GLOBAL
Hans de Wit, Philip G Altbach and Chris Glass
It is difficult to disagree with criticisms of the traditions of Western colonialism, but a clear-eyed analysis of Global South internationalisation is necessary: limitations on academic freedom and research independence, and overreliance on soft power goals may interfere with internationalisation’s best values.
AFRICA
Jackline Nyerere
GLOBAL
Wagdy Sawahel
GLOBAL
James Yoonil Auh
GLOBAL
Nathan M Greenfield
Global demand for English-taught semiconductor programmes has doubled since 2019, but supply has barely grown, a Studyportals report has found. The gap provides opportunities for universities – but there are questions around the costs of chip courses, facilities capacity, outdated degree models and future labour market volatility.
DENMARK
Jan Petter Myklebust
A study from Danish industry highlights the importance of STEM graduates to the national economy, while an ongoing project by the Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy will provide recommendations later in the year on how to improve PhD education in general.
INDIA
Shuriah Niazi
The first US university to receive approval from the Indian higher education regulator to establish a degree-granting campus is to open its doors in Mumbai’s Godrej Business District in the fall, offering a new model of industry-integrated education rooted in the corporate ecosystem.
AFRICA
Oscar Koopman and Karen Joy Koopman
How do we create conditions in which authentic learning, that is, learning that cannot be outsourced to AI, becomes possible? Through a fundamental reorientation away from predetermined graduate attributes and measurable outcomes toward the cultivation of students’ authentic modes of being-in-the-world.