September 2012

IN THIS ISSUE

FROM SEFI

FROM the EUROPEAN UNION

CALENDAR 14

SEFI Annual conference 2 Reminder: Deans Convention in Aalborg 3 Projects 3 SEFI Working Group for Educational Technologies 4

FROM PARTNERS

FROM MEMBERS

Announcement for the CISPEE and Call for Papers 4

From EUA: Call for applications to host 7th EUA Council in 2014 4 Update on developments in the Bologna Process 5 Vacancy 5 EUA to look at development of MOOCs and trends in innovative learning 5

By Invitation: Closing the Innovation Divide, by Markku Markkula 6 Update on EU long-term budget negotiations 7 Conference on global research launches Horizon 2020 7 Vassiliou urges French universities to join U-Multirank 8 Making the EU more attractive for foreign students and researchers 8 The 1st International conference on Internet Science 8 EU-Canada Cooperation 9 Education budgets under pressure in Member States 9 European Commission Call for Proposals 2013 9

PUBLICATIONS 12

GENERAL NEWS FROM EUROPE 9

NEWS FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD 11

2nd Call for Abstracts!

see on page 2

Issue 3 / 2013

news@SEFI

2 3/2013

SEFI Annual Conference

Associated Events

2nd ENAEE Annual Conference, 16-17 September 2013, Leuven, BE → www.enaee.eu

Mathworks EMEA EDU Workshop, 16 September 2013 → www.sefi2013.com

HP Workshop, (tbc)

International Workshop on “The Different Formats of Engineering Doctorates in Europe”, 16 September 2013 → www.sefi.be and www.eedcouncil.eu

Reminder: SEFI PhD Thesis Competition!

To celebrate the 40th anniversary, SEFI launches a competition for Engineering Education thesis at PhD level. The winners will receive their prizes at the Awards celebration of the SEFI Annual Conference

Application deadline: 15 April 2013

For full details, visit www.sefi.be/?p=3273

For the full information Programme, topics,

registration and abstract submission go to: www.sefi2013.be

"Engineering Educaionon Fast Forward"

2nd Call for Abstracts DEADLINE EXTENDED TILL APRIL 15 2013

The preparations of the 2013 SEFI Conference Engineering Education Fast Forward 1973 > 2013 >> in Leuven (16-20 Septem-ber 2013) are progressing rapidly. High quality abstracts are being received promising a vivid and interactive conference. We will also welcome several internationally reputed keynote speakers including Mike Ashby (University Cambridge, UK), Caroline Baill ie (University of Western Australia), Sue Bray (Keys2Culture, USA), Erik Duval (KU Leuven, BE), Carl Mitcham (Colorado School of Mines, USA), Jon Stolk (Olin College, USA), … Further, several workshops on engineering educational issues and hands-on experi-ences will be organized in conjunction with the conference.

Announcement of conference workshops

Pre conference workshops on 16-17 September

• Co-organization of EEDC, 4ING and SEFI: Workshop “The Different Formats of Engineering Doctorates in Europe” • Open workshop SEFI Working Group on Sustainability • Open workshop SEFI Working Group on Educational Technologies • Open workshop IIDEA (tbc) • Open workshop SEFI Working Group on Continuing Engineering Education • Open workshop SEFI Working Group on Ethics and Engineering Education • Open workshop SEFI Working Group on Curriculum Development Post-conference workshops on 20 September

• SASICE workshop • Open workshop SEFI Working Group Physics and Engineering Education

3 3/2013

FROM SEFI

Projects

Reminder: Last Chance for Registration!

5th European Convention of Engineering Deans 18-19 April 2013, Aalborg, DK

It is still possible to register for the 5th European Convention of Engineering Deans, taking place in Aalborg, Denmark on the 18-19 April 2013. Please visit www.eced2013.aau.dk for registration and information about programme, speak-ers, accommodation and more.

The General Assembly of the European Engineering Deans Council –EEDC– will be held just prior to this event on 18 April 9:30 to 12:30. More information on www.eedcouncil.eu or for contact: info@sefi.be

SEFI HQ hosted a Workshop for ECDEAST

As partner of the Engineering Curricula Design aligned with EQF and EUR-ACE Standards (ECDEAST) Tempus Project, SEFI HQs organised a Workshop session of 2 days in Brussels on 21-22 March, which convened 18 participants from Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Study visits were organized in the frame of these two days to the European Parliament, as well as in the European Commission, where the participants were given presentations by Mr. Mark Corner (VUB), by Mr. Peter Baur, Deputy Head of Unit (DG EAC) on EU Higher Education and innovation, Entrepreneurship and EIT activities, as well as by Mr. Rich-ard Burger, Policy Officer (DG Research) on EU-Russia Research Cooperation: Review and Pre-view.

With the support of the KU Leuven, participants were invited to have a presentation by the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Yolande Berbers, and laboratory visits (Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering) in the premises of the campus Arenberg of the KU Leuven. Prof. Ludo Froyen, Past Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and SEFI Council member, and Prof. Wim Van Petegem, KU Leuven Director for Teaching and Learning, President of SEFI, were also present during these meetings.

Among the various activities, a project Board meeting was organised in SEFI HQ.

The ECDEAST project’s objective is to ensure that Russian universities have advanced curricula for programmes in line with new development in the chosen engineering areas and according to the Bologna Process (EQF) and European standards for the quality of engineering education (EUR-ACE).

The Final Conference of the ECDEAST project will be organized in Bauman University, Moscow on 5-6 June 2013. SEFI will be represented on this event with with plenary/workshop presentations given by Guenther Heitmann, Michael Hoffmann, Angela Varadi and Xavier Fouger.

For further details, please visit the website: www.ecdeast.tpu.ru/en

First QUEECA Forum on Quality of Engineering Education in Central Asia

The First QUEECA Project Forum (Quality Assurance of Engineering Education in Central Asia) will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the premises of Al-Faraby University, on the 3rd and 4th April 2013, in co-operation with the Kazakhstan Society of Engineering Education and the National Academy of Kazakh-stan High School.

The forum consists of plenary sessions with keynote speakers offering a view on EUR-ACE labels and Engineering Education in Central Asian Countries. Among the Speakers, Prof. Claudio Borri (University of Florence), Alfredo Squar-zoni (University of Genova, Italian Accreditation Association, ENAEE), Prof. Yuri Pokholkov (Russian Association for Engineering Education) And Jose Carlos Quadrado (President of IFEES, ISEL) will be present.

SEFI will be represented in this Forum by Prof. Angela Varadi, University of Miskolc, member of SEFI Administrative Council and Chair of the SEFI WG on Quality Assurance and Accreditation. Outcomes of the Forum will be published in the next issue of the News@SEFI.

For further details, please visit the website: www.queeca.eu/index.htm

4 3/2013

FROM MEMBERS

Call for applications to host 7th EUA Council for Doctoral Education Annual Meeting in 2014

The EUA Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE) has published a call for interest to host its seventh Annual Meet-ing in June 2014 and would like to encourage its members to submit a declaration of interest before the deadline of 1 May 2013. Please note that only EUA-CDE member institutions may apply. If you have any questions about this call, please contact Thomas Jorgensen (thomas.jorgensen@eua.be).

FROM PARTNERS

Announcement for the CISPEE and Call for Papers The 1st International Conference of the Portuguese Society for Engineering Education (CISPEE) will take place in Porto on October 31st and November 1st 2013, under the theme "Education in Engineering: Challenges for Innova-tion".

Technically sponsored by the IEEE, IGIP, SEFI, ASCE, ABENGE, and the Portuguese Engineers Association (Ordem dos Engenheiros), this event will be a key opportunity to gather - in Portugal - a number of national and international ex-perts in the area of engineering education, under the topics of the present working groups of the Portuguese Society for Engineering Education (SPEE), namely Engineering Ethics; ICT in Engineering Education; Continuing Engineering Education; Tools to Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills; and Mathematics in Engineering Education.

The program will include pre-conference workshop(s), invited keynotes, poster and plenary sessions, and a number of social events aiming to promote an ideal atmosphere for dialogue and sharing of ideas among participants.

The SPEE - Portuguese Society for Engineering Education - founded in 2010, aims to promote engineering education through better teacher pedagogical formation and personal development; projects dissemination and participation; and collaboration between national and international experts and institutions.

Please note that the Submission deadline for papers is on the 2nd June. For more information go to the conference website: http://www.isep.ipp.pt/cispee/index.php?page=home-2

SEFI Working Group for Educational Technologies

Online Learning and the Future of Engineering Education

Not so long ago, e-learning was considered a hype based on unsuccessful attempts to innovate teaching and learn-ing. Therefore most institutions never considered a serious investment in online learning. Things have changed though since MIT introduced Open Educational Resources (2001) and the recent Massive Open Online Courses devel-opment (MOOCs) started to disrupt the general view on HE. Change in HE normally takes generations of students, but with the up rise of Open Education, the MOOCs and others the HE play field is changing with internet speed and this will affect Engineering Education profoundly. Therefore WG Educational Technologies likes to involve you in the discussion about this phenomenon and use the outcome to enhance the coverage of this topic at the SEFI yearly conference in Leuven. What can you do? You can directly retrieve information on the topic (http://www.scoop.it/t/learning4life) which is curated by the WG. You can also join us at Yammer (social medium) to discuss, complain, and make suggestions. Just go there (https://www.yammer.com/sefiworkgroupeducationaltechnologies/) or send me an email (pieter.devries@tudelft.nl).

Pieter de Vries Chairperson of SEFI WG Educational Technologies, TU Delft

From EUA

5 3/2013

Vacancy: EUA Director, Research and Innovation EUA is currently seeking a Director, Research and Innovation who will take responsibility for the Association’s research and innovation activities upon the retirement of the current Deputy Secretary General, Dr John Smith, at the end of 2013. The Director will be responsible for the planning and implementation of all relevant activities, including policy and project development, external fundraising and cooperation with other relevant European organisations, and also plays an important representative role on behalf of EUA at conferences, meetings and events in Brussels and across Europe. The deadline for applications is 3 May 2013.

To read the full job advertisement, go to: http://www.eua.be/Libraries/Jobs/Research_Director_March_2013_1.sflb.ashx Source: www.eua.be

EUA to look at development of MOOCs and trends in innovative learning

While the concept of free-of-charge, university online courses for large numbers of learners is not a new one, recently established Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have received keen attention from the higher education commu-nity and the media. Companies in the US have started offering free-of-charge online education courses. Developed in collaboration with renowned universities and individual scholars, in a short period of time some of these courses attracted tens of thou-sands of learners around the globe. Coursera, one of the companies, claims to have more than two million registered learners. The fact that these initiatives emerged rather suddenly, and that some did not seem to have a clear business model — they usually do not charge fees — certainly added to speculation regarding the intentions behind MOOCs and the long–term consequences for the higher education sector. For some, the MOOCs stand for a “learning revolution”, pro-viding high quality education at low costs and unprecedented prospects for enhancing global access and participa-tion. Meanwhile, critical voices have lamented that many of the recent MOOCs are not truly innovative, but have rather traditional learning approaches and goals, and some see them as an attempt to rationalise and further commercialise higher education. To read the full article, go to: http://www.eua.be/news/13-02-25/ Source: www.eua.be

Update on developments in the Bologna Process

Last year’s Bologna Process Ministerial Conference in Romania, and the resulting Communiqué, set out a number of goals with regard to the future development of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Underlining the importance of investment in higher education, the Bucharest Communiqué stresses the need to pro-vide high quality higher education for all, to enhance graduates' employability and to strengthen mobility as a means for better learning. A new strategy on mobility “Mobility for better learning” was also adopted. These were amongst the topics addressed in EUA’s input statement to the Ministerial Conference, which outlined universities’ priorities for the future of the EHEA. To read the full article, go to: http://www.eua.be/News/13-03-21/Update_on_developments_in_the_Bologna_Process.aspx Source: www.eua.be

Meanwhile, the EUA-CDE would like to remind all stakeholders concerned with doctoral education that this year’s EUA-CDE Annual Meeting will take place at the University of Warsaw from 18 to 19 June 2013.The theme of this year’s meet-ing is “From Student to Researcher – are we on the right track?”. A call for papers is open until 2 April and registration will also open in April. The get to the full call, go to: http://www.eua.be/Libraries/CDE_website/CDE_call_for_interest_Annual_Meeting_2014.sflb.ashx Source: www.eua.be

6 3/2013

FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

INVITED ARTICLE: Closing the Innovation Divide At the request of the Irish presidency, the EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) is drawing up proposals on how to increase innovativeness and close innovation gaps. The Rapporteur Markku Markkula – SEFI Fellow – points out in this article a few key highlights of his working documents. The objective under this mandate is to submit proposals on 1) measures required of the regions and all their various players, and 2) measures required under EU Commission programmes, funding and other activities. The key question is "how". How can we make conditions and ways of thinking and working at local and regional level significantly more innovative? In the working document I present tried-and-tested principles and practices based on my own and others' experiences and theories. I also set out guidelines and measures. How should we address the challenges of research and innovation activity? It is certainly right to emphasise a number of general guidelines that lay the foundations for profound changes. The ones emphasised are: 1. supporting the targets to be achieved on competitiveness and innovation by 2020, especially through continued investment in education and training; 2. stressing the importance of balancing technological, design and social innovation in both the public and private sectors, all of which are influenced by far-reaching digitisation; 3. striving for societal innovation, with living labs, testbeds and open innovation methods in regional innovation policy-making, while getting citizens on board; 4. highlighting the role of a local and regional environment that supports the integration of higher education, research and business; 5. implementing the Knowledge Triangle as a key principle in European university reform (greater synergies between research, education and innovation); 6. underlining the key role of research infrastructure in knowledge-based innovation systems; 7. focusing more on the active use of innovative public procurement, combined with simplification of procedures; 8. stressing the importance of Europe-wide collaboration and transnational cooperation projects between regions, building on innovation support and smart specialisation strategies; 9. highlighting the potential of cross-border cooperation, including inward investment to and outward in vestment from the EU; 10. improving competences for innovation and fostering a new innovation mind-set built on dialogue, collaboration and co-creativity to learn from best practice. However, these approaches are not enough: the essence of innovation must be explored more deeply. For the SEFI community I want to highlight the importance of focusing research and EU funding more on using the best knowledge available. The CoR has in its recent opinions stressed among others the following: • "All regions and actors within the region can and should be effective in using knowledge. Thus it is of utmost importance to disseminate and further develop the outcomes of RDI throughout Europe. • "One of the major weaknesses in the present system stems from existing knowledge not being benefited from sufficiently." • "Special emphasis should be on research and innovation of concepts and methods needed to in crease the societal impact of knowledge flows between various actors from knowledge creators through knowledge users to final beneficiaries." Globally successful business activity has made systematic use of value networks for a long time already. A product or service to be developed as a collaborative project between a number of operators for delivery to the customer is rarely the result of a linear value chain; rather, the whole production process is a constantly evolving value network. Effective management of the production process means identifying new opportunities and creating conditions and organisa-tions, as well as developing communities, in which the people involved are motivated to innovate. University research could be made more directly relevant to policy-makers and project teams. Results from all these domains could be reviewed to match needs at regional and local levels and make new ideas, materials and methods ready for application in developing regional innovation ecosystems across Europe. The once-lauded Triple Helix approach is not dynamic enough to meet new challenges. It needs to be modernised. Intensive engagement with the activities of regional innovation ecosystems is needed in order to bring this opera-tional concept and culture up to date.

7 3/2013

It is particularly important from Europe's perspective to explore regional innovation ecosystems and the role, impor-tance, activity, spatial solutions and success enablers of communities and institutions that spur new and dynamic inno-vation activity in such ecosystems. The new innovation institutes focus on the new mind-set and environment re-quired for user-centric design, co-creation and rapid piloting. These new institutes, most of which have only been set up in the past few years, are flexible entities with a collabora-tive approach. Examples include: Incubators and Accelerators, Living Labs, Entrepreneurial Hubs, Development Labs, Social Innovation Labs, Fab Labs, Societal Innovation Learning Camps and Future Centers. They usually operate as as-sociated entities of universities, municipalities and businesses. They combine new, open operating practices, use of social media, new intellectual property rights and funding practices, a broad stakeholder network and entrepreneur-ship. It is very important to study this area more broadly and deeply, to build networks and to pilot a range of development measures in order to accelerate innovation activity across different regions in Europe. This will undoubtedly bring benefits in terms of societal development, international competitiveness and job creation.

Markku Markkula Member of CoR - EPP Member of the Espoo City Council SEFI Fellow

Update on EU long-term budget negotiations

In a resolution adopted on 13 March, the European Parliament reacted to the conclusions of the February meeting of the EU heads of state and government (European Council) in relation to the next long-term EU budget (2014-2020), the so-called Multiannual Financial Framework. The resolution – adopted by 506 votes to 161, with 23 abstentions – states that the Parliament “rejects the agreement in its current form, as it does not reflect the priorities and concerns expressed by Parliament”. In particular, the Parlia-ment wants more flexibility with the budget and that the issue of unpaid bills from 2012 be settled before concluding the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiations. It also wants a political undertaking that all bills due in 2013 will be paid in 2013, so as to avoid "rolling over" a deficit into the new MFF. The resolution also “reiterates the view that the MFF should ensure the successful implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy and endow the EU with the necessary means to recover from the crisis and come out stronger”. It stresses “the importance of substantially increasing its investments in innovation, research and development, infrastructure and youth, meeting the EU's climate change and energy objectives, improving education levels and promoting social in-clusion, while fulfilling its international commitments”. To read the full article, go to:

http://www.eua.be/news/13-03-21/Update_on_EU_long term_budget_negotiations_MFF.aspx

Source: www.eua.be

Conference on global research launches Horizon 2020

Around 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries participated in a five-day conference launching Horizon 2020 in Brussels this month. Its aim was to encourage worldwide collaboration in science and explore how Horizon 2020 could “enable an effective scientific response to global challenges”. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European Union (EU) commissioner for research, innovation and science, said at the opening of the conference that the EU provided a strong platform for research. While the EU has 7% of the world’s population, it invests 24% of research expenditure and produces 32% of global high-impact publications and patent applications. Horizon 2020 would be open to participation from all countries, said Geoghegan-Quinn, “but we will be more restric-tive as regards funding from the EU budget. “This is to take into account the fact that a number of countries have invested so strongly in their research and innovation base that they are now able to cooperate on an equal footing. “The common principles for engaging in international cooperation will enable researchers from across the globe to collaborate in full confidence,” she said.

“EU Science: Global Challenges, Global Collaboration” – or ES:GC2 – was held from 4-8 March and provided a platform for building new partnerships and increasing international participation, the European Commission said.

8 3/2013

Making the EU more attractive for foreign students and researchers

The EU needs to attract talented non-EU students and researchers who can contribute to our growth and competitive-ness with their knowledge and skills.

Moving to Europe temporarily is an opportunity embraced by over 200.000 students and researchers from outside the EU every year. However, far too many of them have to face unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. Current rules for obtain-ing a student visa or a residence permit are often complex and unclear; procedures can be lengthy and vary considera-bly across Member States and moving from one Member State to another can be very difficult or even impossible. This hampers the possibility to provide EU countries with a greater pool of talent and reduces the appeal of the EU as a world centre for excellence.

Today the Commission proposed to make it easier and more attractive for non-EU national students, researchers and other groups to enter and stay in the EU for periods exceeding three months. New legislation will set clearer time limits for national authorities to decide on applications, provide for more opportunities to access the labour market during their stays and facilitate intra-EU movement.

To read the full article, go to: http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/20130325_en.htm

Source: www.ec.europa.eu

Vassiliou urges French universities to join U-Multirank

European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Androulla Vassiliou will urge French higher education institutions to participate in U-Multirank, the new EU-backed university ranking, when she visits Paris on 18-19 March. The Commissioner will hold meetings with Bernard Cazeneuve, the Minister for European Affairs, Geneviève Fioraso, Minister for Higher Education and Research, and Valérie Fourneyron, Minister in charge of youth and sports. The new ranking, launched by Commissioner Vassiliou and the Irish EU Presidency in January, will rate university per-formance in five areas: reputation for research, quality of teaching and learning, international orientation, success in knowledge transfer and contribution to regional growth. During the visit, Commissioner Vassiliou will also give her backing to CERES (Cartographie des établissements d’ensei-gnement supérieur et de recherche), an initiative led by French universities to map the country's higher education sys-tem, and welcome France's support for the new 'Erasmus for All' programme. Eight EU Higher Education Ministers (France, UK, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Portugal) have sent letters to the President of the European Parliament expressing their preference for the Erasmus for All name. Source: www.ec.europa.eu

The 1st International conference on Internet Science

The 1st international conference on Internet Science will be organized from April 10 to 11, 2013 in Brussels, under the aegis of the European Commission, by the EINS project and the FP7 European Network of Excellence in Internet Sci-ence.

Hosted by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (http://www.kvab.be/?lang=en), this highly multidisciplinary conference combines Computer Science, Sociology, Art, Mathematics, Physics, Complex systems analysis, Psychology, Economics, Law, Political Science, Epistemology and other relevant disciplines. It will be the unique venue fostering dialogue among scholars and practitioners belonging to these disciplines. It will also provide the EINS Network of Excellence with an opportunity to interact with external stakeholders, detail project objectives and methodological approach, and showcase its first results.

To get to the conference website, go to: http://internetscienceconference.eu Source: www.ec.europa.eu

The conference was convened by Intelligence in Science and was hosted by the European parliament and the Irish presidency of the EU. There were more than 50 seminars, workshops and other events, and a large number of exhibi-tions. To read the full article, go to: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2013031515182817 Source: www.universityworldnews.com

9 3/2013

GENERAL NEWS FROM EUROPE

EUA project calls for transparency in PhD programmes

Universities should be more transparent about what they offer through PhD programmes, to better allow students to compare doctoral studies across Europe, Thomas Jørgensen, author of the recently concluded Accountable Research Environments for Doctoral Education (ARDE) project told University World News in Brussels. If doctoral candidates understand what is available regarding career development resources, their research environ-ment, funding and mobility options, it should be easier to choose between PhD programmes across Europe, said Jør-gensen, who leads the European University Association (EUA) Council for Doctoral Education.

EU-Canada Cooperation The EU and Canada have identified the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic as major new areas for Research and Innovation cooperation in the coming years. The cooperation will cover: Transatlantic Maritime Research ranging from ocean observation to seabed mapping and aquaculture, as well as sustainable climate observations; Arctic Research coop-eration, where Canada and Europe have high research capacity and excellent infrastructures, and where joining forces will help to study the vastly unexplored Arctic in a more effective manner; Research Infrastructures, where a Symposium will take place in September 2013 in Italy, with the objective of identifying opportunities for collabora-tion in the development, management and use of Arctic and Marine research infrastructure. The decision was taken at the 11th Meeting of the EU-Canada Joint Science and Technology Coordination Committee (JSTCC), which took place in Brussels on 6 March 2013. The JSTCC meets regularly to review progress and provide new directions for co-operation under the EU-Canada "Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation" Source: www.ec.europa.eu

Education budgets under pressure in Member States

Investment in education fell in eight out of 25 Member States assessed as part of a European Commission study on the impact of the crisis on education budgets since 2010. Cuts of more than 5% were imposed in Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania and Portugal, while Estonia, Poland, Spain and the UK (Scotland) saw decreases of 1 to 5%. However, five Member States increased education spending by more than 1%: Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta and Sweden, as well as the German speaking area of Belgium. Germany and the Netherlands did not provide data for the period since 2010. Spending trends vary in other Member States, with some increasing their budgets one year then decreasing them the next, or vice-versa. Belgium (French speaking community), Cyprus, Latvia, Finland, France, Ireland, Slovenia and the UK (Wales), as well as future member Croatia, increased their education budget in 2010-2011, but reduced it in 2011-2012. It was the opposite case in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia, which cut education budgets in 2010-2011 but increased them in the subsequent period. The Flemish community of Belgium kept their budget stable in both years. To read the full article, go to: http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/20130321_en.htm

Source: www.ec.europa.eu

European Commission Call for proposals 2013 Call for proposals – EACEA/38/12 – Erasmus Mundus Deadline: 15 April 2013 Link: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/

Call for proposals – EACEA/44/12 – EU ICI-ECP Programme Deadline: 15 May 2013 Link : http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/

Call for proposals – FP7-ERAChairs-PilotCall-2013 Deadline: 30 May 2013 Link: http://ec.europa.eu/

10 3/2013

University spending rising faster than income

Spending by English universities rose faster than their income did in the year before £9,000 tuition fees were intro-duced, while institutions again increased their reliance on fees paid by overseas students.

Although the rises in spending at England’s universities are below or in line with inflation, they are under intense pressure from the government to reduce their costs. The issue could be a factor in current talks over the 2015-16 spending review, in which the Treasury is thought to be seeking a cut of around £1 billion from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills budget.

From the United Kingdom

U-Multirank: launch of the French project CERES

Genevieve Fioraso, French Minister for Higher Education and Research launched on the 19th %March 2013 the Project CERES ( Mapping of Higher Education and Research Institutions), in presence of Androulla Vassiliou, European Com-missioner for Education and Jean-Loup Salzamm (Conference of University Presidents – CPU) and Christian Lermini-aux (Conference of Directors of Engineering Institutions – CDEFI).

A steering committee will be created in April with representatives of the above mentioned conferences, the ministry, students and other stakeholders, to define the selected disciplines (there will be four to start the project), the criteria and the diffusion process of the future mapping. Another steering committee of users will be set up to offer them a real role in the process.

The French mapping project will come on top of the European ranking U-Multirank, closely linked to it, as data will be collected jointly.

According to Sophie Béjean from CPU, CERES will be more detailed than U-Multirank. Extra indicators on students’ academic success, professional outcomes, university fees, student life, and accessibility for disabled students could indeed be set up.

The objective is to offer in 15 months a pilot result with approximately 30 institutions before a nationwide implemen-tation. It is also a way to influence the final dispositions of U-Multirank, which will be launched in 2014.

The major question is whether universities and engineering school be come along. There might be some reluctance as this will represent an extra workload for Institutions. But U- Multirank and CERES data will be collected jointly, and most of the work will be performed based on already existing data.

It will represent a special occasion for universities to bring together their assets, characteristics and this not only in the field of research. This is a major stake ahead for students counseling and their success, but also for the external image of French Universities.

This article is a free translation of the original French article.

The complete article and a press review on the CERES project are available on: http://www.letudiant.fr/educpros/actualite/u-multirank-lancement-du-projet-de-cartographie-francais.html Source: www.letudiant.fr

From France

“With this project, we are not advocating harmonisation; we are advocating transparency,” he told University World News in Brussels. “You don’t need very sophisticated criteria or some kind of common template,” he added, noting that he believes this would be mystifying rather than transparent. “We know that from the rankings.” Jørgensen supports the retention of diversity among doctoral programmes across Europe, notably in allowing inno-vation in their governance. “Of course you need to have good research, good governance, you need to be profes-sionally managed, but this can be done in many different ways,” he explained. “You shouldn’t have one set of crite-ria.”

See also in our February edition of the SEFI Newsletter.

To read the full article, go to: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130315143352727 Source: www.universityworldnews.com

11 3/2013

FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD ASEAN, China must bridge HE and workforce skills gap

Countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China face serious disconnects between the knowledge and skills that their higher education systems provide graduates, and the skills needed for the countries’ future development. Education reforms and more international knowledge exchange and collaboration will be needed to bridge this gap and should be the first task for the ASEAN as it moves towards economic integration, according to speakers at the British Council’s Going Global 2013 conference held in Dubai from 4-6 March. The ASEAN – comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – will become an ‘economic community’ and regional common market by 2015, with important impli-cations for its workforce and skills development. To read the full article, got to: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130314162925768 Source: www.universityworldnews.com

Historic chance for higher education in Myanmar

The Institute of International Education’s delegation to Myanmar this month had an unusual start. Dr Catherine Ray-mond, a faculty member at Northern Illinois University who curates the Burmese art collection there, was a part of our group and had taken on the mission to give back to Myanmar a Buddha sculpture created more than 1,000 years ago. At a ceremony with the minister of culture, we learned that the return of the Buddha was not an easy thing.

From Myanmar

Expenditure by English universities rose by 2 per cent to £22.2 billion in 2011-12, outstripping the 1.5 per cent rise in their income to £23.3 billion, according to figures on finances published yesterday by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

To read the full article, go to: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/university-spending-rising-faster-than-income/2002414.article Source: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk

Internet pioneers win inaugural engineering prize

Five engineers who laid the foundations for the modern internet have won the inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist and University of Southampton professor who invented the World Wide Web, was one of the winners, along with Robert Kahn, Vinton Cerf and Louis Pouzin, who helped develop the fundamental architecture at the heart of the internet. Marc Andreessen, who created Mosaic, one of the first ever internet browsers, completed the quintet.

“The technical prowess of this group of engineers is equalled by their foresight and generosity in sharing their work freely and without restriction,” read a statement from the organisers of the prize. “This approach allowed the internet and the web to be adopted rapidly around the world and to grow organically thanks to open and universal stan-dards.” The five men will share a £1 million prize.

Lord Alec Broers, chair of the judging panel, said: “These five visionary engineers, never before honoured together as a group, led the key developments that shaped the internet and web as a coherent system and brought them into public use. “We had originally planned to award this prize to a team of up to three people. It became apparent during our deliberations that we would have to exceed this limit for such an exceptional group of engineers.”

The new prize, administrated by the Royal Academy of Engineering, was announced by Prime Minister David Cam-eron in November last year. He said he hoped the award would “carry same stature as the Nobel Prizes”. The winners will come to London in June for the formal presentation of the prize by Her Majesty The Queen.

Source: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk

12 3/2013

From the USA

International Scholarship Focused on Global Grand Challenges Announced

Eight universities in the United States announced today the establishment of Vest Scholarships at their institutions. The announcement was made at the inaugural Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS) in London. The new scholar-ship program, named after outgoing National Academy of Engineering (NAE) President Charles M. Vest, will foster international collaborations among graduate students whose studies are focused on tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. The scholarship has been endorsed by both the NAE and the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineer-ing.

The participating universities are all conducting leading research toward addressing the NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering™ (www.engineeringchallenges.org), 14 “game-changing” goals with the potential to dramatically im-prove life in the 21st century, identified by a blue-ribbon committee of leading technological thinkers and doers. The challenges are also the inspiration for the GGCS.

“The NAE Grand Challenges for Engineering address global issues that transcend national boundaries,” said Yannis C. Yortsos, dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. “They are timely, inspirational, and interdisciplinary. Their so-lutions are also within reach in this time of exponential technology gains. The Vest Scholarships will provide the glue that will enable the engagement of the international engineering and scientific communities in pursuits that will benefit all of humanity.” To read the full article, go to: http://www.nae.edu/70415.aspx Source: www.nae.edu

The university had wanted to give it back some 10 years ago, when it realised that the sculpture had been stolen from the pagoda at Pagan. But there were practically no relations between the US and Myanmar. UPS would not take charge of such a rare artifact, and there were no funds available to defray the cost of transport. But professors who love their field have a way of prevailing. Dr Raymond’s university has the only centre for Burma studies in the US, and it has been operating since the 1980s. She is one of a handful of scholars who studied Burma during all the difficult years and is now part of opening its edu-cational space. Sometimes, it seems, a career in international education involves as much diplomacy as it does re-search.

To read the full article, go to: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2013031414170092 Source: www.universityworldnews.com

AHELO-Report Volume 2 The second volume of the Report from the OECD’s Feasibility Study on the Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) is now available. This second volume focuses on Data Analysis and National Experiences. This follows a first volume on Design and Implementation which was published in December 2012. A third and final volume will be published at the end of April 2013 on further insights (including Conference proceedings). The Feasibility Study Conference (Measuring learning outcomes in Higher Education: Lessons learnt from the AHELO Feasibility Study and next steps) will take place at the OECD Conference Centre on 11-12 March. Information about the Conference can be found on the dedicated conference website: www.oecd.org/site/ahelo. If you would like to receive the log-in for the Webcast of the Conference, or if you have any other questions about AHELO please contact us: ahelo@oecd.org. The first volume of the AHELO-Report has been announced in the January edition of the SEFI newsletter.

The full report can be downloaded on: http://www.oecd.org/edu/skills-beyond-school/AHELOFSReportVolume2.pdf Source: www.ehea.info

PUBLICATIONS

13 3/2013

Compendium on Financing of Higher Education

This publication is the final report of ESU's project on Financing the Students' Future (FINST) that was launched in 2010. It serves as an introduction to any discussions on higher education for stu-dents, academics, policy makers and other stakeholders. The full report can be downloaded on: http://esu-online.org/resourcehandler/215ed8e5-2335-4540-b6f4-52ff467e9504/

World-class research on the rise in Brazil, Asia – Report

Emerging economies such as the BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India and China – and South Korea have been catching up with the West and Japan in research and development spending for some years, and their research ‘portfolios’ are showing significant areas of world-class excellence, ac-cording to a new report by Thomson Reuters. The report, Building Bricks: Exploring the global research and innovation impact of Brazil, Russia, In-dia, China and South Korea, notes that there is still some way to go before the research bases of these countries match the “highly diversified knowledge economies” of Japan and the West.

Nonetheless, write the authors Jonathan Adams, David Pendlebury and Bob Stembridge, “there is clear evidence of a growing wedge of excellent research”. In some areas this could even lead to “disruptive changes” in traditional R&D strengths of the Group of Seven (G7) most industrialised nations, which include top research nations such as the United States, Japan, Britain, France and Germany. The full report can be downloaded on: http://sciencewatch.com/sites/sw/files/sw-article/media/grr-brick.pdf Source: www.universityworldnews.com

The Making of Green Engineers - Sustainable Development and the Hybrid Imagination

This book discusses the ways in which engineering educators are responding to the challenges that confront their profession. On the one hand, there is an overarching sustainability challenge: the need for engineers to relate to the problems brought to light in the debates about environ-mental protection, resource depletion, and climate change. There are also a range of societal chal-lenges that are due to the permeation of science and technology into ever more areas of our so-cieties and everyday lives, and finally, there are the intrinsic scientific and technological challenges stemming from the emergence of new fields of “technosciences” that mix science and technol-ogy in new combinations. In the book, the author discusses and exemplifies three contending response strategies on the part of engineers and engineering educators: a commercial strategy that links scientists and engi-neers into networks or systems of innovation; an academic strategy that reasserts the traditional values of science and engineering; and an integrative strategy that aims to combine scientific knowledge and engineering skills with cultural understanding and social responsibility by fostering what the author terms a “hybrid imagination”. Professor Jamison combines scholarly analysis with personal reflections drawing on over forty years of experience as a humanist teaching science and engineering students about the broader social, political and cultural contexts of their fields. The book has been written as part of the Program of Research on Opportunities and Challenges in Engi-neering Education in Denmark (PROCEED), funded by the Danish Strategic Research Council, for which Professor Jamison has served as coordinator. Andrew Jamison (invited speaker at SEFI 2012 Annual Conference) has an undergraduate degree in history and sci-ence from Harvard University, and a doctoral degree in theory of science from the University of Göteborg in Sweden. He has been professor of Technology, Environment and Society at Aalborg University in Denmark since 1996, where he has taught in a wide range of science and engineering programs. This book is available on: www.morganclaypool.com/toc/eng/1/1

14 3/2013

APRIL 2013 2-4 Almaty, KZ First QUEECA TEMPUS Project Forum (link) SEFI will be represented by Prof. Dr. Varadi (U. Miskolc, AC member) 4-5 Cambridge, UK 5th International Materials Education Symposium (link), (organised by our Corporate Partners, GRANTA) 10-11 Brussels, BE 1st international conference on Internet Science (link) 11-12 Bolona, IT CLAIU Conference (link) 11-12 Ghent, BE EUA Annual Conference (link) SEFI will be represented by its Secretary General F. Côme 12-13 Portland, USA ABET Symposium (link) 14-16 New York, USA EDI 2013 Engineering Deans Institute (link) 17-18 Birmingham, UK HEA STEM Annual Teaching and Learning Conference 2013 (link) 18 Aalborg, DK 2013 General Assembly of the EEDC Council 9:30-12:30 (on invitation) 18-19 Aalborg, DK 5th European Convention of Engineering Deans (link) Organised by SEFI, AAU and CESAER 29 Brussels, BE 2013 General Assembly of ENAEE and ENAEE AC meeting. SEFI will be represented by its Secretary General F. Côme 30 Brussels, BE 5th International Symposium on University Rankings and Quality Assurance (link) SEFI should be represented by its Secretary General F. Côme

MAY 2013 13-15 Barcelona, ES 6th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education (link)

21 Brussels, BE EASPEA Conference and General Assembly (link) Sefi will be represented by its Secretary General F. Côme 27-29 Rourkela, Orissa, IN RTST 2013 - 6th National Workshop on Recent Trends in Software Testing (link) 29-31 Charmey, CH 45th EUCEN Conference (link) 31-31 Barcelona, ES First Arab-Euro University Conference on Higher Education (link)

JUNE 2013 3-5 Strasbourg, FR EAN 22nd Annual Conference (link) 4-5 Brussels, BE 5th University Business-Forum (link) 4-6 Moscow, RU ECDEAST Final Dissemination Conference (link) SEFI will be represented at this event with plenary/workshop pre-sentations (see page 2) 6-7 Vienna, AT 14th International REM (link) 9-13 Cambridge, Massachusets, US International CDIO Conference on Engineering Leadership in Innovation and Design (link) 12-15 Oslo, NO EDEN Annual Conference (link) 17-20 Montréal, CA CEEA 4th Annual Conference (link) 18-19 Warsaw, PL 6th EUA-CDE Annual Meeting (link) 23-26 Atlanta, US ASEE Annual Conference 2013 (link) and the 5th ABET Organized Sessions (starting on the 24st ) Events in conjunction on the 22nd : ASEE 10th Annual K-12 Workshop on Engineering Education (link), ASEE Internatio- nal Forum (link), ABET Program Assessment Workshop (link) 27 Budapest, HU CAETS/HAE Symposium 2013 (link)

CALENDAR

The International Higher Engineering Education Events calendar

This calendar created by SEFI with the participation of IFEES is built on a Google calendar fra-me. It provides useful details and links, and allows direct integration in your calendar. The calendar is available directly through SEFI homepage or www.sefi.be/?page_id=3307.

Please find the complete list of our upcoming events on www.sefi.be.

We hope that you enjoyed this issue of News@SEFI.

Please send contributions for the next issue to info@sefi.be before 22 April

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The SEFI newsletter contains information about SEFI’s recent activities as well as a summary of the latest stories in higher engineering education in Europe and worldwide. News@sefi is sent for free to SEFI members. All previous issues are available on www.sefi.be “members only”. All staff and students of an institution, an association or a company member of SEFI are enti-tled to receive free copies of the newsletter. So, in case you know somebody that is inter-ested in a free copy, feel free to contact us.

SEFI aisbl 119, rue de Stassart, B-1050 Brussels Tel: +32 2 502 36 09 Fax: +32 2 502 96 11 info@sefi.be www.sefi.be Editor: SEFI aisbl

SEFI is the largest network of higher engineering education institutions (HEIs) and educators in Europe.

It is an international non-profit organisation created in 1973 to contribute to the development and improvement of HEE in Europe, to reinforce the posi-tion of the engineering professionals in society, to promote information about HEE and improve communication between teachers, researchers and students, to reinforce the university-business cooperation and to encourage the European dimension in higher engineering education.

Through its membership composed of HEIs, academic staff, students, related associations and companies, SEFI connects over 1 million students and 158000 academic staff members in 47 countries.

To reach its goals, SEFI implements diverse activities such as Annual Confe-rences, Ad hoc seminars/workshops organised by its thematic working groups and committees, SEFI organises the European Engineering Deans Conventions, publishes a series of Scientific publications (European Journal of Engineering Education) and Position Papers, is involved in European pro-jects, cooperates with other major European and international associations and international bodies (European Commission, UNESCO, Council of Europe, OECD).

SEFI also participated in the creation of ENAEE, IFEES, EuroPace, IACEE and more recently of the Institute for the development of Engineering Acade-mics, IIDEA, and of the European Engineering Deans Council, EEDC.