Ninth Level Ireland

“Sir, – I would like to echo and to supplement what Prof Ronald J Hill says, in his letter of October 13th, about the European Humanities University (EHU) in exile from Belarus, now with a fine campus in Vilnius. The government of Lithuania is to be congratulated on offering such practical and substantive support to EHU, at the expense of straining bilateral relations with its eastern neighbour …” (more)

[Dónal Denham, Irish Times, 16 October]

“Sir, – Patrick Smyth (‘Commission lacks teeth in its promotion of rule of law’, Opinion & Analysis, October 10th) reports the rector of the Central European University (CEU), Michael Ignatieff, as asserting that his institution is the only university since the 1930s to have been expelled from one country (Hungary) to another (Austria). This is not the case …” (more)

[Ronald J Hill, Irish Times, 13 October]

“Since its establishment in 2007, the European Research Council (ERC) has developed a reputation for excellence. Its grantees have won seven Nobel Prizes, four Fields Medals and five Wolf Prizes, along with the 6,100 publications produced by its grantees being among the top one per cent most cited in their respective fields …” (more)

[Jane Cook, University Times, 8 October]

“The European Commission has set out its vision for achieving a European Education Area (EEA), its flagship initiative, by 2025. Improving quality and inclusiveness along with a greater focus on digital and green dimensions in European member state education systems are central to the proposals, which are being designed to ‘enable learners to move easily between education systems in different countries and help create a culture of lifelong learning’ …” (more)

[Nic Mitchell, University World News, 2 October]

“Universities should be at the heart of building a ‘more resilient and healthier’ Europe, higher education leaders were told by the European commissioner responsible for education and research. Speaking at an open online session of the 2020 Funding Forum hosted by the European University Association (EUA) on 22 September, Mariya Gabriel said it was time to admit that the coronavirus pandemic had changed the way we teach, learn and do research forever …” (more)

[Nic Mitchell, University World News, 25 September]

“The AIT and LIT consortium has been successful in its application to join a new, forward-thinking education alliance intended to increase collaboration between Europe’s universities …” (more)

[Athlone Advertiser, 23 July]

“The EU and UK have been discussing UK participation in Union Programmes, including Horizon Europe, as part of the negotiations on a future EU-UK relationship. It is encouraging that both sides have committed to the principle of UK participation in their mandates, recognising that collaboration between the UK and the EU in the framework programmes strengthens our ability to tackle shared challenges, such as cancer and climate change …” (more)

[IUA, 22 July]

“Today, the League of European Research Universities (LERU) have called for an ‘ambitious’ long-term EU budget for research, innovation and education. LERU stated that Europe’s universities are ‘disappointed and concerned’ by what they describe as the ‘limited’ budget proposed for the EU’s flagship higher education and research programmes Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ …” (more)

[Shannon Connolly, Trinity News, 14 July]

“TU Dublin is one of eight universities chosen as part of an EU project that could lead to a European-wide model for third-level education. An alliance including TU Dublin has been chosen as one of the 24 winners of the second call for proposals in an EU initiative to create European universities of the future …” (more)

[Colm Gorey, Silicon Republic, 9 July]

“Free university education for EU students studying in Scotland will be scrapped after Brexit. Holyrood’s higher education minister Richard Lochhead said the Government will end free education for EU citizens starting their studies next year, with the money saved going towards encouraging more Scottish students into university …” (more)

[Tom Eden, Belfast Telegraph, 9 July]

“If Boris Johnson is serious about creating ‘a global, trail-blazing Britain’ post-Brexit, he needs to make his mind up about UK participation in the Erasmus+ scheme. As it stands, the UK Government is perched precariously on the fence over remaining in the EU’s student exchange programme as the transition to Brexit looms …” (more)

[Douglas Chapman, The Scotsman, 3 July]

“United Kingdom universities could suffer a 25% drop in international students as a result of the government decision to end home student status for them in England, according to a new survey …” (more)

[Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 1 July]

“On 24 June, universities minister Michelle Donelan announced that, as a consequence of Brexit, EU and EEA students would be classified as overseas students starting from the 2021/22 academic year. They will be charged full tuition (up to £20,000 in some cases), lose access to the tuition fee loan, and no longer be eligible for many needs-based funds …” (more)

[Gábor Csontos, Guardian, 4 July]

“The United Kingdom government has confirmed that European Union (EU), other European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals commencing academic courses in England from August 2021 will no longer be charged the same tuition rates as domestic students …” (more)

[Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 26 June]

The full (draft) Programme is here; extracts related to third level are here.

“Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an analysis conducted by the European Commission of the options outlined in the Cassells report; if it will be completed in Q2 2020 as previously stated; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 20 May]

“More than 2,000 students in Ireland who are seeking college places in the UK and Europe do not know if they will be able to take up their places this year due to the decision to delay the Leaving Cert. Many students have reported receiving correspondence from UK universities stating that they require their Leaving Cert results by August 31st …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 6 May]

“The EU’s top scientist has resigned and criticised the bloc’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Professor Mauro Ferrari, president of the European Research Council, said he was ‘extremely disappointed by the European response to Covid-19’ …” (more)

[Jon Stone, Independent, 8 April]

“Trinity’s TSM (Two Subject Moderatorship) office appeared to cast doubt over the possibility of foreign exchange programmes going ahead next year due to the coronavirus pandemic in an email circulated to all TSM Erasmus and Non-EU Exchange candidates in their Senior Fresh year …” (more)

[Madalyn Williams, Trinity News, 3 April]

“Four Irish researchers are to benefit from a total of €10 million in grants to study the ancient genetic make-up of farm animals, complete a data analysis of 36,000 Victorian-era books, examine the impact of extreme trauma and investigate novel substances that could reduce energy and carbon footprints. The European Research Council (ERC), an EU institution, has allocated €2.5 million to each of the projects under its ‘advanced grant’ programme, which seeks to facilitate exploration of the most daring and creative ideas …” (more)

[Kevin O’Sullivan, Irish Times, 31 March]