Issue 11 / 2012

news@SEFI

IN THIS ISSUE

FROM SEFI

FROM the EUROPEAN UNION

Calendar 12

From EUA 7 From IFEES 7

How is education structured across Europe? 8 EU to offer every young person employment or training 8

FROM EUROPE

From Brazil Boom times and golden goals 10

FROM the REST of WORLD

From the UK Report highlights huge growth in overseas student numbers 9

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 40th ANNIVERSARY OF SEFI

Edito rial 4 SEFI at the IGIP Conference 5

FROM MEMBERS

FROM PARTNERS

University of Minho 6 Université Catholique de Louvain 7

SEFI 2013 Conference First Call for Papers 2 SEFI PhD Thesis Competition 2013 3

2 December 2012

SEFI Annual Conference: First Call for abstracts

From the birth of the European Society for Engineering Education – SEFI – in 1973 until now, higher education in general

and engineering education in particular have developed in a revolutionary way. During the SEFI 2013 Annual Confer-

ence European leaders and innovators in Engineering Education will look back in order to turn the strengths and

weaknesses of the last 40 years of engineering education into opportunities.

We celebrate a lifetime of SEFI working on a bright future.

Delegates from all over Europe and from the World, academic and corporate representatives as well as students

will join the SEFI Annual Conference on Engineering Education from September 16th till September 20th 2013, in

the beautiful city of Leuven, Belgium. KU Leuven, the conference host and the venue of SEFI’s first European

conference, is Belgium’s largest university founded in 1425.

Various topics relating to engineering education will be covered including attractiveness to youngsters, different

types of engineering schools, integration of research, specific education and learning concepts, students as key

actors in change process, curriculum development, the role of mathematics, physics and biology, language issues,

entrepreneurship, internationalisation, internships, interaction with industry, inclusive design, ecodesign, sus-

tainability, ethics, lifelong learning and continuing education, adapted education tools, information and commu-

nication technologies, quality assurance and accreditation, diversity and gender issues, employability, ...

Full information and abstract submission is now available on the website www.sefi2013.com.

Deadline for submission of abstracts: March 15, 2013

Deadline for submission of papers: May 15, 2013

Early registration deadline: June 30, 2013

Happy 40th anniversary SEFI

3 December 2012

SEFI 40th ANNIVERSARY

SEFI PhD Thesis Competition 2013 Scope The European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) launches a competition for thesis at PhD level. The aim of the competition is to stimulate and reward initiatives that lead to improvements in Engineering Education. In order to be accepted, the subject of the thesis must be capable of being classified under the topic: ‘Engineering Education’. The thesis must have been officially accepted or approved by the applicant’s teaching establish-ment ,member of SEFI, during the 2010/2011, 2011/2012 or 2012/2013 academic years. Entry deadline: 15 April 2013 The winners will receive their prizes at the Awards celebration of the SEFI Annual Conference to be held in Leuven, Belgium on 19 September 2013. Each winner will receive a cheque 500 euro. Winners will have the opportunity to pub-lish their work in the “European Journal of Engineering Education”. Winners will also be entitled to free registration to the SEFI 2013 Conference in Leuven. Submitting procedure Send the following documents (as pdf files) to Françoise Côme, Secretary General of SEFI, at: francoise.come@sefi.be

A copy of the thesis in its original language A letter of agreement from the supervisor of the thesis A copy of the Diploma awarded by the applicant’s teaching establishment An extended abstract of the thesis, in English (up to a maximum of 2000 words).

This abstract includes: Title, affiliation, supervisor, category (Master or PhD) Introduction including objectives and a brief state-of-the-art Results and discussion Conclusions Relevant diagrams, illustrations, etc References

Judging criteria

Objectives and state of the art (25% of total marks): the entry should explain the thesis objective, the current state -of-the-art and how the research improves on it. Practical interest (25%): the submission should demonstrate the significance of the research for the improve ment of Engineering Education, both from theoretical/conceptual as well as from practical/applied point of view. Scientific interest (25%): the submission should demonstrate the contribution to scientific understanding of the subject area. Presentation (25%): a proportion of marks will be given for the abstract and the balance of marks will be given in the evaluation of the short listed full thesis.

Judging Panel SEFI will appoint a panel of 3 academics to assess each submission. General The judges reserve the right to cancel the award if theses of insufficient standard are submitted.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT PLEASE CIRCULATE

4 December 2012

FROM SEFI

Editorial

The year 2012 is ending on a very sad note for us, as we lost two weeks ago our long time friend and dedicated colleague, Prof. Francesco Maffioli. We will not forget him and the enthusiasm and dedication he had demonstrated to our So-ciety over the last 35 years will for sure be communicative and will encourage us all to continue our mission to develop and improve European engineering edu-cation. A lot of new actions are on our agenda for the coming months, notably in the context of the celebration of our 40th anniversary, and several have been in-spired by Francesco. I already encourage you to book the week of 16-20 September 2013 for a travel to Leuven (near Brussels), where SEFI will hold its 41st Annual Conference on the theme of “Engineering Education Fast Forward: 1973-2013 >>”. Several events and conferences will be organised in conjunction with our event (organised by the KU Leuven), such as the First 4Ing1/EEDC2/SEFI Workshop on “Various PH Formats in EE in Europe”, the 2n ENAEE3 Conference, or a MATH-WORKS’ workshop. But we will get back in details on these events in our future issue. For now, let me mention some of our 2012 achievements and activities: further to the different successful events organised by our Working groups and Com-mittees, SEFI organised last March the 4th European Convention for Engineering Deans together with CESAER4 and the University of Birmingham (Faculty of Civil Engineering). It has been a very interesting event and taking into consideration the positive feedbacks received from the participants, it has been decided to organise next April (18-19) another Deans’ Convention, this time at the Univer-sity of Aalborg. The full programme and invitations will be circulated to Euro-pean Engineering Deans later in January. The 2012 SEFI Annual Conference, organised by the Aristotle University of Thes-saloniki (Prof. Avdelas) was also one of the remarkable activities of the year. In spite of the difficult economical context, our Greek colleagues succeeded to organise a fantastic conference: 340 delegates and students from 32 countries participated in the conference that welcomed numerous papers as well as a se-ries of high level international key note presentations (a full report was circu-lated on in our former issues), as well as invited workshops. The SEFI Leonardo da Vinci Medal was given this year to Prof. Joseph Sifakis (GR) from the INPG/CNRS5 and Awardee of the Turing Prize 2007.

Obituary Prof. Maffioli passed away

on 7th December We are very sad to let you know that Prof. Francesco Maffioli from Politecni-co di Milano, has passed away on De-cember 7th in Milan, after a sudden and terrible illness. Our distinguished colleague and closest friend, Frances-co, has served as President of SEFI (1996-99), and was serving as Treasu-rer of SEFI. He has acted as coordina-tor of many European projects in EE education and has served as a mem-ber of numerous Boards and Executi-ve Committees. With no doubts, Fran-cesco has been one of the leading and most inspiring personalities in SEFI, in Italy and in Europe in Engineering Education, and this for more than 35 years. His committment, devotion, strategic vision, enthusiasm, open mindness, humanism, will remain un-forgettable for his friends and collea-gues. Our thoughts go to his wife Chiara and the children. Francesco’s life will remain an exam-ple which we shall honour for ever.

2012 was also the year of the official creation by SEFI and ISEL of the European Engineering Deans Council (EEDC), an ex-ample of a concrete outcome of the EUGENE EU Academic project (that ended on 30/9/2012) successfully managed by our friends from the University of Florence. EEDC is now a legal organisation run from and by the SEFI HQ in Brussels. The links between SEFI and ENAEE were also strengthened during the year as I had the honor to be elected as member of the ENAEE Board in March and ENAEE Vice-president last September. The Quality Assurance and Accreditation of EE was the subject of a SEFI Position Paper prepared by our QAA Working Group. SEFI was have also very active at the level of the EU projects in which we were - or are still - partners, such as Techno TN/STECET (with the organisation of the 2012 Forum in Antwerp last May), EU-Drivers6 (with the writing of the EU Drivers conference report held in Brussels in December 2011 and the or-ganisation of the EU Drivers workshop in Leuven April). SEFI is also strongly engaged in the ECDEAST7 Tempus project and participated in conferences, evaluation visits and meetings in St Petersburg, Moscow, Tomsk, Sibiu… On the global scale, the cooperation with IFEES8 and IIDEA9 has been reinforced - SEFI HQ being notably in charge of their web sites - and we participated in their respective events organised in Buenos Aires, Tsinghua, Thessaloniki … Memoranda of understanding were signed with LACCEI10 and ASEE11, and we also attended the annual conferences of these two sister organizations. The cooperation with the students, and in particular with BEST12, is permanently on our agenda and this year again specific actions can be mentioned: the preparation with BEST of the a position paper on the Bologna Process that has been com-

5 December 2012

SEFI at the IGIP Conference in Wuppertal: ‘Perspectives of Engineering Education’ Modern pedagogical concepts and innovative learning technologies.

On the 15-17 November 2012 in Wuppertal was held an IGIP Seminar on Perspectives of Engineering Education’ Modern pedagogical concepts and innovative learning technologies. Pieter de Vries Chair of the SEFI WG Educational Technologies represented SEFI during this event and offered a Keynote entitled : ‘Imagine the Role of Technology in the Future of Engineering Education’. “ Thinking about Engineering Educa-tion should relate to the dynamics of education in the 21st Century and these are very different from those witnessed in previous years. It seems that the factory model of educational provision is no longer relevant, and no longer desirable. Educational technology is key in this development and evokes changes we have never seen before.” The full presentation is available on www.sefi.be

municated to the European Education ministers who met in Bucharest last April, the SEFI Student Awards given this year in Thessaloniki (as an outcome of 2011 SEFI Student Year), the participation in several BEST events in Zagreb, Vienna and Timisoara… The SEFI 2020 Strategy is still ongoing under the coordination of our President, Prof. Van Petegem. The SEFI Values were also adopted on the occasion of the SEFI 2012 General Assembly that also saw the election of Prof. Hawwash, University of Birmingham (UK), as SEFI President-Elect. SEFI participated with keynote presentations to too many conferences to be listed here but details will be given in our 2012 Annual Report that is presently under preparation. For the moment, and to actively close the year, let me inform you that we are busy with the preparation of several EU projects applications to be submitted to the European Commission before the end of January. Our 2013 calendar of in-ternational engineering education events is also in preparation and you should receive your copy by the end of January. To conclude, we herewith would like to thank our members for their permanent support to SEFI’s activities, for the inter-esting comments and suggestions they communicated to us at the time of our membership survey (last February), and our partners and colleagues for their good cooperation. All together we combined our efforts to achieve something for the benefit of engineering education. Needless to say that a lot remains to be done! But it is with passion and conviction that we will pursue actions. On behalf of our Society, let me wish you all a Peaceful and Merry Christmas,

Françoise Côme

1 4ING: German Association of Universities in Engineering and Informatics 2 EEDC: European Engineering Deans Council 3 ENAEE: European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education 4 Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research 5 INPG: Institut National Politechnique de Grenoble / CNRS : Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 6 EU-Drivers: European Drivers for a Regional Innovation Platform - LLP Project 7 ECDEAST: Engineering Curricula Design aligned with EQF and EUR-ACE Standards - Tempus Project 8 IFEES: International Federation of Engineering Education Societies 9 IIDEA: International Institute for Developing Engineering Academics 10 LACCEI: Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions 11 ASEE: American Society for Engineering Education 12 BEST: Board of European Students in Technology

SEFI CALENDAR 2013

We invite you to contribute to the SEFI 2013 Calendar International Engineering Education Events 2013

Please send your upcoming event before the 10/01/2013 to info@sefi.be

6 December 2012

FROM MEMBERS

The Fifth International Symposium on Project Approaches in Engineering Education PAEE 2013 will take place in the Netherlands and is hosted by the Eindhoven University of Technology. Participants are welcome to submit abstracts until 31 January 2013. The main language of the Symposium is English. Contributions in Spanish and Portuguese are also welcome. This year´s theme is

The Department of Production and Systems of the University of Minho, the Research Centre for Education of the Univer-sity of Minho, the Iberoamerican Association of Engineering Education Institutions (ASIBEI) and the Curriculum Develop-ment Working Group of SEFI – the European Society for Engineering Education – aim to join teachers, researchers on Engineering Education, deans of Engineering Schools and professionals concerned with Engineering Education, to en-hance active learning approaches in Engineering Education through workshops and discussion of current practice and research.

The organising committee is very happy to have the following keynotes:

Peter Willmot, Loughborough University, UK 2012 Fellow of Higher Education Academy Tom Ridgman University of Cambridge, UK Director of External Education at the Institute for Manufacturing

The symposium programme is also characterized by a number of workshop on different themes related to PBL and in-dustry projects as well as an industry panel, discussing ins and outs of university-industry cooperation. We hope to wel-come you in Eindhoven. For more information: http://paee.dps.uminho.pt and paee@dps.uminho.pt

The Fifth European Convention of Engineering Deans, 18-19 April 2013, Aalborg, DK Organised by SEFI, CESAER and the Aalborg University, the conference theme "Engineering for a sustainable Europe" will be developed into three reflexion topics: Enhancing engineering employability, Positioning engineering research, and Driving institutional change. The Convention itself will be articulated on high profile invited presentations, roundta-bles and discussion groups. Invited speakers will be: Professor Dr. Marco Gilli, Rector of Politecnico di Torino , Professor Dr. Karel Luyben Rector Ma-gnificus TU Delft, HR representative of EADS (tbc), HR representative of VW (tbc), CDIO representatives (tbc), representa-tives from DG Enterprise and EAC as well as representatives from Asia and the USA. To attend the event or for further information please contact Marianne Nyborg (mariannen@plan.aau.dk).

Official invitations and programme will be circulated in January. Please do not hesitate to circulate the information to your dean and colleagues!

The General Assembly of the European Engineering Deans Council –EEDC– will be held just prior to this event. More information on www.eedcouncil.eu

7 December 2012

FROM PARTNERS

Registration is now open for EUA’s Annual Conference 2013 that will take place at Ghent University from 11 to 12 April 2013. The theme of the conference is ‘European Universities – Global Engagement’. The need to operate in a competitive international environment is no longer a concern for only a small number of elite universities. Rather, it has become a reality for the broad spectrum of European institutions, which affects all elements of the university mission. The EUA Annual Conference will provide a forum for participants to identify the institutional poli-cies required to meet the challenges and reap the full benefits of further internationalisation. In plenary and working group sessions, speakers from Europe and further afield will explore different drivers of the glo-balisation of higher education and the design and implementation of institutional internationalisation strategies. The conference will also address the profound changes taking place in the structure and form of national higher education systems and the extent to which these changes stem from pressure to make systems more efficient and internationally competitive. There will also be the opportunity for further discussion of global rankings and their impact, with EUA’s second Ran-kings Review due to be published and presented at the event. The EUA Annual Conference will bring together university leaders, researchers, students, policy makers and partner sta-keholders. EUA members are also encouraged to attend the EUA General Assembly prior to the main conference. This will include the election of three new members to the EUA Board. To register or for more information, please visit the conference website.

Source: www.eua.be

EUA’s Annual Conference and General Assembly 2013

As part of a study on how to foster success in Bachelor De-grees, the French magazine, l’Etudiant, takes a deep look into the functionning of the Université Catholique de Lou-vain (UCL) in Belgium and especially how education and pedagogical innovation are highlighted. In the UCL, each teacher has to prove his pedagogical skills before any promotion, making education achievements as important as research. Active since 2000, this initiative is based on what is done also in McGill and Dalhousie Uni-versity(Canada) or at the University of Lausanne. Teachers asking for a position or a promotion have to pre-sent a documented report on every step they are taking to improve their teaching, that will in the end be reviewed by

a committee of peers. Teachers have been pushed to re-flect on their practices and exchange among colleagues. The University has also set up a Pedagogical development fund of € 530 000 per year to help innovative educational projects within its walls. Among the awarded projects in 2012, an online tool to teach paediatrics or the use of vid-eos in physics courses. This article is a free translated summary of the original to be found on : www.letudiant.fr/educpros/ Source: www.letudiant.fr

Université Catholique de Louvain : Highlight on Pedagogical Innovation

2013 IFEES SUMMIT The 2013 IFEES SUMMIT shall be held in Cartagena (CO) in the context on the WEEF 2013 on 24-27 September 2013. As Member of IFEES, SEFI has offered its support to the Colombian As-sociation of Engineering Schools - ACOFI - to organise this event that will bring together Engineering Education Stakeholders from accross the Globe. More information on the event website: orion.javeriana.edu.co/weef/ Or visit www.ifees.net

8 December 2012

FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION How is education structured across Europe?

How old are children when they enter primary education in Finland? How long does secondary education last in Ger-many? And what is the duration of higher education in Belgium? The schematic diagrams on 'the structure of the European education systems 2012/13' give a quick answer to these questions. They show the structure of main-stream schooling in 39 education systems, from pre-primary level up to tertiary education. The diagrams cover the different education levels, the various age-groups at which pupils officially start schooling and the duration of studies at each level. Names of institutions and study programmes are listed in the national language of each country. The education systems of the 34 countries in the Eurydice Network (EU Member States, EFTA countries, Croatia, Serbia and Turkey) are included.

More information

The structure of the European education systems 2012/13: schematic diagrams

If you want more detailed information: Eurypedia is a unique website presenting the most comprehensive and accu-

rate picture of education systems and reforms in Europe.

Source: www.europa.eu

EU to offer every young person employment or training within four months of leaving school

The European Commission has launched their latest Youth Employment Package requesting a guarantee from all Member States that every young person receives a quality offer of employment or training within four months of lea-ving school, or of being unemployed. The proposal will make full use of EU funding and in particular the European Social Fund (ESF), which was set up to reduce the differences in prosperity and living standards across EU Member States and regions. The new Youth Employment Package is part of the initiative Rethinking Education - designed to reduce the youth unemployment rate. Research has shown that the figure is close to 23 % across the European Union, yet more than 2 million vacancies remain unfilled. To change this, Member States are being urged to take immediate action to ensure that young people develop the skills and competences needed by the labour market, and to achieve their targets for growth and jobs. The need for a more dynamic approach to education comes after statistics showed that 73 million Europeans (around 25 % of adults) have a low level of education. Nearly 20 % of 15 year olds lack sufficient literacy skills, and in 5 coun-tries more than 25 % are low achievers in reading (Bulgaria 41 %, Romania 40 %, Malta 36 %, Austria 27.5 %, and Luxembourg 26 %). Early school leaving remains at unacceptably high levels in several Member States: in Spain it is 26.5 % and in Portugal 23.2 % (the EU target is under 10 %). At the same time, less than 9 % of adults participate in lifelong learning (the EU target is 15 %). Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, believes these statistics hig-hlight a serious weakness in our education and training systems. She says, 'Matters have been made worse as the economic downturn has led many Member States to cut funding for education and training.' She goes on to say, 'Europe will only resume sustained growth by producing highly skilled and versatile people who can contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. Efficient and well-targeted investment is fundamental to this, but we will not achieve our objectives by reducing education budgets.' The focus now is on education and ensuring it is more relevant to the needs of students and the labour market, while assessment methods will be adapted and modernised. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and open educational resources (OERs) are also to be scaled up in all learning contexts. But teachers also need to ha-ve regular training in order to update their own skills. The strategy further calls on Member States to strengthen links between education and employers, to bring enterprise into the classroom and to give young people a taste of em-ployment through increased work-based learning. EU education ministers are also encouraged to step up their coo-peration on work-based learning activities at a national and European level.

9 December 2012

Rethinking Education conducted a Commission survey this year titled 'Education and Training Monitor', which outli-ned the skill supply in the Member States. What was derived from the survey was the need for a much stronger focus on developing transversal skills and basic skills at all levels. Key areas were especially a[0]pplicable to entrepreneurial and information technology (IT) skills. Improving foreign language learning has also been highlighted with a new benchmark set for 2020 for at least 50 % of 15 year olds to have knowledge of a first foreign language (up from 42 % today) and at least 75 % to study a se-cond foreign language (up from 61 % today). Investment in these skills is deemed vital as is the need to build world-class vocational education and training systems and for increasing levels of work-based learning. The goal for Member States is to improve the recognition of qualifications and skills, including those gained outside of the formal education and training systems. Technology, and in particular the Internet, will need to be fully exploi-ted, and schools, universities, and vocational and training institutions must now increase access to education via OERs.

For more information, please visit: Rethinking Education - Education and Training Monitor 2012 Report http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/rethinking/sw373_en.pdf EU Youth Strategy http://ec.europa.eu/youth/news/latest-youth-unemployment-figures_en.htm Source: cordis.europa.eu

Report highlights huge growth in overseas student numbers

International students make up 12 per cent of the total student population at UK universities, a sharp rise from 8 per cent eight years earlier. That is one of the findings in a Universities UK report, Patterns and trends in UK higher educa-tion, published on December 14th.

Paul O'Prey, vice-chancellor of Roehampton University and chair of UUK's Longer Term Strategy Network, says in his foreword to the report: "Since 2001 the number of students gaining a first degree has risen by 17 per cent, while the number achieving a postgraduate qualification has risen by 27 per cent. "Much of this growth can be attributed to the sector's ability to attract students from around the world to study in the UK." And he adds: "If current trends conti-nue, universities are on track to generate £17 billion of annual export earnings by 2025. Achieving this growth poten-tial will require the university sector and the government to work together to ensure that recruitment activities and migration policies are mutually supportive."

The report notes that: "In 2002-03 non-EU students made up just 8 per cent of the total student population; by 2010-11 this had risen to around 12 per cent." It adds that the most significant growth has been in international students taking master's courses, with the number more than doubling since 2002-03. In terms of countries sending students to the UK, the report says: "The most noticeable increases are from Asia and the Middle East, which together have experienced more than an 80 per cent rise in the number of students that they send to the UK [since 2002-03]."

Among other statistics, the report finds that at first degree level, 55 per cent of students at UK universities are female. "At postgraduate research level, however, the proportion of women is around 47 per cent," it adds. On subject choice, the report says: "Enrolments on engineering courses at the beginning of the 2000s were relatively static but by 2006-07 an upturn was evident and there has been a subsequent increase of around 23 per cent. Mathematical sciences and biological sciences have seen the largest percentage increases since 2002-03."

Source: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk

FROM EUROPE From the UK

10 December 2012

From Brazil FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD

All eyes are on Brazil's academy and its rising research output, generous funding and willingness to team up internationally in a bid to become a major player. (…) With higher education budgets in Europe and the US being cut, it is perhaps not surprising that politicians and vice-chancellors across the world are interested in the Latin American giant and its growing spending power. According to one report, The State of Science 2011, pro-duced by the Network of Ibero-American and Inter-American Science and Technology Indicators (RICYT), Brazil invested $24.9 billion (£15.6 billion) in research and development in 2010. Although cuts to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation budget last year may dent this figure slightly, it will still be from a base three times bigger than in 2002. Adjusting for the pur-chasing power of each currency, Brazil now spends more on R&D than Canada or Italy. The boom in spending has seen a commensurate rise in scientific output. The number of papers by Brazilian au-thors in the Thomson Reuters Science Citation Index dou-bled between 1997 and 2007, making the country the 13th-largest producer of science in the world. Approximately three-quarters of researchers in the coun-try work in academia, and a trip to some of Brazil's top institutions reveals ample proof of the fruits of this in-vestment. The University of São Paulo is the top-ranked Latin Ameri-can institution in the 2012-13 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, at 158, and it is the oldest uni-versity in Brazil. Its leafy campus in the city is so huge that staff move between buildings in cars, while its students - some of whom would not look out of place in London's trendy Hoxton neighbourhood - are known for keeping fit by criss-crossing the site on foot. Boasting four univer-sity hospitals and four on-site museums, the institution manages to achieve cultural dominance in a city of 11 million people, and it is set to expand even further. Some 11,500 students graduate from the University of São Paulo each year and, like other public higher education institutions in Brazil, it charges no tuition fees. The university owes much of its might to its enormous budget. Most public universities in Brazil (typically the country's oldest and most research-focused institutions) are managed by the federal government, but the Univer-sity of São Paulo receives its funding directly from the state of São Paulo, the wealthiest region in Brazil. It is not the only institution to benefit from this arrangement: in a set-up enshrined in the state's constitution, three of its universities receive a guaranteed 10 per cent of the state's tax revenues each year between them. Up to 90 per cent of the funding distributed by the São Paulo Re-search Foundation, FAPESP, also typically goes to aca-demics and students at these institutions via grants and scholarships. The foundation itself receives another 1 per cent of state tax revenues to spend on research, innova-

tion and education - the equivalent of about £350 million a year. (…) Fernando Ferreira Costa, Unicamp's rector, is keen to show that his institution competes among the world's best. He says that the proportion of papers published by his staff in prestigious ISI-indexed journals has grown to 70 per cent, and courses held every two months on writ-ing scientific English, essential for publication in such journals, draw as many as 600 attendees. A programme of internal performance evaluation at Unicamp means that every member of faculty - whether junior researcher or full professor - is peer-evaluated once every three years, and academics must explain unacceptable per-formance, such as a lack of publications. Running a tight ship has also helped the state of São Paulo's funding agency, FAPESP, achieve an international reputation as a reliable partner for collaboration. It has agreements with research councils in the Netherlands, France, the US, Canada, Germany and the UK as well as bilateral exchange agreements with universities around the world. (…) Collaborating research councils in other countries are often surprised to learn that there are few limits on the projects the agency can fund, thanks to its endowment and funding levels. Success rates for grant applications presently sit at about 50 to 60 per cent; this compares with an average success rate of 30 per cent in the UK. (…) São Paulo is undoubtedly in a better position than most other states in Brazil, where, the situation is not so rosy. The state of São Paulo is home to 21 per cent of the coun-try's population but accounts for more than 50 per cent of investment in science and technology. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation's UNESCO Science Report 2010, 60 per cent of all scientific articles originate from just seven universi-ties in the country. Four are in the state of São Paulo. Only five of the country's 26 states - São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Sul - have active and significant research bases. (…) Internationalisation remains one of the greatest chal-lenges faced by Brazilian universities. In the 1970s and 1980s, federal institutions relied on sending students abroad for postgraduate studies, but Brazil's federal uni-versities now run postgraduate courses themselves, clos-ing off one well-worn route to the rest of the world. The government has recently introduced Science without Borders, a scheme to fund 101,000 undergraduate and PhD students to spend time abroad as part of their stud-ies. Originally dedicated to science and engineering, the scheme is now expanding. It also includes an inward ele-ment aimed at bringing foreign postdoctoral researchers and visiting academics to the country. (…) In 2000, 2.8 million young people entered higher educa-tion; according to Unesco statistics, the number soared

Boom times and golden goals

11 December 2012

to 6.6 million in 2010, representing a rise of 136 per cent (see related file, right). But with competition for places as high as 20 to one at some public institutions, only 25 per cent of all students win a place in the tuition-fee-free sys-tem. The other 75 per cent end up at one of Brazil's 2,000 or so private colleges and universities. Studying at most of these institutions costs much less (about one-quarter of the price) than at the private but non-profit Catholic universities and other specialist pri-vate institutions, but observers suggest that their quality is questionable. "Students at some of the poorer private universities - with huge classes predominately in lower-cost humanities and social science courses - are churned out, but the (jobs) market can't absorb them”. Brazil's Ministry of Education has begun to assess institutions for quality using the CAPES system, shutting down those in the bottom two (of seven) grades, but this conflicts with another government policy: boosting the numbers enter-ing higher education.

The pattern of who goes to which type of university is very clear. Privately educated students end up in the free public universities; students who attend poorer-quality state schools end up studying at for-profit higher educa-tion institutions. Brazil remains one of the world's most unequal societies, and universities are not blind to the problem. Many pub-lic institutions have introduced schemes to try to in-crease the number of state-educated students, as well as those from non-white ethnic backgrounds, such as by allocating them bonus marks in entrance exams. But progress across Brazil's higher education sector is too slow for the left-wing government led by President Dilma Rousseff. In August this year there was a major develop-ment: Brazil's Senate passed an affirmative action bill re-

quiring every federal university to ensure that 50 per cent of its intake comes from state schools. This will be a huge rise; generally less than 30 per cent of public university students come from state schools, and at the most pres-tigious institutions the figure can be as low as 12 per cent. By 2016, places will also have to be assigned ac-cording to the racial make-up of each state, meaning that up to 50 per cent of places will go to black, indigenous or mixed-race students. The bill gained considerable public support but it has since met with some concern from universities, which have just four years to put the changes in place. But with just 16 per cent of Brazil's young people pro-gressing to higher education, a figure way below the Or-ganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average, pressure to widen access is growing. Unicamp's Costa is optimistic. His university is one of a number in the state of São Paulo considering a plan to evolve into a system of federated universities, modelled on the Univer-sity of California system. This would mean bringing to-gether the much-needed community colleges, teaching and technical institutions with existing research universi-ties, and would give good students from poor back-grounds a chance to move between them. Indeed, Brazil's emerging world-class research universi-

ties may be allowed to continue their ascent only if they

can show that they are playing their part in tackling ine-

quality, Costa predicts; it is a case of quid pro quo. The

state government is "convinced of the need to maintain

our funding - but of course we are aware we have to in-

crease the diversity of our students. We are trying."

The full article circulated by Dr. Hans J. Hoyer , Secretary General of IFEES is available on: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=422083 Source: www.timeshighereducation.co.uk

12 December 2012

JANUARY 2013 08 Taipei, TW 2013 International Congress on, Chemical, Biological and Envi-ronmental Science (Link) 18 London, UK London Model Engineering Exhibition (Link)

FEBRUARY 2013 06 Sydney, AU IAOE Annual Conference REV 2013 (link) 12, Brussels, BE ENAEE Administrative Council Meeting

MARCH 2013 02 Brussels, BE SEFI Bureau Meeting 14 Philadephia, USA North American Materials Education Symposium (Link)

13-15 Berlin, DE Global Engineering Education Conference IEEE EDUCON 2013 (Link) 21-22 Brussels, BE ECDEAST workshop organised in SEFI HQ 21-23 Clermont-Ferrand, FR French Speaking Colloquium "Politic Ecology vs Industrial Eco-logy, which strategies for sustainable development » (Link)

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

CALENDAR

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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

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 very recently of the Institute for the development of Engineering Academics, IIDEA, and of the European Engineering Deans Council, EEDC.