Alongside a boom in private universities in Germany, state institutions are increasingly supported by private funds. They don't see this jeopardising their independence but campaigners are calling for greater transparency on where the money is coming from

Despite an increasingly strong showing in winning EU funds, special support measures remain necessary for the country’s long-term development, says Eugénio Campos Ferreira, vice rector for research and innovation at the University of Minho

The proposed directive on Transparency of Interest Representation, designed to prevent malign foreign lobbying, could force universities to register any foreign-funded research, observers fear

The European Parliament has rejected a call to bring Hungarian universities back into the Erasmus student and academic mobility scheme, with a large majority of MEPs insisting prime minister Viktor Orbán must make the required reforms first

Ottawa’s new policy creates the West’s most detailed - and public - security procedures for grant applicants, potentially affecting ‘everything under the sun.’  Universities are studying the likely impact

Europe remains ‘fairly open’ but there is a feeling that ‘things could get much more closed’, says Thomas Jørgensen of the European University Association

Merging institutions can bring economies of scale, strengthening finances and research - and attracting staff and students. But vested interests often block this route to moving up the league tables 

Wars on Europe’s doorstep, tech espionage and illiberal governments are spurring the EU and national governments to rethink who should take the lead on academic freedom

A council of 12 research leaders will be set up to advise the French president as part of plans to put science ‘at the heart of decision-making’, while the roles of research institutes and universities will be redefined

In the face of competing demands, it is critically important that FP10 is not stretched thin but instead concentrates on what EU research programmes do best