Blogs
Here Nuffic staff and external experts provide background information on current events and analyse ongoing developments in international higher education.
Getting insight into training needs in the South: Comparing NFP TMT and Short Course Programmes
What does an analysis of TMT programme themes, in relation to NFP short course themes, tell us about the actual training needs in partner countries in the South?
Tailor-made Training: Huge returns on investment
In our previous blog last Wednesday, we unpacked the key characteristics of the Tailor-made training modality. In the present blog we discuss cost effectiveness of the programme and how Nuffic is balancing this against the rising interest in the programme.
Tailor-made Training: A very effective capacity building instrument
Nuffic’s Tailor-made Training (TMT) programme is fast, flexible, responsive, relevant, demand-driven and target-oriented. In this blog, we unpack these adjectives of acclamation to illustrate just what it is that distinguishes this modality of capacity building.
What international alumni appreciate about study and life in Holland
Nuffic conducted a study on what Holland Alumni from the countries where a Neso office is located, appreciated about their study and life in the Netherlands. What do the results tell us in relation to the potential to successfully attract and bind international alumni for the Dutch labour market?
Can benchmarks on education output advise on international cooperation strategies?
Many countries and institutions seek cooperation with growth markets, such as the BRICs. A look at ranks on education output shows that these countries do not always score high. In some circles, this has raised a question: shouldn’t we focus more on co-operation with countries that traditionally score high on benchmarks, such as Finland and South Korea?
The Learning Curve: On tertiary education and internationalisation
As part of a project to create a better understanding of what leads to successful educational outcomes, Pearsons in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) published a report last week that received global press coverage. The report 'The Learning Curve. Lessons in country performance in education' formulates lessons and insights for policymakers to achieve better results on national education outcomes.
The scramble for international alumni: Towards balanced benefits
Should students from developing countries, who are studying in developed countries, return home upon graduation to contribute to the development of their own economies? Or is it okay for their developed host countries to actively poach and retain them for the good of their own labour markets?
JDAZ - A reference guide on joint degrees
Joint degrees are high on the internationalisation agenda in the European Higher Education Area. This month a new project started titled ‘Joint Degrees from A to Z’ (JDAZ) The project, which Nuffic coordinates, aims to provide clarity by developing a reference guide on joint degrees. But why develop a new guide if so much has already been published about joint degrees over the last years? And how to make sure that such a guide keeps providing state of the art information?
Rebranding gender: Healing the fatigue
Rebranding ‘gender mainstreaming’ may be just what we need to move beyond the current fatigue that seems to have gripped the development field whenever the term is mentioned.
EAR2 project at the ENIC-NARIC conference
Just before summer, the ENIC-NARIC network held its annual conference. Among the many technical, procedural and informative items on the agenda, there was also room for interaction. The EAR2 project team was glad to participate in that, and gratefully accepted the invitation to organise a workshop.
E-TRAIN
Last June, the E-TRAIN project held a conference in Madrid, Spain. It was organised to disseminate the results of the project on training experts on quality assurance.
Value for money in international education: a new world of results, impacts and outcomes?
Imagine if development partners would only pay for results if they were delivered (Cash on Delivery) or if they requested ‘money back’ guarantees from developing countries?
Internationalisation appears to be good for the economy. Let’s increase its quality.
The Dutch economy benefits from the internationalisation of higher education. At least, that is what is presented as one of the careful conclusions of the report by the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, recently published on the request of the State Secretary for Education. The report examines whether the internationalisation of Dutch higher education is indeed as beneficial for the Dutch economy as we all expect.
International student mobility: European, Dutch and institutional policies
On 5 June, the Dutch National Agency for Lifelong Learning organised a well-attended conference to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Erasmus programme. And where better to celebrate this than in Rotterdam, Erasmus’ own city!
Four steps to creating sustainable academic partnerships
Are you considering collaborating with one or more higher education partners to add value to your institution? In our rapidly changing global society, HEIs need academic partners to exchange people, ideas and methods, and institutional partnerships have become big business. But how do you create partnerships which are truly sustainable? In this blog, Nico Evers and Jenneke Lokhoff provide you with some essential tips based on the recommendations of experts involved in European-Asian partnerships.
Finalised IMPI tool for benchmarking internationalisation
The final symposium of the IMPI project took place in Brussels on 10 May and was attended by participants from all over Europe. The symposium obviously included detailed information on the IMPI project but also provided information on related projects, such as AHELO and MAUNIMO.
Gender in Dutch international capacity development programmes: scholarships
This is Part 1 of a two-part blog summarising the lessons that Nuffic has learned with regard to mainstreaming gender in three key programmes of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Part 1 focuses on the scholarship-based programme NFP while Part 2 focuses on the project-based programmes NPT and NICHE.
Gender in Dutch international capacity development programmes: projects
This is Part 2 of a two-part blog summarising the lessons that Nuffic has learned with regard to mainstreaming gender in three key programmes of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Part 1 focuses on the scholarship-based programme NFP while the current blog focuses on the project-based programmes NPT and NICHE.
EAR2 – online recognition manual and training
On 24 April, the kick-off meeting for the EAR2 project took place in The Hague. EAR is short for European Area of Recognition, and EAR2 is one of the follow-ups to the successful EAR project that ended last January with the delivery of the European recognition manual. This manual aims to provide clarity in the divergent world of recognition procedures for foreign qualifications by agreeing on recognition standards and providing examples of good practices in Europe.
Capacity building of developing countries good for international business
Development cooperation, particularly through educational capacity building, contributes to growth of the middle class in developing regions, which, in turn, contributes to the sustainability of international business.