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The contribution of the University of Rostock to the economic and social development of the city of Rostock following the reunification of Germany is described. Topics discussed include the university's cooperation with local government, its programs for job training and development, and the institution's support for social policies that discourage right-wing extremism.

Strict controls on experiments using animals in biomedical research have been imposed on Polish researchers. The new controls, modeled after those in effect elsewhere in Europe, require better conditions in animal facilities, such as clean cages and proper food. The number of animals used for research in educational institutions has been reduced.

Continuing education in Europe is becoming a popular business as increasing numbers of workers are returning to classrooms after several years in the workforce. Many of the university continuing-education programs are practice oriented to teach older students new occupational related skills. Some educators state that adult education can also provide a stimulus for technological and institutional innovation.

Education officials from 29 European countries signed the Bologna Declaration in Jun 1999 to promote integration and comparable standards within Europe's institutions of higher education. The declaration is a response to the wide variation in European education systems which makes it difficult to assess international students' qualifications and accomplishments. The joint effort is expected to increase student mobility and opportunities for employment within Europe.

The number of private institutions of higher-education are growing in Soviet states, and the Eastern European countries of Poland and Romania due to a strong demand for education. Western foundations and sponsors have provided financial support to build quality institutions that attract top students, scholars and staff. Some institutions are adopting western teaching methods, others are models for innovation. Schools offering questionable degrees have also open in the non-regulated environment.

International aid groups question the views of developing countries regarding higher education since basic education is a struggling issue. But educators believe a change of attitude has occurred and statements on higher education by such groups have softened. The World Bank is the major source of funds for postsecondary education throughout the world.

The first World Conference on Higher Education, held in Paris in Oct 1998, contributed to the call for expanding access to post-secondary education, especially in developing countries. The meeting was designed to find strategies to help postsecondary education meet the demands of changing societies. The conference was organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) will convene the World Conference on Higher Education in Oct 1998. Unesco officials believe the conference will help guide higher education at a time of significant ferment and change. Academic leaders from approximately 180 countries are expected to attent the conference in Paris.

The Berlin Institute for Advanced Study invites 40 top scholars each year to spend 10 months at the institution away from the normal duties of academic life. The scholars are free to work and relax at the facilities in Grunewald, Germany, and are assisted by librarians to help locate research material. The scholars are obligated to attend meetings to discuss their work to other fellows.

Turkey has expanded its education system in hopes of educating more young people and improving its economy. Twenty-five new universities have opened since 1992, and enrollment has risen from 237,000 in 1980 to 1.2 mil students in 1998. These changes are in response to public pressure for more educational opportunities and more trained young people.

Muslim students in Turkey cite religious requirements as they demand the right to wear Islamic head scarves at school. Religious clothing was banned in Turkey in 1925 and the ruling was supported in 1992 when a European Commission on Human Rights refused to hear a complaint on the matter. The military issued warnings in 1998 stating Islamic fundamentalism is Turkey's greatest threat, claiming Islamic style of dress represents a clear public danger.

Irga Seurujarvi-Kari and other first generation university-educated Sami are using their positions to expand research and teaching about the Sami culture and government policies toward them. They are indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Their homeland is referred to as Lappland, which is across the far northern parts of these countries.

The nine universities in the German state of Baden-Wurtemberg agreed in 1996 to cut 10% of their staff if the state government promised, in turn, to continue their funding at 1996 levels. The pact has worked out well for the universities as the costs of German reunification and shrinking tax revenues have caused substantial cuts in higher education spending by other German states. The University of Mannheim and the Ruprecht-Karls Heidelberg University in Baden-Wurtemberg have also forged an innovative joint resource-sharing agreement that expands their curricula while minimizing course duplication.

Students at over 50 German universities are staging strikes and other demonstrations to protest underfunding, overcrowding and the proposed imposition of tuition fees within the German higher education system. Costs associated with German reunification have made less government funding available to students and universities, while enrollment has increased substantially. German federal lawmakers hope to alleviate the crisis by drafting a framework law that would give the states and the schools themselves more responsibility for funding and administering German higher education.

European universities and colleges are increasingly gaining autonomy from centralized government control. They are also being forced to pursue alternative revenue raising activities, because their government financial support is decreasing. Most institutions raise funds by consulting for businesses and providing continuing education programs for company and government workers. Governments are also attempting to increase the public accountability of universities and colleges by requiring regular, detailed institutional evaluations, as in the UK, or by naming outsiders to college governing boards.

Iranian president Mohammed Khatami, who won a surprising lopsided victory in the May 1997 elections, is a relative liberal who pledges to increase academic freedom in Iran and open the country's universities and colleges to more outside influences. He has chosen Mostafa Moin, a physician considered to be non-political, as his Minister of Science and Higher Education. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the number of Iranian institutions of higher education has grown from 244 to approximately 400, while enrollments have risen from 175,000 to 1.2 million. Educational quality, however, has reputedly suffered.

Eastern European biomedical researchers who collaborate with Western scientists have benefited from the West's more advanced technology, which is sorely lacking in their home countries. In return they have provided Western researchers with valuable insights into basic biological systems and processes that Westerners lost as a result of overspecialization. Electron microscopy and electrophysiology, for example, were skills still practiced by Eastern scientists, but which had waned in the West. Western advances in molecular biology reestablished a demand for these skills and their practitioners.

The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are reforming their higher education systems to better serve the needs of their students and compete more favorably with institutions in Western Europe. The region's public universities and colleges have changed their structure, instituted four-year degree programs, increased some faculty salaries and begun to charge tuition. Some plan to end enrollment limits soon. The number of Baltic students willing to pay for an education is rapidly increasing and has led to the establishment of a large number of private institutions of variable quality.

Universities and colleges in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have rapidly shifted their predominant language of instruction from Russian to their own national languages since winning independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. This policy leaves their sizeable minorities of Russian-speaking students with a serious educational disadvantage. Latvia's policy requires fluency in Latvian as a prerequisite for both citizenship and university enrollment. Estonia also requires national language fluency for citizenship, but allows courses taught in Russian during the first two years of college.

The University of Lulea in Sweden has instituted a program to attract more female students to computer science, reflecting an ongoing trend in Sweden, Norway and Finland to encourage female enrollment in traditionally male fields such as mathematics and technology. The two-year program, founded in 1995 and developed exclusively for women, is designed to bolster students' self-confidence while providing the academic training they need to compete equally with male computer science students. Course content differs from that of regular classes, emphasizing group work and the social role of computers.

Scandinavian universities and colleges, especially in Sweden, have heightened their efforts to identify and respond to cases of sexual harassment within their institutions. Various Swedish surveys within the last five years indicate that from 12% to 27% of female university employees, including graduate students, have experienced sexual harassment. Swedish institutions have responded by publishing guidelines, conducting workshops and naming administrators to monitor the problem and aid complainants. Most cases involve male faculty harassing their female graduate students.

The University of Dallas (UD) program in Rome, Italy, housed on its own 12-acre, $8-million campus, uses wide-ranging European travel opportunities as well as courses in classical and Italian Renaissance history, philosophy and theology to woo nearly 80% of the university's sophomore class to study abroad for a semester each year. UD is a Catholic university in Irving, TX with a total enrollment of 1,100. The school offers its Rome program for the cost of regular tuition, airfare and a $275 fee to pay for textbooks, museum passes and transport costs. History professor Wayne Ambler manages the program.

The European Journalism Network, based in the US, helps students in Eastern Europe establish newspapers at their universities. The network provides some financing, but most of its assistance is in the form of professionals who volunteer advice on aspects of production, design, and reporting techniques. In 1997, some of the network's student editors will serve internships at US and German news organizations.

Many scholars at Italian universities say the promotion system needs reform, although strong interests oppose change. Eight professors of medicine were tried in Rome in Jan 1997 for alleged offenses committed in 1988 about academic promotions. Many professors have close political ties and there are few regulations governing employment outside the university. Many professors work for the state and are therefore immune to university discipline. The parliament has failed to produce any legislation dealing with this problem.

Students in Eastern Europe are flocking to the many new professional business schools which have opened up in the former Soviet countries since the collapse of Communism. Students are eager to learn Western-style economics and finance in order to run businesses and compete with or within Western companies. Some companies currently working in Eastern Europe have been unwilling to see Eastern European business schools as equivalent to their Western counterparts, but administrators expect that to change in time.

The dismantling of communism has opened up new paths for women researchers and scholars interested in studying women's studies in Eastern European colleges and universities. Once such studies would have been banned as counter-productive or subversive, but current administrators simply seem more puzzled than opposed to the addition of women's studies to college curriculums. The absence of a strong women's movement in Eastern Europe has given the study of women in society a different look than in the US, where generations of protests and suffrage have created strong antagonistic reactions to traditional roles in society.

The Graduate School of Social Research in Warsaw and Palacky University in the Czech Republic have been recognized for their self-initiated educational reforms. In 1995, the Graduate School of Social Research, a young school which is serving as a regional model for reform, received the first Hannah Arendt Prize and its $200,000 cash prize. In 1996, Palacky University, an older, traditional institution, won the Hannah Arendt Prize for revamping its curriculum and providing new courses.

Academic reform is moving slowly in Eastern Europe. Students are complaining about the lack of classroom discussions, the few choices in courses, and the absence of learning different points of view, but they are not campaigning much for academic reform. There are few practical courses and students do not have many opportunities to interract with professors. Libraries need more books and the universities need more young faculty members.

Twelve Scandinavian universities are collaborating on creation of a virtual university in which students can access a variety of classes and participate in seminars and joint degree programs. Classes will be conducted in a combination of Danish, Swedish, and English, and students can attend classes from their homes or computer-equipped classrooms. Growing competition and decreased academic funding makes the university collaboration beneficial for all participants.

Alumni from 26 countries are working to raise private funds for the Fulbright academic-exchange program, as the US cut its contribution by 15% resulting in a serious budget reduction. At an international conference celebrating the Fulbright program's 50th anniversary, many expressed the concern that the program was shrinking. The representatives are asking the 140 participating countries to increase their funding.

A new research plan at the University of Copenhagen calls for focusing on just three multidisciplinary areas: biotechnology, the environment, and north-south cooperation with developing nations. Biotechnology is the chief recipient of new resources, with 13 new faculty positions and 13 places for new PhD candidates. An annual increase of 5% in the research budget, for a total of $20 million, will fund the experiment. The plan responds to a government request, and has generated controversy among the faculty.

The move to a market economy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics has encouraged a drop in state support for research. Scientists in these countries are looking for financial support from the West to do serious research because of lack of support in their own countries. Because of widespread layoffs and salary cuts, many research scientists have taken jobs in business and industry.

Bosnian educators struggling to rebuild and repair university facilities have called upon international aid organizations and Western governments for increased financial support. The Dayton, Ohio peace accords ended three and one-half years of war that inflicted substantial damage to Bosnia's main educational institution, the University of Sarajevo. The number of students enrolled at the university was 30,000 before the war and declined to 7,000 in fall 1995. The peace accord has resulted in a flood of returning students and the university expects fall 1996 enrollment to reach 15,000 students.

The hope of peace in Bosnia, presents Bosnian students in Europe and North America with the problem of when to return home. About2000 Bosnian students have fled their homeland since 1992.Bosnian government officials are non-committal on providing housing and jobs for the returnees. George Soros, an American philanthropist has been providing support to about 1800 students from former Yugoslavia.

After the collapse of the communist regime in Poland during the 1980's, Jewish studies have gained acceptability in the nation, which was once home to 3 million Jews. Since the end of World War II, Jewish population of Poland has declined. According to estimates of 1990, there are only 10,000 Jews in the country. Jewish studies are encouraged by the Polish Catholic Church to try to define and preserve Jewish cultural identity at Polish universities.

Around 2,000 Bosnian students have fled their country to pursue education in other countries which they believe can give them better education and employment opportunities. Austria is host to the largest number of Bosnian students, while the rest have scattered to several part of Europe. The students have formed an organization named Collegium Bosniacum to help their other colleagues deal with the problems associated with being a foreign student such as food, housing and finance. They also provide a support network to meet the students' social, psychological and emotional needs.

The Dutch government has dropped its plan to curtail the country's university degree program by a year due to strong opposition but the proposal has sparked off discussion on reforms in higher education system. However, the government has not dropped its plan to cut higher education budget by $300 million and to gradually raise tuition from $1,300 to $1,600. The critics of the government's policy feel that a shortened degree program would not suit the Dutch society, but they accept its call for selective admission of students in tough programs.

The scholars and librarians of Bosnia have started sincere efforts to reconstruct the National and University Library of Bosnia-Herzegovina which used to contain vast records of the mixed culture and history of Bosnia and which was destroyed by the Bosnian Serb forces during the siege of Sarajevo. The staff has been trying to construct 'retrospective bibliographies' using the transportable CD-Rom technology and hopes to substitute the destroyed parts of the collection with electronic versions. The only part of the collection that was saved was a meager 10% which had been removed to warehouses for want of space.

The European Union will expand its experimental program to facilitate transfer of academic credit among institutions in different countries. Demand for student exchange opportunities in Europe is forcing higher education systems to address issues of international cooperation, even some standardization. (MSE)

Higher education leaders in Europe opine that the implementation of government procedures for assessing the quality of teaching and research would have serious repercussions, especially when the government uses such information for deciding on funding. Assessing the quality of research for providing funds, as in Britain, may help appoint efficient personnel who can improve the research center even if their efficiency in teaching is suspect.

The increase in student enrollment in higher education in Europe is a cause for concern as overcrowded universities can lead to deterioration in the quality of education. The easy access to postsecondary education for more students creates financial and administrative problems. Teaching larger classes leaves faculty members with almost no time to pursue research work. Many universities are, however, planning to establish links with industries to maintain their standards.

There is growing interest in studying the culture of the Roma or the gypsy, the largest minority group in Europe. Scholars specializing in Romani language and culture such as Milena Hubschmannova also became defenders of the Romas' rights. They try to promote education and overall development of the Romas. Attempts have been made to provide Romas some autonomy, which was curbed during the communist regime.

Internet users around the world discussed the importance of the use of electronic on-line devices at a meeting in Prague. The conference also dwelt on the need for such advanced communication systems in the increasingly competitive world. China resisted the expansion of its network facilities while Russia cannot expand its network due to financial constraints.

European Union (EU) has proposed a $1.25 billion program called 'Socrates,' which aims at student and faculty exchange among the 12 member nations. The program will enable students to study in another European country and will promote foreign language and comparative European studies. Diverse higher education systems throughout Europe, however, make it extremely difficult to standardize higher education in Europe.

Slovakia's higher education is beset with financial problems due to a decline in government's support and is losing its standard. However, the removal of Vladimir Meciar's government from power may have proved beneficial to higher education. A committee of 19 members from university student councils and the education ministry will devise a new law for higher education. A legislation is to be passed, which will give freedom to universities to collect tuition fees from students.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) university has designed a program based on a western model to raise the educational standard of its college students while preserving their Islamic cultural traditions. Many Western advisers work on the program which makes extensive use of computer-based and audio-visual techniques for teaching. UAE Minister of Higher Education and chancellor of the university Nahayan bin Mubarak al-Nahayan initiated the university's modernization plans.

Kuwait University safeguards its records and documents with duplicate computer files to prevent destruction due to invasion. Although the student enrollment has increased, a majority of them Kuwaiti nationals, the university has restricted the number of courses. Physical damage due to Iraqi invasion has been repaired, but the university confronts problems such as religious fanaticism, fall in academic standards and allegations of improper administration.

Arab universities experience the growing popularity of 'Islamism' and have attracted many students majoring in Islamic studies. Arab governments view the advent of Islamism in universities as a threat to the state, and intellectuals are caught between conservative public and fanatics. However, in secular Arab states such as Syria, Libya and Iraq, Islamic fundamentalism has always faced a defeat.