A new High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education, launched by the European Commission on 18 September, will address this issue as part of a comprehensive three-year review of the sector across the European Union. The group, chaired by Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland, will focus this year on how best to achieve quality and excellence in teaching and learning; then, next year it will discuss how to adapt learning in the digital age. The Group will identify best practices and creative solutions, as well as making recommendations to national and European policy makers, universities and colleges. It will report for the first time in 2013 and has a mandate until 2015.

During the next three years the group will consult experts from higher education, government and businesses, as well as students and
teachers.

The launch of this group is a part of a broader strategy to modernise the higher education sector in Member States. The Commission has already made considerable progress in this area. The Bologna Process has made it easier for students to study abroad and have their qualifications recognised throughout Europe. The European multidimensional university ranking system U-Multirank, due to be published for the first time in 2013, will also facilitate comparisons between universities so that students will be able to make a more informed choice about where to study. It will also enable the Commission to track the progress of universities in a range of different the areas which will be the basis for the new ranking: quality of teaching and learning, research, knowledge transfer, international outreach strategies, and the role of universities in regional development.

Source: European Commission