Back from holiday? Catch up on the summer news, week by week

Week from 24/08

Against a backdrop of tensions between the United States and Greenland, Greenland’s two leading research institutes have suspended the launch of new partnerships with American researchers following Trump’s attempted annexation, whilst the Department of War is requiring 30 American universities (including Harvard, MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins) to review their collaborations with Chinese institutions.

A French report by HCERES/OST paints a grim picture: France has slipped from 5^th to 10^th place in global scientific audience share over the past 20 years, whilst China has overtaken the United States in terms of both the volume and impact of its publications. Other underlying trends are emerging: Australia is preparing to tighten restrictions on international student visas, Finland is calling for a review of R&D Research & development budget cuts, and Canada continues to attract researchers disillusioned by the Trump administration (64 new funded chairs).

Finally, a French-speaking collective has published a manifesto calling for open education and educational commons as a bulwark against the impoverishment of knowledge caused by AI.

Week from 17/08

In the United States, the White House has admitted to using keywords (diversity, gender, Covid) to cancel nearly $2 billion in research grants in California, whilst the US National Science Foundation (NSF National Science Foundation ) is launching an ‘industry-focused’ PhD programme and a report documents the rise in breaches of academic freedom linked to Israel-Palestine issues.

In Europe, Eurostat reports a 60% rise in public investment in R&D over 10 years (led by Germany) but very significant per capita disparities, whilst students from European university alliances are calling for a greater say in their governance. The news has also been dominated by the death of sociologist Jason Arday (Cambridge) following allegations of plagiarism and his resignation.

Week from 10/08

One of the week’s highlights is the publication of the 2026 Shanghai Ranking, in which China overtakes the United States in terms of the number of universities in the top 500. A report warns of a rise in breaches of academic freedom in 2025-2026, particularly in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict, whilst other news items cover New Zealand (a review of international PhD fees), India (a 19% increase in international students) and Australia (a new student advisory committee). Finally, the European Commission is launching Ready4EIC European innovation council , a training programme for innovative SMEs Small and medium-sized enterprises .

Week from 03/08

The Erasmus Student Network (ESN Erasmus Student Network ) is beginning its 2026/2027 term under the presidency of Simone Lepore, whilst the European Commission is completing the final legal step to make the Scaleup Europe Fund (with a target of €5 billion) fully operational, with the first investments expected as early as this autumn.

The Arqus university alliance has secured approval for its 2026-2028 transitional funding, announced the creation of a legal entity and secured two EU-funded projects (the European Degree Label and an AI sandbox, totalling around €3 million). Finally, a study highlights that the success of institutional transformations within European alliances depends less on governance structures than on the ownership of the project by those on the ground, particularly middle managers.

Week from 27/07

The EU is strengthening its AI ecosystem with the launch of its AI Office (comprising 60 scientific experts) and a call for proposals for seven ‘AI Gigafactories’ with €10 billion in funding, whilst Japan officially joins Horizon Europe and the Commission publishes a charter to facilitate companies’ access to research infrastructure.

In higher education, Seoul retains its top spot in the QS Quacquarelli Symonds ranking of the best student cities, the European Innovation Council (EIC) has announced the six winners of the STEP Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform Scale Up programme (€97 million), and a Portuguese university has received its first EFMD European Foundation for Management Development accreditation. Finally, an interview looks back at the lessons to be learnt from the Hungarian ‘foundation university’ model.

Week from 20/07

In the United States, 36 universities have joined Harvard in its legal challenge against the Trump administration’s freeze on federal funding, whilst the White House has unveiled a plan for a radical overhaul of US research.

In Europe, the Commission has adopted the European Research Council (ERC) European Research Council ’s 2027 work programme, announced the 23 recipients of the European Joint Degree label (Erasmus+), and Spain has announced a record budget of €700 million to fund 4,500 research projects.

Meanwhile, France is considering a merger between the IRD French Research Institute for Sustainable Development and the CNRS National Centre for Scientific Research (which has been strongly contested), ten European university alliances are protesting against the withdrawal of their access to EUSurvey, and Italian universities and businesses are signalling their intention to strengthen their collaboration. Finally, UNIMED has welcomed 18 new members and launched an appeal to support researchers in Gaza, whilst a report calls for more realistic student mobility targets within European alliances.