Higher Education Systems

In this section we present descriptions of the higher education system in the countries listed below.

Universities as they exist in Europe today are the result of an evolution that is not only long and prestigious, going back to the eleventh and twelfth centuries (Bologna, Paris, Oxford, Salamanca and many others); Europe can lay claim to the invention not only of the notion of University but also of the modern research-oriented (“Humboldtian”) University. This long and prestigious history has led to diversity, compounded even more in the twentieth century by the application, in the eastern part of the continent, of a Soviet-influenced model, where research occurs in part in academies of sciences rather than universities.

A major effort in harmonizing European Union systems of higher education, bringing more consistency and facilitating student’s mobility and cooperation, has been the so-called Bologna process, started by a meeting of education ministers in Bologna in 1999 [EU2]. Most European countries (including non-EU members such as Switzerland and Norway) have adopted the Bologna standards and the 3+2 system, where a Bachelor is usually completed in 3 years and a subsequent Master in 2 years. In spite of that, Universities in Europe do not rely on a considerable collection of common practices, conventions and assumptions. There are still an enormous variety on how rules are set an applied, the modes of recruitment, the role of universities, the status of faculties and other essential ingredients of the structure of higher education. In addition, in many European countries, Universities of Applied Sciences, with more profession (or vocation)-oriented studies exist together with traditional research-oriented universities. These institutions have a key role in preparing students for the job market and in a number of countries are responsible by graduating the majority of Informatics professionals.

As in other spheres of social activity, Europe’s diversity and the richness of national traditions is part of Europe’s strengths, but it also complicates analysis (as it complicates cooperation). Here we provide some background on the specifics of the higher education systems across Europe.