Universities say EU data hub must weigh them against global peers

Commission-proposed observatory should include non-European institutions, says Cesaer group

A planned EU system for comparing the performance of European universities must also include institutions based outside of Europe if it is to avoid becoming a waste of effort, a university group has warned.

In a position paper published on 27 June, the Cesaer group of science and technology universities set out principles for the design of the European Higher Education Sector Observatory, which was first proposed by the European Commission in January and subsequently won the backing of EU governments.