The Research Institute for Science Policy, Technological Progress, and Higher Education has carried out 33 research themes during 1984. From a methodological perspective, 8 themes fall under the science policy section and 25, under the higher education field.
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A s in previous years, the Institute has conducted 33 surveys, analyses, and reports at the request of various institutions, in most of the cases at the request of the Ministry of Science, Higher Education, and Technology. T h eInstitute has published various works devoted to the results obtained b y its research teams during the 1983—1984 period. F r o m a m o n g the topics worth mentioning are: Poland's Scientific Potential (in the science policy field); A Forecast of Higher Education Development, and A Differentiated Model of Higher Education. These topics were taken u p for discussion at various scientific seminars held in 1985.
In 1984, the Institute organized 3 major international events: a meeting of experts in the field of planning and forecasting higher education development in the socialist countries, a scientific seminar organized b y C M E A m e m b e r
countries, and a scientific seminar on educational technology.
In the field of higher education, research has been carried out on the follow- ing topics : 1) the d e m a n d for qualified staff given the existing socio-economic conditions; 2) an evaluation of social requirements concerning the training of staff w h o have undertaken post-compulsory training — a forecast in higher
education; 3) simulation models for training at the higher education level- models and their implementation; 4) comparative international research in the area of higher education; 5) the organization of higher education; 6) the adjustment of organizational structures and of higher education institutions to n e w conditions of functioning; 7) an analysis of the first stage of application of the n e w financial m a n a g e m e n t principles pertinent to higher education institutions; 8) the modernization of educational and training process at the higher education level; 9) the content of education in institutions of higher learning; 10) problems and directions related to the upgrading of teaching in higher education institutions; 11) sandwich courses during the crisis period and the introduction of economic reform measures ; 12) the curricular and extra- curricular conditioning of students' abilities ; 13) non-traditional forms of educa- tion and innovative teaching at the university level; 14) educational activity in higher education institutions; 15) open universities and innovations in the field of higher education ; 16) research on students and research workers ; 17) student '83 — the attitude of students towards study and professions ; 18) the psychological conditioning of the opinions, attitudes, and aspirations of students and their material conditions ; 19) the psychological traits of students in various disciplines ; 20) personal models of students ; 21) social consequences of selection in higher education ; 22) access to higher education ; 23) the attitudes of university teachers towards institutions and professions ; 24) research o n graduates of higher education institutions ; 25) the psycho-social conditioning of success in the exercise of a profession; 26) international research; 27) socio- economic problems regarding the distribution of graduates of higher education institutions and the use of their qualifications ; 28) graduates of higher educa- tion institutions seen from the perspective of social structure differentiation;
29) the social efficiency of technical education ; 30) surveys, analyses and infor- mation; 31) access to higher education and provision of equal opportunities
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Informationin research conducted abroad; 32) centre for consultation and research on recruitment into higher education.
(Source: Instytut Polityki Naukowej, Postepu Tech- nicznego i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego. Sprawozdanie z dzialalnosci instytutu w roku 19S4/Activity of the Research Institute for Science Policy, Technologi- cal Progress, and Higher Education in 1984/.
Warszawa, 1985).
R O M A N I A :
O n M a y 24 and 25, 1985 an international reunion on "Future, Education, and Peace" took place at the European Centre for Higher Education of Unesco in Bucharest. It was organized by the Academy of Social and Political Sciences, the Romanian Commission for Unesco, and the International Centre of Meth- odology for Future and Development Studies together with the World Future Studies Federation and the University of Peace of Costa Rica.
The papers presented and ensuing discussions centred on the following subjects:
— science, future, and peace ;
— culture, communication, and co-operation ;
— education for international co-operation and peace ;
— development and disarmament.
Thirty participants from Belgium, the G D R , Costa Rica, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Japan, Switzerland, and the U S A attended the meeting.
S W I T Z E R L A N D :
Foreign Students at Swiss Higher Education Institutions
Swiss higher education units traditionally attract foreigners. In 1910.
no less than half of the number of students attending Swiss higher education institutions were foreigners. In 1970, they still represented 22.5 per cent. In 1984, however, the percentage had fallen to 18.2. In spite of this decline, the proportion of foreign students is still one of the highest in the world.
'True' and 'False' Foreigners
Probably, the high percentage of foreign students enrolled in Swiss higher education institutions can be accounted for simply by the fact that there is a high percentage of foreigners residing in Switzerland. A certain number of students enrolled in Swiss higher education institutions were residents of Switzerland before having enrolled. These might properly be classed as 'false foreigners'. O n the other hand, students w h o were residing abroad before enrolment could best be considered as 'true foreigners'.
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Of the 13,199 students of foreign nationality w h o were enrolled in Swiss higher education institutions during the summer of 1985, 62 per cent had lived abroad before enrolment and had held a foreign certificate of admission to higher education. These b y our criteria were the 'true' foreigners. Approxi- mately 25 per cent could be considered 'false' foreigners. The remaining 13 per cent belonged to a third category, that is, they either held a Swiss certificate of admission or they had resided in Switzerland before enrolment even though they presented foreign certificates of enrolment.
A particularly high percentage of 'false' foreigners is composed of Italian, Austrian, and Spanish students. They are mostly the daughters or the sons of immigrants w h o live and work in Switzerland (persons w h o are known as 'second generation foreigners').
'True' and 'false' foreigners during the 1984—1985 academic year Nationality:
Total
FRG
Italy FranceUSA
Spain Greece Austria Great Britain IranThe Netherlands Turkey
Belgium Czechoslovakia Poland Lichtenstein
'truc' foreigners
8147 1817 301 984 358 155 336 182 188 219 114 155 100 94 141 44
'false' foreigners
3367 772 1112 202 83 227 31 181 102 14 95 32 46 58 11 13
others 1685
253 186 231 365 77 36 35 62 46 26 25 34 50 9 102
Total 13199 2842 1599 1417 575 452 403 398 352 279 235 212 180 168 161 159 (Source: Universités et Education, Statistical Selection, Bern, Switzerland, 1985 p. 41)
U S S R :
Meeting of Experts from Socialist Countries on the Elaboration of an International Terminological Dictionary in the Field of Higher Education The above-mentioned meeting was held in Moscow, at the Research Insti- tute for Higher Education of the Ministry of Higher and Specialized Secondary Education of the U S S R , from 20 through 24 M a y , 1985.
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InformationSpecialists from Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the G e r m a n Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the U S S R attended the meeting. The chairman of the meeting was V . M . Kuznetsov, deputy director of the Research Institute for Higher Education ( R I H E ) , w h o is at the same time the leader of the experts' group.
The topics discussed at this meeting were connected with the ongoing w o r k on the international terminological dictionary, its progress, the harmoniza-
tion at the international level of various terminological systems, and termino- logical research at the national level, including its contribution to the elabora-
tion of an international dictionary, to n a m e the most important ones.
The experts stressed the importance of a unified approach to the scientific and methodological principles underlying the elaboration of the dictionary, one which involved the adoption of a n u m b e r of decisions related to organizational and procedural matters.
The meeting approved the general methodology to be followed in the elaboration of the dictionary, its structure which is to be based o n the principle of alphabetical listing of families of words, and adopted a procedure for the agreement of entries included in the dictionary.
The meeting adopted a recommendation that the creation of a data bank, necessary for the successful completion of this international dictionary, be entrusted to the terminological group of the R I H E . It is also foreseen that the data bank will include bibliographical information, dictionaries and encyclo- paedias already published in the field as well as various documents sent b y the countries, co-authors of this work.
A work schedule decided u p o n at the meeting for the completion of the dictionary foresees a first preliminary variant to be ready b y the end of 1986 with a view to its being published at the beginning of 1987. The editorial boards of specialized journals in the higher education field in the socialist countries were invited to open a permanent section, entitled " T e r m s and Definitions", which is to include relevant terminological publications.
(Source: Information received from the Research Institute for Higher Education in Moscow)