Education and Training Statistics Working Group Meeting of 17 November 2010 Item 5 – Further actions Eurostat in regard to the follow up of the feasibility study for creating a European university register data collection Lene Mejer lene.mejer@ec.europa.eu Eurostat Unit F4 – Education, science and culture statistics 17 Noember 2010

Immediate follow up after ETS WG. Further actions Eurostat. Outline of this presentation Reminder: why is Eurostat and the ESS involved. Actions undertaken throughout the period of the feasibility study. Eurostat preliminary evaluation. Immediate follow up after ETS WG. Further actions Eurostat. Member State involvement. Discussion points

Reminder: why is Eurostat and the ESS involved. -> Institutional approach and expertise at EU and national level in national administrations. UOE and R&D methodology and data collections. -> Guarantee for treating potential confidential data (showed not to be a big issue). -> Intention of making a regular data collection. -> Efficiency: data already available in national administrations. (And therefore not to be a burden in relation to the alternative of collecting data directly at university/HE level.)

Actions undertaken throughout the period of the feasibility study. -> Eurostat letter from Director General July 2009 for creating FESUR network; parallel to EUMIDA consortium. -> FESUR Task Force: three meetings: November 2009, March and July 2010. Thank you to the participants. -> Establishment of methodological framework for DC1 and DC2 during the first two meetings. -> EUMIDA consortium DC1 and DC2 during winter and spring of 2010. -> Third meeting concentrated on evaluating activities and discussing future activities including dissemination of results.

Eurostat preliminary evaluation. -> Project a success and seen as being cost-effective (as also demonstrated in the final report). -> Emphasis on HEIs’ education data (good data quality), - R&D statistics related framework to be further developed (including data quality) -> Data used outside UOE and R&D frameworks: future verification? -> Satisfaction with methodological framework developed; main issues: core DC1 inclusion or not of ‘vocational’ HEIs, - definition of research active HEIs -> good solution? -> Some issues regarding the methodological framework should still be ‘adjusted’. 5

-> Circa site will be updated as appropriate. 2. Immediate follow up after ETS WG. -> no direct role for Eurostat in immediate follow up beyond securing transparency in regard to the publication of results vis-a-vis FESUR network (reports for comments). -> Circa site will be updated as appropriate. -> Continued co-operation with DG RTD and DG EAC regarding this project (technical support).

Further actions Eurostat. -> Incorporated in Eurostat annual work programme 2012 (postponed from 2011). -> Ex-ante to be done internally in Eurostat at the beginning of 2011 based on the results of the project. Ex-ante will propose the further actions in this area. -> ETS WG May 2011 to agree on concrete actions for follow up as well as on a mandate for a Task Force to start in early 2012. Main purpose would be to confirm methodological guidelines and design first data collection instrument. -> If previous points have positive outcomes a possible full pilot data collection could take place in second half of 2012.

4. Member State involvement -> First actions will relate to the results of the feasibility study (final report, handbooks, data collection 1) in co-operation with DG RTD and DG EAC. Countries would be asked to check their data in DC1. Countries are welcome to send comments on the reports (which are planned for publication in forthcoming week(s). -> ETS WG May 2011: approval of further actions and timing of the project; approval of Task Force mandate. -> Actual work will start in the beginning of 2012 with the creation and first meeting of the Task Force. -> Burden on ESS expected to be minimal if annual collection but funding issues are being looked into.

5. Discussion points -> General comments in regard to Eurostat’s and the ESS’s roles in relation to the project (as it has been carried out and as envisaged in the future). -> Specific comments regarding the near future of the project; publication of results (see also DG RTD presentation). -> Specific comments in regard to the further and more long term actions as envisaged by Eurostat. 9