Universities

cut funding to universities

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The United States is obsessed with winning the AI ​​race against China. Crazy investments, blockages to critical technology, nuclear reactors to power the data centers… In the midst of these titanic efforts, the Trump administration decided that it was a good idea to do massive cuts to academic research. Shot in the foot. In an interview with Financial TimesEric Horvitz has harshly criticized the cuts promoted by Trump. Microsoft’s chief scientist argues that this decision will cause talent to emigrate to other countries, such as China, and make them take the lead in science and, above all, in AI. “Personally, I find it difficult to understand the logic of trying to compete with other countries while applying these cuts,” says Horvitz. Cuts. 2025 has been a complicated year for research and science in the United States. Thousands of researchers have been laid off, eliminated science subsidies worth 1 billion, American universities They have eliminated more than 9,000 jobs, They have dismantled the Department of EducationHE They have cut billions in health programsspace research and of course everything related to climate change or diversity policies. Meanwhile in China… China is clear that, to compete in the technological war, it needs engineers and He has been investing in them for more than forty years. Currently it is the country that produces the most STEM graduatesis driving initiatives to train high-ranking engineers and has the university that is publishing the most papers on AI. There is more. In your 15th five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030China makes strengthening the educational system a priority and has another plan underway to become leader in education by 2035. Leadership at stake. Horvitz It defends the model that the United States began after World War II, with the creation of the National Science Foundation, without which the United States would be “decades behind” in the current technological war. He also highlights that there are key advances to reach modern AI, such as reinforcement learningwhich were achieved thanks to public funds. Exodus of talent. In the 80s there was an exodus of Chinese talent to the United States, but currently the situation has turned around. There are more and more Chinese academics returning to their country and there is also American engineers going to China motivated by a talent recruitment campaign. Europe is also being a destination for many researchers who, pushed by cuts, seek opportunities through large EU financing programs. Image | Wikipedia / harvard In Xataka | The United States may win the AI ​​race, but its problem is different: China is winning all the others

The universities of Oviedo and Granada can no longer handle parents complaining about their children.

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Spanish education delves into a thorny debate. Prickly and striking. Should parents get involved in their children’s university education? If a father accompanies his 19, 20 or 21-year-old son to school to take care of registration procedures, manage an internship or even review an exam, is he doing him a favor or harming him? It may seem like an artificial controversy, but over the last week the debate has been heated by two viral posters posted by two Spanish universities, that of Granada and that of Oviedo. What signs are those? The first one went viral a few days ago. In fact we talked to you about him a week ago. To make it clear how far the students’ parents can go, Pedro Valdivia, vice dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Granada (UGR), prepared a statement which soon became popular: “The Vice Dean of Practices does not serve parents. All enrolled students are of legal age.” The announcement caught the attention (among others) of the economist Daniel Arias-Arandaprofessor at the UGR, who launched a notice to surfers on their social networks who received hundreds of comments. “When it is necessary to put up this sign at the university, something is wrong. Dear student: solve your own problems and don’t boss around mom and dad. Remember, the age of majority in Spain is 18,” the teacher ironized along with a photo in which you can see the poster of the Vice Dean of Practices hanging with thumbtacks from a cork and with the UGR logo printed in one corner. And the other poster? The other, of very similar tone and background, arrives from the University of Oviedo. The news he advanced it The Commercewhich details that at the end of last year the Faculty of Education and Teacher Training decided to hang a poster in which it basically warns parents that they cannot act on behalf of their adult children: “Article 24. – Access by parents to the academic data of their children. In compliance with the Agreement of March 5, 2020, of the Governing Council of the UO, only students will be served.” And in case there was any doubt, yes, the emphasis is from the Asturian university itself. Your warning is interesting because goes further of the one launched by the UGR and delves into details. Specifically, the Oviedo poster quotes the article on which the university is based and which settles any possible debate: “Academic data (related to enrollment, grades or scholarships of each student) constitute personal data whose processing is subject to the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation. The communication of personal data relating to students to their parents constitutes data processing.” In order for them to access the information, a “legitimate interest” must be proven. Why so much controversy? Because as remember Arias-Aranda himself, it is usual for students who arrive at universities to be of legal age or even (in the case of those who manage internships) to be in their twenties. Thus the spark arises. Should parents be in charge of procedures such as registration, internships, tutoring and exam reviews of students who are already adults and are one step away from entering the labor market as graduates? Should a parent have access to their child’s records to know what grades they get or whether or not they go to class? As the Asturian faculty recalls, the debate may be settled at a regulatory level by the regulations on student data protection, but… Is it justified for a parent to want to go further? There are those who consider that the answer is yes. “If parents are the ones who pay for their children’s university (they must) be informed of the productivity of that investment,” think a user on social networks. “When the bosses don’t listen to reasons at work, you go back to the union member; when the university staff does the same, can’t the student come with the parents?” posed another days ago on LinkedIn. What do the experts say? Come take a look at the reactions to Arias-Aranda’s publication on networks to verify that the topic generates controversy, but it is not difficult to find experts who warn of the risks of overprotecting children and relieving them of responsibilities, especially when they are already adults. Beatriz Valderrama, psychologist and expert in coaching and emotional intelligence, I insisted recently in The Country that this type of behavior on the part of parents is “counterproductive” and limits the development and autonomy of the young person, even when it is done “with the best intentions.” José Ángel Morales, professor of Neuroscience at the Complutense University (UCM), speaks along similar lines, recalling that he has encountered students who attend check-ups accompanied by their parents. “In these cases I explain to the mother that what needs to be promoted is the student’s critical reasoning, that he is the one who refutes a correction, not his parents,” points out. Celestino Rodríguez, dean of the Faculty of Education of the University of Oviedo, recognize to The Commerce who has seen parents who don’t think it’s okay to be prevented from staying at their children’s academic meetings. Is it a widespread problem? Valdivia and Morales assure that these are cases “isolated”not the general pattern, although the truth is that they are enough to have led at least two Spanish faculties to hang posters. In reality, the phenomenon goes beyond Granada, Oviedo or the rest of Spain and connects with a reality about which experts they have been around for a while warning: the “helicopter parents”parents committed to permanently protecting their children, ensuring their choices, education… In other words, they ‘fly over’ their decisions and the overprotect. The trend also coincides with the emergence of a new fatherly profilefathers and mothers of Gen millennialstrained at universities, qualified (sometimes with managerial experience) and who feel legitimate to go to faculties to deal with professors. Images | Victoria Heath (Unsplash) and Priscilla Du Preez … Read more

“The best jobs will not be those who studied at the best universities”

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Until relatively recently, having a university degree guaranteed a well -paid job. In fact, This is so In the vast majority of professional areas except if you want to dedicate yourself to ia. According to the statements of Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn and Executive Vice President of Microsoft Office and Copilot collected by Business Insider: “(…) The future of work will no longer be one of those who have the most prestigious titles or studied in the best universities, but to those who are adaptable, avant -garde, are willing to learn already adopt these tools.” The “ai fluency” sweeps the titles. Traditional perception of university degrees to achieve quality job It is changing by leaps and bounds. Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, has made it clear that the future of the most attractive jobs will not be reserved only for those who study at the best universities. The person in charge of LinkedIn and Copilot recalls that the essential thing today is “the disposition of professionals to constantly update and adopt new technological tools”, since the ability of adaptation and continuous learning It will be prioritized above the degrees, adding points to the “Ai fluency“That more and more professional profiles claim, in reference to the literacy in the use of AI tools in the workflow. A mantra in the technological sector. Roslansky is not alone in his speech. Beside him, relevant figures in the development of AI such as Sam Altman, Mark Chen or Jensen Huang, have also manifested themselves in very similar terms. “You will not lose your work at the hands of an AI, but you will lose your work at the hands of someone who uses artificial intelligence,” He sentenced Huang at a conference. Openai managers have also pointed out in that regard by stating that “it is less and less necessary to have a doctorate in AI”, contextualizing a growing demand for skills such as critical thinking for make the right questions in land where AI has not yet developed, but has a margin of expansion. In this sense, the university studies They do not guarantee that ability. Hence the insistence of the managers of these companies to reduce university degrees and value other skills. Degree is not the same as knowledge. AI is having such a big and so fast expansion that Formative centers do not supply to train as many professionals as the sector demands. Therefore, companies do not always link the decision to hire new candidates for their Academic training in AIbut in skills and practical knowledge of AI tools to improve your performance in the position. According to the published data By LinkedIn, job offers that require knowledge in artificial intelligence grew around 70% in the last year. The upper titles keep counting, but they are not the only way. While technology has opened a gap in the importance of titles for specific profiles, higher education and professional training (which is also higher education) remain paths with excellent perspectives. In Spain, 46.96% of the new job offers during the last year They requested FP profilescompared to 21.4% who requested university students. In fact, most of the new hiring in technical sectors in 2025 will be for FP titledand in technical careers, most companies already recognize that the professional path goes to know how to adapt and update, regardless of the educational route. In Xataka | Talent scarcity has chronified to an extreme point: 75% of companies do not find what they are looking for Image | Unspash (Zheyu Huang, Arif Riyanto)

The 100 best universities in the world excluding those of the US, exposed this graphic revealing

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The listings are important. Well for Choose the most reliable car or to see Where can we give ourselves a feasthaving well -ordered options is a good starting point in our search. The same goes for universities and, in These dates after the Pauit is likely that many wonder which one is the best. In this graph prepared by Visual Capitalist We can see the top 100 of the best universities in the world if we do not take into account those of the United States. Eeuu queen, but collapses. The list of the best universities has been prepared thanks to the data and scores of the ranking of Times Higher Educationbut something interesting is that the United States is left out for a very specific reason: although it represents almost a third of the best 100 universities in the world, in recent months Cases of permits rejection are being given due to the changing immigration policy of the country. According to data Of the Association of International Educators, or Nafsa, the interest in studying in the United States by postgraduate students from other countries collapsed in more than 40% after the arrival of Donald Trump to his second term. That after 6.6% increases in 2023 and 11.5% in 2024. Because of that, the graphic excludes American universitiescountry that still has Mit, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Caltech, Berkeley and Yale within the world top 10. United Kingdom: proper name. There are three free positions within those first ten, and the United Kingdom is the protagonist. The best in the world, according to this data, is the Oxford University. His eternal rival, Cambridgeoccupies the fifth place and closes the top 10 the Imperial College of London. The latter does not have as much name as the previous two and is much younger (open in 1907, when the other two are from the eleventh and thirteenth century respectively), but has managed to sneak among the best of the best. If we exclude the United States again, the United Kingdom stands out with 12 universities in the list. Europe, culture focus. If the United States is the one that has the most universities in the top 100 and the United Kingdom that has the best university in the world, as region, it is Europe that carries the singing voice. 36 of the 100 best non -American universities are found in Europe thanks to programs and policies Focused to scientific excellence and research. This list tells us about how Europe is not only an academy, but also a Important research pointwith Germany to the front with eight centers and other countries such as France (4 centers), Sweden (3) and the Netherlands (1) being outstanding names. In this list, Spain, Italy or Portugal are out of Top 100. In fact, according to the list, the only Spanish universities within the Top 200 are the University of Barcelona (position 149), the Pompeu Fabra (176) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (199). Italy strain three others (Bologna (146), Scuola Normale Superior Di Pisa (154) and Sapienza University of Rome (185). China advances with speed. Leaving Europe, another important name is that of China. In recent years, Chinese universities have acquired greater importance in the international scenario due to an exhibition greater to their studies, to research and innovation. The country has seven universities in the list, two of them (the Tsinghua and Beijing) They are within the 20 most important, and is the third country with the most renowned universities at the moment after the US and the United Kingdom. AND It is not a coincidence: The Chinese government has invested more than 23,000 million dollars since 2016 for infrastructure and research equipment improvements and have started To apply policies to attract international students, with programs in English and certain advantages. And also talent. Notable absences. Outside these three regions, we have Japan, Canada, Singapore or Australia as examples of countries that also have universities in this list of the best 100. And, beyond countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece or Italy without universities in this top, we also see a lack of Latin American and African universities. Rejection of listings. And, although lists of this type can be very useful when finding the university that best suits your educational or research needs and can give prestige to those that are above the list, it is also possible that those same universities reject being there. An example is that of the Harvard School of Medicine, which a few years ago said “no” to one of these lists. Specifically, the index of the medical schools of US News & World Report. Reasons? Question the methodology used to create these indexes. But from the index they responded to Harvard stating that, with increasingly faces, students deserve to have access to all data and information to make a decision. Beyond all that, it is curious to know which countries that accumulate that educational and research wealth and know that it is not something that is achieved overnight, needing, as we see in the case of China, that the government impulse is key to improving the university offer. In Xataka | Some millionaires did not like the ideology of universities, so their own university has been created: an anti-woke “

Spanish universities controlled online exams with facial recognition. AEPD has decided that it is enough

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The Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) has reached a clear conclusion about the use of biometric systems with artificial intelligence in online university evaluation. There is no possibility that they can be used legally, at least without a specific enabling law. The trigger. The AEPD has presented A complaint against the International University of Valencia. The VIU had been using a system that combined use of artificial intelligence tools with double camera recording (which the student must contribute) to monitor online tests. It is a practice that It has been doing for more than three yearsand that the agency has sanctioned rejecting the legitimacy of this data processing. Viu is not alone. The International University of Valencia is not an isolated case. Some of the most prestigious in Spain, such as University of BurgosUniversity Isabel I, European University, or the University of La Rioja have been implementing this system for years. It is a solution to the growing demand for 100% online training, with tools that allow the student to monitor without the need for the exams in person. The main objective, according to universities, is to avoid fraud and impersonations of identity during evaluations. The culprit. Smowl, this is the name of The online exam supervision tool. This solution, designed for both business and academic use, allows monitoring with webcam, extra camera, browser block, eyelashes control and, ultimately, replaces human role in exam supervision. In the case of the UIV, it was guaranteed that these data were pseudo and eliminated “quickly”, although it recognized that the processing of these data meant “a very high impact risk for the rights and freedoms of the affected people” The universities are covered in which it is the student who gives their consent to the use of these tools by accepting the general conditions of the course in which it has enrolled. The AEPD has another opinion. There is no legislation that covers its use. Universities are shielding that it is the student who gives their consent to the use of these tools by accepting the general conditions of the course in which it has enrolled. The AEPD has another opinion. “The consent cannot be considered valid because there was no real and effective alternative to students as the software used is the only method allowed to perform online exams. Their rejection by students involved losing their right to evaluation. Nor is the mandatory acceptance of general conditions to enroll when enrolled.” These data are of special category and are regulated by Article 9 of the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD) Since 2022. According to the agency, there is currently no legitic exception in said article or a specific legal framework that enables these practices. It is also rejected that students can give consent, having no alternative available. But it doesn’t close the door. Data protection does not close the door completely to these types of systems. Specifies that it is necessary to develop specific regulations to determine “in what cases, conditions and under what guarantees this biometric treatment can be carried out”. “ Currently, without frame in which to protect yourself, the use of these tools will be subject to sanction for breach of the GDPR. A deep modification of the regulation would not be necessary, it would suffice with an exception that specifically reflect these scenarios of use. Facial recognition in Spain. It is not the first time that Spain calls into question the use of this type of systems. The OBERTA UNIVERSIDAD DE CATALUÑA was sanctioned In 2022 with 20,000 for using facial recognition in their exams. Outside the educational field, one of the most popular cases was that of Mercadona, fined 2.5 million euros for a pilot project in which they tested a facial verification system in their supermarkets. At a lower level, local companies have also faced large fines for breaching the regulations of the GDPR in the workday registry through biometry. Despite this, it is a technology used in video surveillance systems, Like Renfeor that of Madrid in its streets with hundreds of cameras with AI to reinforce the security of the capital. Images | Pexels (Andrea Piacquadio), Unspash (Dom Fou) In Xataka | Pau is approaching: here you have all the degrees related to technology and science with its cutting notes

thousands and thousands of Chinese studying at universities

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According to a group of researchers from the Paulson Institute in Chicago (USA) 38% of experts in artificial intelligence (AI) that develop their professional career in the US It has formed at Chinese universities. In fact, this American institution has concluded that In the US there are more Chinese experts in AI than professionals with a strictly American origin. This, According to Nikkei Asiasome experts in the industry concern due to the possibility that China decides to repatriate their students and researchers from the US to reinforce their AI industry. Some of the best centers dedicated to the science and technology on the planet are in China. The Tsinghua University of Beijing, the Jiao Tong University of Shanghai, the Zhejiang University of Hangzhou, the University of Science and Technology of Hefei or the University of Technology of South China, in Canton, are just a few. All of them have something important in common: they are world reference centers in technology, innovation and applied science. And many of his students are working in the US. At the current situation It is understandable that some American experts are concerned about the possibility of losing these qualified personnel. China wants to “build a strong educational nation” The Chinese education system works. The Government led by Xi Jinping is very aware that the country’s competitiveness In full struggle with the US For world supremacy depends largely on its scientific capacity. If we stick to the development of AI, which is undoubtedly the pitch in which these two superpowers are playing their best cards, it is evident that China advances at an amazing speed. The success of Deepseek supports both the proper functioning of the Chinese education system and the high competitiveness that this country has achieved despite US sanctions and his allies. High-Flyer, the Deepseek matrix, consists of Chinese researchers trained in the best universities in the country In fact, High-Flyer, the Deepseek parent company, is essentially constituted by Chinese researchers who have formed in the best universities in the country. Many of them come from the institutions that I have mentioned a few lines above. The government knows that this asset cannot waste, which in January led him to implement A National Action Plan that pursues “build a strong educational nation.” In addition, this strategy must be consolidated in just a decade. In 2035. Nothing is bad as a purpose. However, this is not all. Several Chinese elite universities They have announced His intention to expand his curricula with the objective of prioritizing the strategic needs of the country. AI is one of them. As we have seen, China already has a lot of scientific talent, and presumably in the medium term it will have more. Maybe much more. And, curiously, Depseek has something to say in this strategy. In fact, some university centers are already using this AI to teach training courses expressly dedicated to this discipline, although this plan does not only affect university students; Primary and secondary schools will also begin to train their students in AI. Image | Usman Abdulrasheedgambo More information | Reuters In Xataka | We already know the secret of the extreme efficiency of Deepseek: it has dodged the Cuda de Nvidia standard

Universities do not supply candidates

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Artificial intelligence is putting in check to the university systemthat is not being able to form the necessary rhythm to the thousands of candidates who are demanding companies. A study of Indesia, association aimed at promoting the use of AI in companies and SMEs, points out that up to 5,000 job offers related to AI and data science were uncovered in 2023 due to lack of qualified profiles. Much demand, few candidates. According to data from the report ‘The future of talent in artificial intelligence and dates in Spain’ of Indesia, almost half of the job offers in AI run the risk of not being able to cover, placing this sector as the most affected by talent scarcityfollowed by cybersecurity and cloud. The roles that record greater difficulty in covering their vacancies due to the lack of qualified personnel are Data Architect, Data Engineer, AI/ML Engineer, NLP Engineer and Computer Vision Engineer. Núria Ávalos, General Director of Indesia, declared to The country that “many degrees are now emerging, but until these people are in a position to assume positions as a data architect there are a few years.” That will take its toll to the industry. The report estimates that, if the accelerator is not chopped in the formation of new talent in these matters, during 2025 34.5% more professional will be needed than in 2024. That is already a very complicated challenge to reach by the deficit that was already recorded last year in professionals from these areas. According to data collected In a study of the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of the Pontifical University Comillas, up to 75% of the digital transformation projects fail due to the lack of training of employees or their qualification. From Indesia they estimate that the education system is able to train about 6,000 new professionals a year, which is a very low pace taking into account the demand for demand of this sector in the next five years. Ávalos pointed out that “the positions that are now not covered are for more experienced profiles, people who can incorporate and make a digital transformation into a company.” That is, people with high qualification in a relatively recent area, but who has had a very fast evolution. What do universities offer? On the other side of the shore, the universities responsible for training these profiles have not reacted with sufficient speed, and only one third of the 90 universities in Spain offer degrees or careers related to data engineering or with the Focus on artificial intelligence. Silvia Terrasa, director of the Computer School of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), assured El País that the process to establish a new university degree that responds to the needs of companies. “It is quite tedious. And then the first promotion does not come out until four years later,” justifying that a gap between the offer of jobs and candidates with adequate profiles. The problem is not the students. One of the biggest problems that universities are facing is the personal lack of teaching to teach subjects in the field of data science and AI. It is a deficit of teachers that already crawls from the lower training cycles with the shortage of Qualified personnel in Stem subjects. The problem is aggravated when such a recent specialization is necessary in which, in itself, there is already a shortage of profiles. “We have no teachers to open more groups,” laments the head of the UPV computer school, pointing out that, if 120 seats are offered for their degrees, 300 students stay out due to lack of place and cannot expand them due to foul of teaching staff that imparts them. A solution proposed by Indesia is to turn companies into training centers, in which students can do guided practices for their specialized personnel. “They are increasingly open for their employees to give classes. They know that it enriches and that it is a way of seeing profiles that interest you and bring them as fellows during the practices,” Ávalos slipped. Importing talent from other branches. Despite the talent scarcity, three out of ten technology job offers are for positions related to data science and IA. That has made many graduates in computer engineering or telecommunications, end up occupying these positions since they have common areas of knowledge. Mathematics and Physical graduates are also recruited. Núria Ávalos pointed out that, in many cases, it is the companies themselves that, given the urgency to cover vacancies, form the candidates internally. “They are recycled in a year, it is not necessary to make a master’s degree. They are usually within the companies themselves.” In Xataka | A study reveals which technological profile will be the most wanted and best paid in 2025: interface designer Image | Unspash (Wonderlane)

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