European Institute of Technology Moves Another Step Closer to Reality Ars Technica (05/03/07) Hruska, Joel
as it appeared in the May 7, 2007 edition of ACM TechNews.
The proposed European Institute of Technology (EIT) may open this fall, but first European Union governments will have to agree on several key issues as well as provide the 300 million euros needed to fund the first year of the EIT. EU education commissioner Jan Figel hopes that a formative bill will be voted on in July. The new EIT model, however, is a compromise from its original version. Originally, the EIT was modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was supposed to be a center of learning based in a single location capable of competing as a world-class, industry-funded research university. Now, instead of being a single facility, the EIT is being discussed as a collaborative effort between current universities and corporations across various EU member states. Operating budgets have also been drastically cut, as the original plans called for a 2.4 billion euros budget over the next five years. Discussions are underway with various European businesses to provide additional funding, and if successful, up to half of EIT's budget could come from private sources, giving the organizations 600 million euros to start with. While the EIT will be a joint effort, the project will have a base of operations that has yet to be determined. Reportedly, over 60 towns in Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia have applied. Click Here to View Full Article
