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Seher Asaf

Seher joined ̽��Ƶ as a reporter covering Europe in January 2026. She was previously a journalist at the BBC and also worked as an editor at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.

Articles by Seher Asaf

Crowd circling around the stars of the EU flag depicted as barbed wire. To illustrate whether the next Horizon Europe will be anything non-EU states want to join.

Will the next Horizon Europe be anything non-EU states want to join?

As the geopolitical order shifts, the case for greater collaboration among like-minded nations on research and innovation seems obvious. But will a greater European focus on its own industrial competitiveness dissuade the likes of Canada, Australia and Japan from signing up? Seher Asaf reports

2 March

A microchip illuminated with right light during production

Rapid growth in semiconductor courses across Europe

Universities launch new programmes to train engineers after coming under pressure to better meet continent’s skills needs

1 March

A stock image of a woman reading a book in a library

Course texts logged as Sweden’s ‘reading crisis’ hits universities

Generation raised in digital-first classrooms questioning importance of books, academics say, but others believe issue has been overblown

26 February

Four European flags fluttering against the headquarters of the European Commission

EU warned over ‘de facto hierarchy’ in new research framework

Universities want ‘clear division’ between FP10 and competitiveness fund to protect frontier research

25 February

Nobel laureate to head German private university

Konstantin Novoselov to lead Constructor University in Bremen

24 February

Dark blue van of Swiss customs passing at Zürich Kloten Airport on a rainy autumn day.

Swiss referendum on population cap ‘puts science at risk’

Country to vote whether to restrict immigration if numbers continue to grow, potentially affecting international students and researchers

19 February

The parliament of Georgia in Tbilisi

Georgian limits on teaching ‘will destroy most programmes’

Government mandates restricting which disciplines universities can offer jeopardises internationally recognised courses, says worst-affected institution

14 February

French universities warn budget fails to fix ongoing woes

New measures only offer temporary relief as state resources fail to keep pace with rising student numbers and increased costs, say leaders

12 February

Icicles hang at the United States Consulate on 19 January, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland.

US scientists warn tensions have hurt relations with Greenland

Academics counting cost of Donald Trump’s threats to take over the territory say ‘the damage is done’ and impact on research will linger for years

11 February

‘Brutal’ success rate for European postdoctoral fellowships

Only 9.6 per cent of applicants awarded coveted Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellowships, with many postdoctoral researchers saying the programme has become too competitive

10 February

HEC Paris bets on campus overhaul as US student interest grows

Grande école embarks on biggest redevelopment for more than 50 years amid changing enrolment patterns and disruptions to traditional teaching models

7 February

Europe’s largest university hit by massive IT outage

Sapienza University of Rome knocked offline for more than three days after suspected cyberattack

6 February

Cyclists in Amsterdam

‘Cautious optimism’ as new Dutch coalition reverses research cuts

After years of turbulence in the higher education sector, Dutch universities say the incoming government marks ‘change of direction’

6 February

Students at a university lecture hall

TEF should ‘penalise universities for failing on racial equity’

Report flags how seven institutions that have achieved a coveted gold rating have black awarding gaps exceeding 25 percentage points

5 February

University severs ties with former chancellor over Epstein links

Queen’s University Belfast to drop name of US senator George Mitchell from its peace centre, and remove bust from campus

2 February

ERA must avoid extra rules and red tape, universities warn

Borderless market for research across the EU seen as ‘major opportunity’ but key groups fear ‘overly restrictive measures’

31 January

Exterior of the University Campus Spui, a renovated structure with a large entrance

Dutch universities open shared campus in The Hague

Former department store transformed into an institution focused on climate, energy, digitalisation and security

30 January

Children playing on a cobblestone street in Ukraine's Lviv

War pushes Ukraine’s academic journals towards open access

International partners step up offers of help as editors battle power cuts, brain drain and ongoing uncertainties of conflict to keep research publishing alive

27 January

A destroyed vehicle near a cathedral in Ukraine

Some Ukrainian students return amid push to avoid brain drain

Enrolments up as universities find ways to connect with country’s huge diaspora, but deputy minister fears many students and academics who have been out of the country for so long unlikely to ever return

23 January

Director of Institute of Development Studies, Anuradha Joshi, with a background of African women tending a garden.

New IDS chief: ‘Whole idea of development studies under question’

Director of Institute of Development Studies discusses stepping into the role after 25 years, impact of USAID cuts and benefits of Sussex collaboration

21 January

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz fly kites during the International Kite Festival

German universities reluctant to join India campus boom

Politicians target closer research collaboration between two countries but campuses unlikely to follow, given funding constraints

16 January

Two-thirds of universities report AI use among doctoral students

Quarter of institutions admit they don’t know if PhD candidates are working with AI, while only a small proportion say they are coming up with guidelines on its use

15 January

A man with grey hair and wearing a suit speaks at a podium

Melbourne brings back Glyn Davis as interim vice-chancellor

Former leader returns to the role following the death of the university’s first female vice-chancellor, Emma Johnston, from cancer complications

12 January

A marble statue at a university in Greece

Greek purge of 300,000 ‘eternal’ students ‘long overdue’

Big cut in enrolments seen as way of modernising country’s universities but some warn further changes are needed to stop students lingering for years

10 January