Brussels, 09/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Following a decade of change and multiple reforms in European higher education and research and sharp cuts in public funding, universities across Europe are responding by developing and “sharpening” their own distinctive university profiles. This was one of the clear messages from the European University Association (EUA) annual conference in Palermo on 20-23 October. In the face of recent developments, the universities discussed how to overcome the challenges to consolidate their teaching and research role. Specific solutions included looking to diversify funding sources, developing and sustaining effective research partnerships with a wide range of partners and providing incentives and development opportunities for staff. Universities are also looking to develop “multicultural learning environments” and developing ways to respond to the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. They will also have to take decisions such as whether to focus on specific educational/research niches and how to promote interdisciplinarity. The challenge is to, on the one hand, serve their own regions while maintaining an international orientation and avoid “bureaucratisation” while professionalising management, on the other. Another key element for the future, addressed during the conference, was the need for universities to overcome the existing barriers in many systems to attracting and retaining talented staff and to create more flexible career structures for their talented young researchers, and academic and administrative staff. (I.L./transl.rt)