Brussels, 28/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - According to a new report published by the European Universities' Association (EUA), universities and higher education institutions need enough money for their teaching and research but also to ensure their long-term financial survival. EUA says adequate public finance is vital, along with other, autonomous, sources of funding, to ensure a proper long-term future. The Financially Sustainable Universities II: European Universities Diversifying Income Sources report was unveiled in Brussels last week, compiled from the polling of 150 universities in 27 European countries. The main conclusions are that: (1) public funding remains the main source of income for European universities, accounting for 73% of universities' budgets on average, but universities are managing to diversify funding to an ever greater extent; (2) most of the people polled are concerned about a potential reduction in state funding for education (53%), but fewer are worried about research (30%); (3) red tape is holding back diversification of financial resources and the most autonomous universities are therefore best able to ensure a range of funding options; and (4) internal barriers are as responsible as external constraints when it comes to holding back universities' financial diversification. Lack of knowledge among academic staff is the most often quoted obstacle. The report makes the following recommendations: (1) governments and public authorities should invest more in higher education, spending 3% of GDP on it, and introduce a system that would help universities become more autonomous, along with a streamlining of red-tape; (2) universities should include financial diversification as part of their institutional strategy, designing a development strategy that suits their own needs, investing in human resources and getting staff members more involved in communication strategies. (I.L./transl.fl)