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University officials have been accused of misleading an Oireachtas committee over the way they run their financial affairs. Senior officials from colleges including University of Limerick, DIT and University College Cork appeared before the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee on Thursday to answer allegations over unauthorised severance packages, conflicts of interest and poor corporate governance. In one episode, officials at the university of Limerik paid severance packages to two staff due to ‘employment relationships breaking down’, but then went on to re-employ both individuals as consultants.

In a surprise move, the president of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany this week announced plans to overhaul controversial contracts governing the use of a €150 million donation from a philanthropic foundation. Critics have charged that the agreement gives the donor too much control over publishing decisions and faculty appointments at the school’s Institute of Molecular Biology, which the foundation helped create in 2009. The move, which could eventually influence similar funding arrangements at other German universities, only partly satisfies critics. They are pushing for greater transparency from universities and donors.

Every researcher in the Netherlands is to be questioned about whether they have committed research misconduct or engaged in “sloppy science” as part of a major national effort to bolster scientific standards. In response to rising concerns over a “reproducibility crisis” in science and a series of high-profile fraud cases in the Netherlands, the country is to commit 8 million euros ($9 million) to understanding the problem, finding solutions and trying to reproduce critical studies.

Revealed: university representatives met with daughter of Chinese prime minister to win donation university officials later claimed had "no link" to Chinese government.

Unauthorized payments of allowances, bonuses and enhanced pensions for some university staff over several years have been revealed in a report from Ireland's public spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Due to new reforms, high school graduates applying to college will take a standardized assessment exam for universities in order to resolve the issues of corruption and select the best-suited students. According to the Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, American students applying to Tbilisi State University faced fees from USD 5 000 to 15 000 for entrance-exam preparation classes taught by the same professors administering the tests.

It is claimed that a "slow corruption" is being installed as universities are struggling for funds. Degrees are for sale and in one university a professor at a former polytechnic was found to have ordered his staff to "minimise" the number of failing students by marking up those at risk of failing because there has been a drop in applications.