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The French higher education landscape has been considerably altered in the early twenty-first century. In order to enhance the competitiveness of the sector at the global level, the French government has steered the system through structural policy processes aimed at consolidating it and overcoming the traditional divide between universities andgrandes écoles, while providing incentive schemes rewarding mergers.

The French higher education landscape has been considerably altered in the early twenty-first century. In order to enhance the competitiveness of the sector at the global level, the French government has steered the system through structural policy processes aimed at consolidating it and overcoming the traditional divide between universities and grandes écoles, while providing incentive schemes rewarding mergers.

On such divisive issues as EU membership and, consequently, the post-Brexit relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, it is unsurprising that Theresa May's government has been torn between a "hard" and a "soft" Brexit. As of June 2018, there is still no indication of which approach will prevail, putting at risk UK universities' participation in the Erasmus+ program, which has provided, among other things, opportunities for over four million Europeans to study, train, and volunteer abroad since its inception. Full access to EU research funds is also at risk. Universities cannot depend on the UK government's help in securing the frameworks allowing for continuity. In such a context, universities have started to use their limited resources to secure bilateral international and European links to foster research collaboration and staff and student mobility, post-Brexit.

On 6 March 2018 the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) released its proposed vision for the EU's Ninth Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021- 2027). Recently christened Horizon Europe, this is the world's largest and most competitive research funding programme, established at a time of growing uncertainty as to whether the UK wants, can afford, or will be allowed to fully participate. This is the first time the EU framework programme will include 'Europe' in its name, flagging a commitment to the wellbeing of its members and the European project – one the UK has chosen to leave. The UK's participation in Horizon Europe is likely to be dependent on the continuing Brexit negotiations and the respective moods in Brussels and London.

Theresa May acknowledged in an open letter dated 11 December 2017 that the UK would be 'poorer' if non-UK EU citizens living in the UK were to leave as a result of Brexit. This statement is especially relevant to the UK higher education (HE) sector, and to EU staff working at UK universities.

While Theresa May pledged that "the days of sending vast sums of money to the EU" are over, the UK is still very much under the illusion that the days of receiving large amounts of EU money in specific sectors are not. Hopes of an early deal allowing UK universities to remain among the highest beneficiaries of EU research funding programmes are vanishing quickly. The UK is holding on to its red lines – such as ending free movement and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – and British officials are still publicly debating the possibility of the UK backtracking on the 'divorce bill' without securing a trade deal. With less than three months to go before both sides hope to achieve an agreement in October 2018, the government's recent White Paper offered a twofold opportunity: first, to set out its post-Brexit position for higher education and research; and, second, to present the outcome of two years of negotiations. While the White Paper embraced future collaboration with EU partners, it fell short of the second objective, lacking detail and remaining non-committal in terms of the partnership status the government seeks to obtain.

UK higher education is about to experience a period of turbulence, as the consequences of the UK leaving the European Union (EU) become clearer. Higher education institutions are bracing themselves for what will no doubt be a period of substantial change, uncertainty and challenge, but also opportunity. This paper outlines some of the consequences of Brexit for UK higher education institutions.

Ever since the Lisbon European Council declared in March 2000 that Europe was to become the "most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world", European Union (EU) institutions have actively promoted various strategies to achieve this ambitious goal. For example, as early as 2003, the European Commission strongly advocated for a "Europe of Knowledge" (2003), and in the following years has regularly released Communications (2005, 2006, 2011) explicitly nudging member states to 'modernise' their higher education systems and universities.

A new, deep and special partnership in science and innovation between the EU and the UK must be agreed upon as a matter of urgency. The continuity of high quality research, innovation and ultimately the status of the UK as a leading knowledge economy depends on it.

Higher education has evolved considerably since the early twentieth century. The concept of a system of higher education only emerged after World War II, with the growing understanding that universities are embedded within a system. Indeed, much has changed since the days when universities would consider themselves as ?singular entities with various loose linkages (to knowledge, to academia, to the government, to the nation, to the globe) without any single of these references viewed as clearly dominant? (Teichler, 2008, p.356). ; TARA (Trinity?s Access to Research Archive) has a robust takedown policy. Please contact us if you have any concerns: rssadmin@tcd.ie