Higher Education Financing: a Comparison Romania and United Kingdom

The present paper is motivated by the importance of financing for the higher education sector. The formulae based financing Romanian higher education system has been inspired from the British financing system. In this context the paper makes a comparison between the higher education financing system in Romania with the one from United Kingdom. Similarities and differences are identified and potential consequences for the sector. The paper concludes that at present at international level, public money is not enough to support higher education and that it is a necessity to encourage HEIs to attract also private funds. Based on the results of a country with a long experience in using the formulae based funding mechanism and the results of a country that recently started to use this funding mechanism, coupled with the fact that both countries use additional funding sources and mechanisms, we can conclude that at present formulae based funding mechanisms are suitable systems to allocate public funds. At the same time they have to be used together with other mechanisms to attract funds from both public and private sources in order to ensure a good financing of the higher education sector.higher education; financing; comparison Romania versus United Kingdom.

ROMANIA’S EXTERNAL MIGRATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ACCESSION TO THE EU - INSTITUTIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL CHALLENGES

This paper represents a part of the authors’ contribution to a study developed under the auspices of the European Institute in Romania included in the “Pre-Accession Impact Studies - PAIS II” series, funded by a Phare project. The study combines the aspects related to mechanisms, legislation, institutional and behavioural challenges with the quantitative and qualitative estimations of the external migration effects, in accordance with Romania’s preparations for accession to the EU. The main conclusion pointed out by the analysis of the institutional issues is that so far the measures which are adopted in Romania with regard to both legislation and institutional framework are rather reactive, aiming to ensure the adjustment to the EU requirements, than to design and follow a national migration policy with clear objectives. As it completes the creation of the legal-institutional framework according to the EU standards, Romania will concentrate on designing its own migration policy, convergent with those existing at European level. Moreover, the elaboration and adoption of laws, the creation of institutions, the development of corresponding strategies and policies represent major components of this process, but their success cannot be separated from the manner in which the involved actors –governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations, mass-media, communities, individuals – respond to the so-called “behavioural challenges”, related to participation, communication, mentalities and attitudes. The paper is organized as follows: first, an analysis of the integration mechanisms is provided, focusing on migration flows, specific mechanisms and institutional-legislative framework created in Romania for external migration administration. Second, the inquiry into the social-cultural dimension highlights the migrant’s profile (emigrant, immigrant), the issues related to the integration within the host country and the phenomenon perception by public opinion and mass-media. The entire paper supports the idea that with a careful, objective vision and proper management the future national migration policy may become a major catalyst, able to enhance a new economic prosperity in Romania.

Nation Branding and its Potential for Differentiation in Regional Politics: The Case of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar

Simon Anholt, who fathered the concept of nation branding, values the nation brand as the most important resource of a state as it contributes to obtaining a competitive advantage and a consolidated position in the international marketplace. This paper pinpoints how Anholt’s paradigm for nation branding applies in the case study of two Middle Eastern countries: the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar and its benefits for this regional context. The Middle Eastern countries operate less with the nation branding concepts when compared with the Western world. However, the UAE and Qatar used nation branding techniques quite savvy, Anholt’s model internalization being relevant. As of today, the UAE represents Middle East’s most powerful brand, while one of its main cities- Dubai- has gained a reputation for its cosmopolitan vibe, whereas Doha of Qatar is consolidating its fame on the international sports circuit. Overall, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) bloc - a region of great wealth positioned between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula- has become acquainted with the advantages of nation branding. Despite the fact that these countries did not target creating a nation brand per se, they took measures for economic development that resulted in nation branding and regional differentiation. In the recent years, Qatar and the UAE have developed strategies for branding attractions that help in distinguishing themselves from their neighbors. The study uses Anholt’s conceptual framework for assessing the two countries in their different development stages and from a comparative viewpoint, identifying both communalities and differentiating strategies while developing nation brands. The conclusion is that nation branding can be particularly beneficial to nations from emerging economies and that the GCC specifically can benefit from this process

Learn and Work in the 21’st Century. A Review of Employability Models for HE Graduates: Different Levels of Analysis

Academic literature recognizes that knowledge is universal and higher education, as the main provider of knowledge and competences, is all the more not constrained by borders. In this regard, meeting the demand for competences is also challenging especially for the graduates of the 21’st century who are confronted with the rapid changes of fourth industrial era economies. We propose a systematic literature review on increasing the employability of HE graduates by selecting relevant studies that analyze the employers, graduates and educators’ perceptions of the employability skills for graduates. Also our investigation includes an analysis of existing graduates’ employability models and proposes a comprehensive extension of these models considering the factors that have implication in increasing the employability. Thus, starting from reviewing the literature on employability on three levels of investigation: HE institutions, policy makers and employers and considering the selected employability models that propose a better design for curricula, our study will continue with creating an integrated employability model that takes into account all the factors identified on employability literature on each level (or main actors that have influence on employability and determine new requirements): HE institutions, policy makers and employers. This approach aims to identify on one hand the necessary skills and competences for increasing HE graduates’ employability in order to reduce the gap between demand and supply of competences on labor market and on the other hand to identify and understand the factors of impact on employability of HE graduates in order to find solutions for achieving employability skills by curricula

IRRIGATION STATION EQUIPMENT FOR PREVENTING THE USE OF LOW WATER QUALITY

In Romania the economically efficient irrigated area is estimated at 3.5 million hectares. On national scale there is nointegrated approach for monitoring the quantity and quality of the irrigation water, using adequate equipment at thepumping station. On international scale, in many countries the pumping stations are provided with equipment formonitoring, on real time, the quality or the pumped water and for warning about critical situations (emergencies).This paper describes a technical solution consisting of equipment which monitors the following parameters of waterpumped in irrigation systems: turbidity, pH, CE at 25 o C, Na+, Cl-. The lapse of time for monitoring is of 10 to 60 min.The main components are the following: the sampling pump (submersible) the monitoring board, the repression pipe ofthe analyzed water. Warnings are made about values exceeding the programmed level for each monitored parameter,about the fact that the pump and agitator do not work or about any other source of damage.The technical solution and equipment were tested at a pumping station which uses water from Danube, in most casesmixed with water originating from drainage. Results showed a reduction of the total content of soluble salts from soiland of their negative impact upon the crops, a reduction of the degree of river alluvial deposits within the irrigationsystem and reduction of the energetic consumption required for pumping

The Romanian Journal of European Studies No.4/2005

The Romanian Journal of European Studies No.4/2005 ISSN 1583 - 199X EUV - Editura Universitatii de Vest, Timisoara, 2005 The British Coucil in Bucharest and The School of High Comparative European Studies (SISEC), within the West University of Timisoara, edited The Romanian Journal of European Studies - special issue on migration and mobility (Guest editor: Mr. Martin GEIGER, Bonn University, Germany; contact: [email protected]). For more information or to obtain a printed copy, please contact Mr. Dan MOGA, at SISEC (E-mail: [email protected]) CONTENTS: Foreword; Grigore Silasi ... page 5 Editorial; Martin Geiger ... pages 7 - 8 Forms and Features of the Post-Enlargement Migration Space; Paolo Ruspini ... pages 9 - 18 Managing Migration for an Enlarging Europe - Inter-governmental Organizations and the Governance of the Migration Flows; Martin Geiger ... pages 19 - 30 Balkan Migrations and The European Union: Patterns and Trends; Martin Baldwin-Edwards ... pages 31 - 43 Workers' Mobility': Europe's Integration and Second Thoughts; Peter van Krieken ... pages 45 - 53 Romania's External Migration in the Context of Accesion to the EU: Mechanisms, Institutions and Social-Cultural Issues; Luminita Nicolescu, Daniela-Luminita Constantin ... pages 55 - 63 Migrations et incidence sur la répartition spatiale de la population en Roumanie au niveau national et régional; Vasile Ghetau ... pages 65 - 8

Special Issue - Six articles on immigration policy.

The Romanian Journal of European Studies No.4/2005 ISSN 1583 - 199X. EUV - Editura Universitatii de Vest, Timisoara, 2005 The British Coucil in Bucharest and The School of High Comparative European Studies (SISEC), within the West University of Timisoara, edited The Romanian Journal of European Studies No.4/2005 - special issue on migration and mobility (Guest editor: Mr. Martin GEIGER, Bonn University, Germany; contact: [email protected]). CONTENTS: Foreword; Grigore Silasi ... page 5 Editorial; Martin Geiger ... pages 7 - 8 Forms and Features of the Post-Enlargement Migration Space; Paolo Ruspini ... pages 9 - 18 Managing Migration for an Enlarging Europe - Inter-governmental Organizations and the Governance of the Migration Flows; Martin Geiger ... pages 19 - 30 Balkan Migrations and The European Union: Patterns and Trends; Martin Baldwin-Edwards ... pages 31 - 43 Workers' Mobility': Europe's Integration and Second Thoughts; Peter van Krieken ... pages 45 - 53 Romania's External Migration in the Context of Accesion to the EU: Mechanisms, Institutions and Social-Cultural Issues; Luminita Nicolescu, Daniela-Luminita Constantin ... pages 55 - 63 Migrations et incidence sur la répartition spatiale de la population en Roumanie au niveau national et régional; Vasile Ghetau ... pages 65 - 8

Consumer empowerment in the digital economy: availing sustainable purchasing decisions

The advent of the digital economy and, implicitly, of competition in the online marketplace has triggered new challenges in terms of consumer protection approaches. Online, consumer skills are expected to be improved and the level of consumer awareness and engagement increased. These are the baseline prerequisites of the sustainable purchasing decision and, thus, should be considered as pillars of responsible online consumption. Consistent with the novel consumption challenges, the current paper is intended to advance and test a research model integrating five main constructs, namely, competition in the online marketplace, online consumer skills, online consumer awareness, online consumer engagement and sustainable purchasing decision. A total of 318 college students—a representative population of the new Millennials generation—accepted the invitation to participate in a questionnaire-based survey. In order to pertinently analyze the collected data, a structural equation modeling technique based on partial least squares was employed for the assessment of the measurement and the structural model. The findings indicated that the model explained 24.4 percent of the variance of sustainable purchasing decisions, while the highest influence was exerted by the improvement of online consumer skills. This implies that online providers should revisit their products sustainability standards on purpose to preserve a competitive advantage

Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method

The aim of the present study was the development of Nb-doped ITO thin films for carbon monoxide (CO) sensing applications. The detection of CO is imperious because of its high toxicity, with long-term exposure having a negative impact on human health. Using a feasible sol–gel method, the doped ITO thin films were prepared at room temperature and deposited onto various substrates (Si, SiO2/glass, and glass). The structural, morphological, and optical characterization was performed by the following techniques: X-ray diffractometry (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The analysis revealed a crystalline structure and a low surface roughness of the doped ITO-based thin films. XTEM analysis (cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy) showed that the film has crystallites of the order of 5–10 nm and relatively large pores (around 3–5 nm in diameter). A transmittance value of 80% in the visible region and an optical band-gap energy of around 3.7 eV were found for dip-coated ITO/Nb films on SiO2/glass and glass supports. The EDX measurements proved the presence of Nb in the ITO film in a molar ratio of 3.7%, close to the intended one (4%). Gas testing measurements were carried out on the ITO undoped and doped thin films deposited on glass substrate. The presence of Nb in the ITO matrix increases the electrical signal and the sensitivity to CO detection, leading to the highest response for 2000 ppm CO concentration at working temperature of 300 °C