New Rule Facilitates Internships for Foreign Students
source: AAAS Policy Alert -- July 02, 2008

A new State Department regulation [attached to this post, link provided below] that takes effect in late July will make it easier for U.S. colleges and universities to offer internships of up to 12 months to students who are foreign nationals enrolled in institutions outside of the U.S. The option has been available to American private sector companies since 2007. U.S. colleges and universities expect the new rule to encourage foreign institutions to reciprocate with internship opportunities for American students. Meanwhile, as George Will [link provided below] notes in a Washington Post op-ed, European countries are expediting recruitment of highly-skilled foreigners, including those who have obtained advanced degrees in the U.S. and are unable to get work visas here.

State Department Link:
http://www.info-aaas.org/util/link.jsp?e=2O_odGyng9kHXsR_lt2roFs...

Washington Post Link:
http://www.info-aaas.org/util/link.jsp?e=3HAdVkrSLcAEJ1VfAFh0qQB...

As of February 2008, I was chosen to be the Chair of the MCFA (mcfa.eu).

A bit about the MCFA, taken from the "About us" section from the MCFA homepage (http://www.mcfa.eu):
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The Marie Curie Fellows Association is the Association of scientists who have once been awarded a Marie Curie fellowship or other European Community research training grant selected through a selection procedure. A Marie Curie fellowship is a grant within a harmonized scheme under one of the European RTD framework programmes to stimulate the training and mobility of researchers in the European Community.

The Association is organised along hierarchical lines with both regional/local groups, national groups and on an international level. There are also horizontal structures such as committees and working groups.

The Association was launched at an inaugural seminar in Brussels in October 1996. This seminar was organized under the auspices of the European Commission. During its first three years the Association received a generous grant from the European Commission. At the same time the Marie Curie Fellowships Unit at the Direction Generale XII of the European Commission supported the Association with advice and logistical help. Today there are still tight links between the Association representatives and the European Commission.
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The MCFA is a Membership based Association, so if you care about the conditions for mobile researchers in Europe, and you have or have had Marie Curie Fellowship, please do not hesitate to join us! The more we are, the more people will listen.

The European University Association (EUA) mentioned in its most recent newsletter that it is involved in establishing a long-term EU-Asia partnership in Higher Education: http://www.eua.be/index.php?id=628 .