The IHEM “trends-spotter” is updated annually by country and topic experts from the Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS). This ensures that the information per country and per topic is always up-to- date. Once a year, the trends identified at the international level on some key issues (such as governance, accessibility, funding, differentiation, quality) in the IHEM-Trends Spotter are summarized and presented online. The information focuses on key policy issues emerging in the different countries over the year. These issues are then fed into the discussion of the Dutch strategic agenda for higher education and the findings are presented and discussed with the Ministry.
The research is mainly desk-research which is based on years of experience in the CHEPS staff and its strong international profile. Researchers not only have access to scientific databases and literature, but in many cases to government documents . Moreover, substantial contributions to the reports are provided by national and international networks of experts, at institutional, national and supranational level.