A platform launched in October offers free real-time personalized counselling to people who want to study in Europe. Users of EduCoach (www.phdportal.eu) can chat to advisers about 2,500 PhD programmes at 950 universities across 40 countries. Topics include programme choice, visas, applications, living arrangements, and language and cultural challenges. EduCoach will launch video chats next year, says Sissy Böttcher, project manager with the platform's European Commission-funded developer, StudyPortals in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.