Thu, 11 March 2010
Saturday 20 March 2010, 09.30 AM until 6.00 PM, Goodenough College A one day satellite conference of the Battle of Ideas festival: a pre-election public summit. Organised by the Institute of Ideas. Venue: Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AB. Produced by: Dolan Cummings, convenor of the Battle for Politics and Claire Fox, director of the Institute of Ideas. With: Dave Bowden, Joel Cohen, Timandra Harkness, Craig Fairnington, Patrick Hayes, Luke Gittos, Kevin Rooney, Geoff Kidder, Robin Walsh and Kirk Leech. Tickets: Standard £20 waged/£15 concession; IoI members £15 waged/£10 concession; Goodenough College students/alumni £10. Tickets are available here… Bookshop: A range of books on the themes of the conference and by speakers will be available thanks to Newham Bookshop. Sessions: View sessions listing. Party politics no longer seems to be about clear ideological differences, or indeed any kind of substantial debate reflecting competing visions for a better society. Nonetheless, many pressing issues remain unresolved. So though it might be tempting to write off mainstream politics as irrelevant, and to take a ‘none of the above’ position in the coming election, this can only feed the pervasive cynicism about the possibility of social change and progress. History has not gone on standby, but continues to throw up new challenges.
The institute of Ideas wants to take the opportunity of this election to re-enfranchise the electorate and put each candidate on the spot by asking them to declare where they stand on a range of key questions. The summit will launch the IoI’s POLITICAL PLEDGE CARD and ask candidates in the 2010 UK general election if they are prepared to argue and campaign around issues of:
Category:Events
-- posted at: 1:26 PM
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Thu, 11 March 2010
Concentrating research funding and doctoral students in just a handful of universities will damage both the UK university sector and the economy as a whole, according to new research from university think-tank million+ Launched on 2nd March 2010 at the House of Commons, ‘A Postgraduate Strategy for Britain’ argues that proposals from research intensive universities to concentrate postgraduate provision should be set aside; this approach would have a negative effect on the economy, will damage innovation, will undermine expansion and accessibility, and will weaken the international competitiveness of the sector. Recommendations from the report include: • The policy of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which requires funding councils to support greater levels of concentration in high-level STEM from 2010-11 should be set aside. • Research councils should adopt positive policies to promote professionally focused and employer focused postgraduate provision. • A fairer share of postgraduate funding should be used to support innovation in postgraduate provision in new subject areas and emerging markets. • Part-time, flexible and accessible postgraduate provision should be incentivised by research and funding councils. • Targets should be set to increase the number and diversity of UK-domiciled postgraduate students. The research, undertaken in partnership with Coventry University, showed that modern universities deliver 37% of all postgraduate provision in the UK and support 76% of all postgraduate students considered as mature (25 or over). Modern universities also supported almost half (48%) of the total part-time postgraduate student population and attracted 40.6% of all new UK-domiciled minority ethnic students from 2007-2009. Professor Les Ebdon, Chair of million+ and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire said, “There is no economic or academic case for the concentration of funding for research or doctoral students. Once the lower levels of research funding received by modern universities are taken into account pound for pound these universities are more productive in their delivery of postgraduate provision which has always been reliant on the quality of teaching and supervision rather than on intensity or critical mass of research funding.” million+ also recommends that further detailed research is needed to look at student funding support models for postgraduate students. The complexity of the student support system for postgraduate students is a barrier for many individuals and needs to be simplified to increase access to and expand postgraduate provision. Lord Browne’s review of fees and funding in England should not seek to transfer funding from undergraduate provision to postgraduate provision. To download a copy of the report, please click here.
Category:News
-- posted at: 1:23 PM
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Thu, 11 March 2010
It is time doctorates were seen as a qualification for all kinds of jobs in the modern world and not just as a ticket for an academic career, says the League of European Research Universities.
A new league paper, 'Doctoral degrees beyond 2010: Training talented researchers for society' says the doctorate has evolved into a qualification for people who are "highly creative, critical, autonomous, intellectual risk-takers who push the boundaries of knowledge and innovation whatever their employment destination may be". A growing number of doctoral graduates now go into non-academic careers says Professor David Bogle, main author of the LERU paper and head of the graduate school at University College London. Professor Bogle said, "This indicates there is a strong demand from the private and public sector for the skills that a doctorate instils for employment beyond the education sector." Such training should be concentrated in research-intensive environments where excellence is fostered, says the paper. It says that PhD graduates stand out by their competence, by their achievement and by their social skills. Under this last heading, the paper explains that such graduates "develop a team work attitude and can collaborate and communicate with specialists and non-specialists". It was the combination of these three skill sets that equipped doctoral graduates "to successfully apply their advanced skills in or beyond research and to take up leading roles in any employment where deep, rigorous analysis and creative thinking are needed." The development and take-up of these skills by society required a strong vision, forward looking investment and concerted effort by governments, employers, universities and by talented bright minds to make it happen. The league called on governments and the EU to increase investment in doctoral education, and on employers and universities to work together so that "rigorous research remains the cornerstone of the doctorate and that doctoral training is a suitable preparation for work in today's world". Among other recommendations to universities, it called for research to remain the cornerstone of the doctorate, and to develop doctoral graduates who were creative risk takers with a rigorous approach to the research questions they tackled. To download a copy of the report, please click here.
Category:News
-- posted at: 1:20 PM
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