2 martie 2019
„Doctoranzi si cercetatori postdoctorat pregatiti pentru piata muncii”, proiect castigat de Universitatea „Cuza” din Iasi
Autoritatea de Management pentru Programul Operational Capital Uman (POCU) 2014-2020 a publicat, pe data de 27 februarie 2019, lista finala a cererilor de finantare aprobate pentru apelul de proiecte POCU/380/6/13/ – Sprijin pentru doctoranzi si cercetatori post-doctorat.
Printre cele 18 proiecte aprobate la nivel national, se numara si proiectul cu titlul „Doctoranzi si cercetatori postdoctorat pregatiti pentru piata muncii”, propus de Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” (UAIC) din Iasi, în parteneriat cu Academia de Studii Economice din Bucuresti si cu doi parteneri privati, selectati în urma unei proceduri care a respectat principiile transparentei, tratamentului egal, nediscriminarii si utilizarii eficiente a fondurilor publice.
Proiectul va fi finantat în cadrul Programului Operational Capital Uman 2014-2020 (POCU), Axa Prioritara 6: Educatie si competente, Obiectivul tematic 10: Efectuarea de investitii în domeniul educatiei, al formarii si al formarii profesionale în vederea dobândirii de competente si a învatarii pe tot parcursul vietii, Prioritatea de investitii 10 iv. Îmbunatatirea utilitatii sistemelor de educatie si formare pentru piata muncii, facilitarea trecerii de la educatie la munca si consolidarea sistemelor de educatie si formare profesionala si a calitatii lor, inclusiv prin mecanisme pentru anticiparea competentelor, adaptarea programelor de învatamânt si crearea si dezvoltarea de sisteme de învatare bazate pe munca, inclusiv sisteme de învatare duale si de ucenicie.
„Cu un buget total de 6.877.908,86 lei, proiectul îsi propune crearea unui cadru favorabil insertiei pe piata muncii a doctoranzilor si cercetatorilor postdoctorat din grupul tinta, prin acordarea de sprijin financiar si prin dobândirea de competente antreprenoriale si transversale. Grupul tinta eligibil în cadrul acestei cereri de propuneri de proiecte include numai cetateni ai Uniunii Europene cu domiciliul sau resedinta în România, care urmeaza programe doctorale sau postdoctorale subventionate de la bugetul de stat, în regim cu taxa sau din alte surse legal constituite, si care îsi înscriu cercetarile domeniilor prioritare ale Strategiei Nationale de Competitivitate 2014-2020, respectiv în domeniile de specializare inteligenta, identificate pe baza potentialului lor stiintific si comercial, prevazute în Strategia Nationala de Cercetare, Dezvoltare si Inovare 2014-2020″, au transmis oficialii UAIC.
Prin acest proiect, 120 doctoranzi si 40 cercetatori postdoctorat din cadrul Universitatii „Cuza” din Iasi vor beneficia de burse lunare pe perioada derularii programelor antreprenoriale personalizate pe domenii de specializare inteligenta si vor avea posibilitatea de a accesa oportunitatile de finantare a unor stagii nationale si internationale, publicarii de articole în jurnale de specialitate, participarii la conferinte si alte manifestari stiintifice, derularii unor stagii practice (internship-uri) în laboratoare/centre de cercetare si companii (potentiali angajatori), participarii la sesiuni de consiliere si orientare profesionala. Proiectul a fost realizat de o echipa coordonata de prof. univ. dr. Liviu-George Maha, conducator de doctorat în cadrul Scolii Doctorale de Economie si Administrarea Afacerilor, din care au facut parte membri ai Biroului Proiecte de Dezvoltare din cadrul Universitatii „Cuza”.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași și Ziarul de Iași
Cel mai așteptat târg educațional internațional al anului se organizează pe 4 martie la Iași. British Council devine partener oficial al World Education Fair
Zeci de instituții internaționale de învățământ vor fi prezente la Iași la pe 4 martie la World Education Fair, cel mai așteptat târg educațional al anului de către tinerii ieșeni interesați de studii în străinătate. La ediția din această primăvară British Council devine partener oficial, implicat în organizarea și comunicarea cu universitățile din Marea Britanie.
“Avem un mesaj foarte clar de transmis tinerilor din Iași care doresc să studieze în Marea Britanie, din partea universităților și liceelor din UK. Acestea își păstrează traseul pozitiv și optimist în ceea ce privește primirea românilor în spațiul britanic de învățământ. Dealtfel, în acest an avem cea mai masivă participare a instituțiilor de învățământ britanice la un astfel de eveniment, ceea ce demonstrează încă o dată deschiderea sistemului din UK pentru a primi studenți români”, declară Nigel Bellingham, Director, British Council România.
Datele IntegralEdu: Creștere cu 20% a numărului de tineri pe toate destinațiile de studii universitare
UK rămâne cea mai populară destinație de studiu, iar numărul românilor care au plecat anul trecut la studii în Marea Britanie a crescut cu 10% față de anul academic anterior, de la 2540 în 2017-2018, la 2800 în 2018-2019.
Destinația de studiu cu cea mai mare creștere în ultimul an este Olanda, date fiind condițiile din ce în ce mai favorabile implementate de universitățile din această țară, fiind pe locul 2 în topul preferințelor clienților IntegralEdu. “În 2018 numărul tinerilor români care au plecat la studii în Olanda a crescut cu 22%, față de 2017. Unii dintre factorii importanți care au condus la această creștere rezidă în deschiderea universităților către tinerii din România, sistemul modern de predare, dar și diversificarea și mai mare a programelor de studiu în limba engleză. Atfel încât aproape toate programele de studiu în limba olandeză au și corespondent în limba engleză”, declară Madeleine Popescu, Consultant și Career Tests Coordinator, IntegralEdu.
Alte destinații preferate de tinerii români, pentru toate nivelurile de învățământ sunt: țările nordice, Elveția, Franța, Germania, Austria, SUA și Canada.
Pe toate destinațiile de studiu internaționale creșterea medie a numărului de tineri care accesează aceste programe prin IntegralEdu este de 20% față de 2017. “În calitate de consultanți educaționali, observăm preferința tinerilor pentru destinații tradiționale, în sensul că își doresc să meargă să studieze într-o anumită țară, doar pentru că destinația respectivă este la modă. Deseori, în urma proceselor de evaluare și îndrumare, opțiunile în ceea ce privește țara și programul de studiu se modifică. Aici ne ajută foarte mult și instrumentele interne precise, dezvoltate de specialiștii de la Cambridge Occupational Analysts, pentru direcționarea tinerilor către domeniile de studiu care li se potrivesc cu adevărat”, precizează Madeleine Popescu.
Care sunt tendințele la EduTaberele în străinătate. Dubai – o nouă destinațieîn protofoliu
Marea Britanie rămâne în topul destinațiilor și pentru edutabere în străinătate. Anul acesta, IntegralEdu a înregistrat o creștere de 65% pentru edutaberele din Marea Britanie, comparativ cu încrieriile efectuate până la aceeași perioadă a anului trecut. Următoarele destinații preferate de familiile din România sunt: Germania, Franța, Elveția, Portugalia, Spania. Din acest an, în portofoliul de edutabere s-a configurat o nouă destinație deluxeîn Dubai, organizată de Emirates Academy, specializată în domeniul ospitalității. Cazarea se face într-un campus ultramodern, iar tinerii sunt invitați să experimenteze activități pe care nu le vor uita toată viața, cum sunt excursiile safari.
Costurile pentru edutabere variază în funcție de tipul de tabără, program, locație, activități, pornind de la 700 euro pentru două săptămâni în Bulgaria, 1150 lire sterline în Marea Britanie, ajungând și până la 6000 franci elvețieni, tot pentru două săptămâni, în Elveția.
La WEF Iași zeci de instituții de învățământ din țări precum: Marea Britanie, Olanda, Austria, Germania, Danemarca, Elvetia, Spania, Grecia, Luxemburg, Cipru, Polonia, SUA, care își vor prezenta mii de oferte educaționale tinerilor din Iași și familiilor acestora. Evenimentul va avea loc la hotel Intercontinental Iași, începând cu ora 11.00.
Cei interesați să participe se pot înscrie online pe www.worldeducation.ro sau direct la birourile de înregistrare din cadrul evenimentului. Participarea este gratuită.
Despre IntegralEdu
IntegralEdu este cel mai important consultant educațional pentru studii în străinătate și pentru programele Work and Travel în SUA, cu birouri de consultanță în București, Constanța, Craiova, Galați, Iași și Timișoara. Grupul de firme INTEGRAL are o experiență internațională de peste 27 de ani în oferirea de informații elevilor, părinților și a tuturor celor interesați de alegerea celor mai bune programe educaționale și instituții de învățământ din străinătate, studii gimnaziale, liceale, universitare și centre de limbi străine. Prezentă în România din anul 2008, IntegralEdu este cea mai mare companie de consultanță în educație la nivel local și reprezintă peste 500 de instituții de învățământ de top din întreaga lume. IntegralEdu organizeaza cele mai mari targuri de consultanta educationala pentru studii in strainatate in cadrul carora elevii, studentii si parintii acestora au ocazia sa intalneasca reprezentantii unor scoli si universitati de prestigiu din intreaga lume. Pentru mai multe informatii puteti accesawww.Integraledu.ro, www.worldeducation.ro si pagina de FB www.facebook.com/Integraledu.ro.
Publicație : Evenimentul și Ziarul de Iași
Student over-draught: visiting Europe’s first university microbrewery
The student-run brewery at Newcastle University aims to help the north-east’s industry become a little greener
Now in its fifth year, Stu Brew has produced over 100,000 pints and designed at least 30 different beers. Photograph: Naomi Larsson
The hum of machinery and scent of hops emerges from the corner of a car park beside Newcastle University’s engineering department.
Kegs covered in yesterday’s snow are lined up outside an inconspicuous outbuilding, bearing the name “Stu Brew” – the microbrewery run by the students’ union, which is the first of its kind in Europe.
Now in its fifth year, Stu Brew has produced over 100,000 pints, designed at least 30 different beers, and has a customer list of 20 and growing. It functions as a professional business but is completely managed by students at the university, all with the aim of making the brewing industry a little more environmentally friendly.
“It focuses on making brewing more green, and getting that sustainability message out there – and you get to drink beer at the end of it,” says Red Kellie, who’s just finished brewing a sour beer.
Kellie co-founded Stu Brew in August 2013 when she was working as the sustainability rep for the students’ union. It was one of 25 environmental initiatives in the UK to be awarded funding from the National Union of Students’ Student Green Fund.
Stu Brew was given a grant of £40,000 alongside six other sustainable initiatives at Newcastle, including a new allotment and a project to reintroduce bee species in Northumberland. Out of the seven initiatives, Stu Brew is the only one still running.
The 2.5 barrel kit was installed in 2014, and the first beer brewed in November that year (in brewery speak a barrel is 140 litres, or about 246 pints). Since then Stu Brew has become intertwined with the chemical engineering department thanks to the help of Dr Chris O’Malley, who teaches at the university and is a keen home brewer himself, and is used for research projects for sustainable brewery design.
Led by a committee of 12 and with a membership of over 100 students who can help out on brew days, Stu Brew has gone from strength to strength, and the beer has got better too.
All profits go back into the business, and last summer they updated to a 6.5 barrel brewery. With the new equipment, they can produce 1,100 litres of beer at a time. There are the IPAs such as Textbook or Extended Overdraft (a stronger version of the original Overdraft), the pale ale Lab Session, the University Porter, and the coffee-infused stout 9am Lecture.
Stu Brew secretary Harry Laing. Photograph: Naomi Larsson
O’Malley, Kellie and the postgrad students who lead brews have been professionally trained. On average, Stu Brew produces about three brews a month. Brew days are typically nine-to-five working hours, and the fermentation process takes somewhere between three and five days, depending on the beer’s alcohol strength. Extra processing, like adding hops for a stronger aroma, takes more time. For students who aren’t making the beer, there’s marketing, social media and sales to take care of, as well as deliveries and cleaning the casks and kegs.
It’s hard work, but “there’s nothing more rewarding than making a beer, going to a pub and actually drinking the beer you’ve made”, says Stu Brew president Tom Nesfield. “Overhearing a passing comment on how people enjoyed that beer is a rewarding thing in itself.”
“When I go out now I look for something to enjoy the taste,” says Harry Laing, Stu Brew secretary, who’s doing a postgrad in chemical engineering. “That excessive drinking cliche that comes with being a student, I like to think Stu Brew puts people off that, and gets them more interested in where it comes from and how it’s made.”
There’s no doubt a huge part of Stu Brew’s appeal is enjoying a delicious pint at the end of it, but at the heart of the project is sustainability, and finding ways to reduce the negative environmental impact of brewing.
“It’s trying to get students to think about sustainability issues in a different way. It’s less about practical conservation, but about how you build sustainability into industry,” says Kellie.
Many breweries throw recyclable kegs straight into landfill. Photograph: Naomi Larsson
“The whole brewing process is notoriously bad for water usage, electricity usage, for chemicals, so we’re looking at how that whole process can be made more sustainable.”
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To reduce food miles, the malt comes from the closest place they could source it, about 100 miles down the road in Castleford. The brewers tried their hand at growing their own hops but, according to Laing, “the Newcastle sun is not quite as intense as they’d [the hops] like it to be.”
The spent grain and hops are collected by a local farmer who uses it as cattle feed, and the team drives an electric van for deliveries. They’ve moved from bottled beers to cans, which are more easily recyclable. They’ve also installed a live monitoring system to help reduce water and energy usage, and will try to brew on consecutive days when possible, to save energy by using the water recirculation system.
“Stu Brew isn’t just working in a bubble,” Laing says. “It’s trying to work with the sector and have a community impact. Research and sharing knowledge is the biggest driver for what we do. It isn’t necessarily for our own gain, it’s to promote and improve the sector as a whole in the north-east.”
As part of his research, Laing looked into how microbreweries can improve cleaning techniques by using fewer chemicals, and therefore reduce costs and chemical discharge. Nesfield, a third-year chemical engineering student, has studied the impact of single-use plastic kegs. Though they’re recyclable, about 50% of breweries he surveyed were putting them straight into landfill.
With some Stu Brew alumni now working in the industry, the team hope they can spread these ideas about sustainability to the rest of the beer world. “We are trying to make this as good as it can be, and we’re looking to the future for how brewing can be less environmentally harmful,” says Kellie.
Publicație : The Guardian
Amazon pulling out of NYC shows the perils of business partnerships
Universities’ openness, broad research remit and long-term local commitments are at risk when they align too closely with ever-changing industry, says Jason Owen-Smith
Amazon’s recent decision to pull out of plans to establish new headquarters in New York City received a lot of attention. Much of it focused on whether the big tax breaks that the company would have got as part of the deal were fair and reasonable.
Noting that the company would have brought 25,000 new jobs and major revenue to the region, New York governor Andrew Cuomo called the pull-out the “the greatest tragedy I have seen since I’ve been in politics”.
I study the nexus of business, science and academic research. From that vantage point, I think that a different implication of Amazon’s decision needs attention.
But first a little background on the Amazon deal.
Amazon started searching for places to build a second corporate headquarters (HQ2) in 2017. Its request for proposals asked cities and regions to highlight creative partnerships with local colleges and universities. The idea was to make sure that the new headquarters’ location could meet the company’s needs for a highly skilled technical workforce.
“Amazon mania” ensued, prompting 238 proposals from interested cities and regions. In late 2018, Amazon chose two: Arlington, Virginia, and New York City. Both are home to – or surrounded by – many colleges and universities that do extensive work in areas of interest to Amazon.
On Virginia campuses, Amazon’s decision led to stepped up efforts in “Amazon-related fields” such as business, computer science and mathematics.
Virginia Tech is moving quickly to complete a $1 billion “innovation campus.” That campus will emphasise topics such as artificial intelligence and cyber security that are of special interest to Amazon. It will be located just minutes from HQ2.
Similar plans were being pursued in New York City. Several local universities, such as CUNY City College of New York, New York University and Cornell Tech, developed research and partnership plans to help Amazon meet its needs. But Amazon ran into political opposition from elected officials and community activists in New York City who were opposed to the nearly $3 billion in tax incentives that the company would receive. That resistance led the company to back out of the New York headquarters deal.
Amazon’s withdrawal imperils the plans that the New York colleges developed to help attract it. Which brings us to a problem that I think needs more consideration.
When colleges and universities rush to make sure that Amazon – or any other company – has what it needs, they run the risk of damaging the very things that make them unique and valuable to their communities in the long term.
The first risk is narrowing their work. This is particularly the case when universities step up efforts in a few fields of immediate interest to a particular business partner without attending to other aspects of their missions.
As I argue in my new book, Research Universities and the Public Good: Discovery for an Uncertain Future, universities are a special kind of “anchor tenant” for their regions. They make good anchors because they are relatively open, committed to their locales, and unlikely to go out of business. Their broad research and teaching allows them to engage with many different interest groups. That, in turn, helps make their communities more resilient and innovative.
Those things are endangered when campuses yoke themselves to the current needs of particular companies and industries whose situations and needs can change quickly.
The challenge is to ensure that new investments and activities to address particular partnerships do not come at the cost of pruning or ignoring other areas – such as social sciences, arts and humanities, education, urban planning or social work – that might be less immediately relevant to business but important to other stakeholders.
In the case of Amazon, universities in Virginia and New York chose to emphasise computer science, engineering, business and mathematics exclusively in their plans.
I think that a narrow focus that closely aligns university work with near-term business needs is perilous. One of the dangers is that powerful corporate partners could control universities by formally or informally shaping the direction of their research and teaching. The result could be lower impact research and potentially fewer career possibilities for students.
The other risk that universities face when they rush to serve the needs of a particular business is that companies work on tight time horizons, and may change direction or just up and leave – as Amazon did in New York City.
The different agendas and concerns of higher education and business mean that when universities overcommit to the needs of a single partner, they may be left hanging.
That’s what happened with the University of California, Berkeley’s famous deal with Novartis – a Swiss-based pharmaceutical company – in the late 1990s. There, concerns about academic freedom, corporate control of university activities and the deal’s impact on faculty and students loomed large.
Changing industrial conditions ultimately led the company to shift its focus away from the university. The joint Berkeley-Novartis research deal ultimately dissolved in 2003 after the company spun out its agricultural division. A similar, 2007, $350 million deal between Berkeley and oil company BP went south when oil prices dropped in 2015.
More recently, students expressed concerns about a $100 million deal between the University of Wisconsin and Foxconn. Graduate students were worried about corporate control over academic research and ownership of intellectual property. In the Foxconn case, a lack of transparency and certainty about the process and Foxconn’s changes to a companion deal with the state of Wisconsin highlight conflicts between business and community needs.
The bottom line is that when colleges and universities focus on a single business or industry’s needs they run serious risks. If corporate deals come at the cost of broader research and teaching portfolios, universities put their stability, credibility and the expertise that they need in other fields on the line. Those are the very things that make them good anchors for regional economies and communities.
This blog was originally published on The Conversation.
Publicație : The Times
Syrian universities ‘running’ – but bombed out and short of staff
Two Syrian academics travel to London to seek outside support for universities
A Syrian higher education sector dogged by overcrowding and staff shortages, with one university rehoused in a school basement while students and researchers struggle to heat their homes, is seeking support from wealthier nations.
That was the key message of two sobering presentations by Syrian academics at an event organised by the University of East London’s Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging on 26 February.
Sulaiman Mouselli, dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at the Arab International University, described an atmosphere of dislocation and disruption in his country. Like other private institutions, his had been moved into a “safe city” and was now operating from a hotel in Damascus.
Meanwhile, five branch campuses of one public institution, Euphrates University, had all been shut down, he said. Since those already enrolled were given the right to study elsewhere, this had led to immense overcrowding in the institutions that were still functioning, with up to 80 students sometimes crammed into a laboratory. The displacement of about 6 million people within Syria has inevitably caused huge psychological damage, meaning that universities can provide at best only rudimentary counselling and social support.
The main positive aspect is that the security situation has improved, Dr Mouselli told Times Higher Education, so students should soon be able to return to the AIU’s permanent campus on the road to Daraa, about 40km outside Damascus.
On the other hand, he was “struggling with the availability of academic staff”. He added: “I cannot rely on those who’ve got PhDs from inside Syria because they didn’t receive proper education during the crisis period.” Many potential applicants were leaving the country, he said – the men partly to avoid a system of military service that was often extended beyond the statutory single year.
In order to maintain “the quality and reputation” of his institution, therefore, Dr Mouselli has had to recruit staff from Lebanon or Jordan – and sometimes among Yemenis who had found refuge in Syria. Such people expected to be paid more than Syrian nationals, meaning that “tuition fees are going up, beyond the abilities of many students to pay”, he added.
Both staff and students also faced worsening difficulties in coping with basic needs for electricity, heating and gas. As a result, according to Dr Mouselli, “universities have to pay for generators”, which put further upward pressure on fees. Meanwhile, “when students go home, they don’t have electricity and are not in a good mood to study….You can’t do research if you are standing in line to get gas,” he continued.
Alia Omran is studying for a PhD in toxicology at the public Damascus University and also teaches at the private Qasyoun University. The former has suffered bomb damage, while the outbreak of war meant that the latter’s state-of-the-art new campus (also on the road to Daraa) was completely destroyed in 2010.
The first cohort of students therefore started their education in a temporary location, namely in the basement and on the roof of a secondary school in Damascus, although it is hoped that they may finally be able to occupy the repaired campus from the beginning of the next academic year. Meanwhile, inflation is eating into academic salaries and research grants for PhD students.
The two Syrian academics were on a tour of British universities organised by Al-Fanar Media and the British Council. So what sort of help are they looking for in their very difficult circumstances?
In her presentation, Ms Omran looked to the future and described ambitions to “collaborate on scientific research that meets our needs, such as public health issues, pollution and the environment, recycling” and to “establish a peer-reviewed online Syrian journal with both international and Syrian editors”, given that “we don’t have a Syria-based journal on the known search engines like Scopus or PubMed”.
Her institution needed support in developing English language skills and particularly to address skill levels among “the teaching assistants or master’s degree students hired by the university instead of PhD holders” because of the brain drain. There was also room for more “distance learning to improve students’ and professors’ skills” and webinars to share educational materials, she said.
“We hope to rebuild our collaborations,” said Ms Omran. “There were great collaborations and student exchanges before the crisis. We want to reconnect.”
“Syrian higher education is running,” added Dr Mouselli, “but not running very well at the moment. We are doing our best to get funding for what we need but are not aware of all the funding bodies available inside Britain…In the short term, we are looking for online workshops and summer schools in Lebanon or Jordan to enable academic staff and students to join and raise their capacities.
“We are throwing out many ideas and hoping to catch some big fish.”
Publicație : The Times
4 martie 2019
Universitatea „Cuza” din Iasi demareaza reabilitarea si modernizarea Observatorului Astronomic
Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” – UAIC din Iasi demareaza, anul acesta, lucrarile efective de reabilitare, modernizare si racordare la utilitati a Observatorului Astronomic • Astfel, pana pe 6 martie 2019, institutia a lansat etapa publica de realizare a instalatiei de gaze • De precizat ca, prin Compania Nationala de Investitii – CNI (asigura 75 la suta din bani – n.r.) si 25 la suta din fondurile Universitatii „Cuza”, peste un milion de euro va fi investit in acest obiectiv – cladire de patrimoniu
Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” (UAIC) din Iasi demareaza, anul acesta, lucrarile efective de reabilitare, modernizare si racordare la utilitati a Observatorului Astronomic din Copou. Astfel, pana pe 6 martie 2019, institutia a lansat etapa publica de realizare a instalatiei de gaze.
De precizat ca, prin Compania Nationala de Investitii – CNI (asigura 75 la suta din bani – n.r.) si 25 la suta din fondurile Universitatii „Cuza”, peste un milion de euro va fi investit in acest obiectiv – cladire de patrimoniu.
„Observatorul ar urma sa fie deschis publicului, urmând ca iesenii sa aiba posibilitatea, pentru prima data în istoria recenta a Iasului, sa viziteze terasa de studiere a cerului. Aceasta facea parte din planurile initiale ale cladirii, realizate în 1913, dar ulterior, pe spatiul ei s-a construit Sala Meridian. Prin proiectul de reabilitare, se urmareste inclusiv restabilirea terasei si accesibilizarea întregii cladiri pentru persoane cu handicap. Investitia mai prevede înlocuirea completa a instalatiilor sanitare, termice, electrice, precum si echipare cu instalatii de protectie anti-incendiu si efractie si dotarea cu aparatura de specialitate”, preciza, in urma cu doi ani, prof. univ. dr. Corneliu Iatu – prorector pentru strategie, dezvoltare institutionala si managementul calitatii.
În prezent, lucrarile de interventii au fost aprobate de CNI si a fost emisa Hotarârea de Guvern (HG) si demararea procedurilor de achizitie de catre CNI. Valoarea exacta a investitiei este de 4.996.676 lei, respectiv 1.093.125 euro. Observatorul, ridicat între anii 1912 – 1913, l-a avut ca fondator pe Constantin Popovici, sef al catedrei de Astronomie, Geodezie si Mecanica a fostei Universitati din Iasi.
De asemenea, cadrul didactic a fost si primul director al Observatorului, în perioada 1913 si 1937. Din pacate, in timpul celui de-al Doilea Razboi Mondial, in mare parte, aparatura a disparut. De precizat ca din 1966 aici a existat atelier de mecanica fina si un laborator electronic. Dupa 1989, Observatorul a fost inclus pe lista obiectivelor aflate in Patrimoniul National al Monumentelor. Mai mult, telescopul existent la Observator dateaza din 1960 si a fost realizat tocmai in Germania.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Emotii pentru sute de tineri care-si doresc sa devina studenti la Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie din Iasi
Ieri, 3 martie 2019, peste o mie de liceeni au participat la Simularea testului de Admitere 2019 la Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie – UMF „Grigore T. Popa” din Iasi • Procesul s-a derulat fara probleme • În acest an, întrebarile pe care le-au primit candidatii au fost realizate în mod exclusiv de cadrele didactice ale Universitatii de Medicina • De reamintit ca cea de-a II-a Simulare a Concursului de Admitere va avea loc în data de 19 mai
Ieri, 3 martie 2019, a avut loc prima editie din acest an a Simularii Concursului de Admitere 2019 la Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie (UMF) „Grigore T. Popa” din Iasi. Aceasta a fost organizata de Societatea Studentilor Medicinisti din Iasi (SSMI), Societatea Studentilor Stomatologi din Iasi (SSSI), Societatea Studentilor Farmacisti din Iasi (SSFI), Asociatia Studentilor Bioingineri (ASB) si Societatea Studenteasca de Chirurgie din România, filiala Iasi (SSCR), în parteneriat cu UMF Iasi.
Simularea Examenului de Admitere este organizata bianual si are scopul de a veni în ajutorul viitorilor studenti, pregatindu-i pentru sustinerea concursului din luna iulie.
Concursul simulat s-a putut da pentru urmatoarele specializari: Medicina, Medicina Dentara, Farmacie, Bioinginerie Medicala, Asistenta Medicala Generala, Nutritie si Dietetica, Balneo-fiziokinetoterapie si recuperare si Tehnica Dentara. La aceasta prima editie, aproximativ 1.350 de elevi s-au înscris la simulare pentru a se familiariza cu atmosfera acestui examen important si pentru a-si evalua cunostintele dobândite pâna în prezent. Dintre acestia, 1.130 au optat pentru Facultatea de Medicina, 130 elevi pentru Facultatea de Medicina Dentara, 50 participanti pentru Facultatea de Farmacie si 40 pentru Facultatea de Bioinginerie Medicala.
„Pe parcursul a trei ore, participantii înscrisi au sustinut un test alcatuit din întrebari tip grila de Biologie, Fizica, Chimie sau Matematica. În acest an, întrebarile la care vor raspunde elevii au fost realizate în mod exclusiv de cadrele didactice ale Universitatii de Medicina si Farmacie din Iasi. Peste 150 de voluntari ai Societatilor Studentesti din cadrul Universitatii au fost mobilizati pentru a lua parte la organizarea simularii conform Metodologiei actuale. Mai multe informatii pot fi obtinute consultând website-ul simularii: http://simulare-admitere.ssmi.ro. De asemenea, aici se vor putea accesa informatiile necesare elevilor referitoare la cea de-a doua Simulare a Concursului de Admitere, care va avea loc în data de 19 mai 2019. Aceasta va fi ultima sansa a liceenilor de a-si verifica nivelul cunostintelor acumulate pe parcursul anului, înainte de concursul final”, au transmis reprezentantii Societatii Studentilor Medicinisti Iasi.
Pe de alta parte, concursul oficial pentru Admitere 2019 la Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie va avea loc în data de 24 iulie 2019.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Current HE funding supports universities’ social mobility mission
Any reduction in university fees will hurt students from underrepresented backgrounds the most, argues Colin Bailey
One of the purposes of a university education is to foster social justice and social mobility; to enable people from all backgrounds and cultures to contribute to society – and this is hardwired into the missions of our greatest universities.
Looking back in the UK’s history, through the period when there was a cap on the number of students attending universities, so many students from less-privileged backgrounds missed out. In recent years, since the cap was lifted, more progress has been made. We must make sure that any future changes in the way that universities are funded does not reverse this positive trend and return the country to limiting the opportunities for the next generation to a select few.
Currently, there is a huge moral and financial commitment to widening participation across the university sector. Russell Group universities are spending about £1,000 of every £9,250 annual fee on widening access and support for students from traditionally underrepresented groups.
At Queen Mary University of London, this equates to at least £10 million a year. We are proud that we attract students from diverse backgrounds: more than 90 per cent come from state schools, at least 40 per cent are the first in the families to attend, more than 60 per cent are from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds and 27 per cent are from households with less than £10,000 annual income. But we are not complacent and we know that there is more to do.
Providing opportunities to all students, irrespective of their background, is of particular personal significance to me. I left school at 16 to become an apprentice; the concept of a university education was just not on my, or my family’s, radar and was never raised by my school. Luckily my apprenticeship provided me with a business and technology qualification (BTEC) which allowed me to apply for a degree. Going to university broadened my horizons and opened the doors to so many opportunities. I am now proud to lead a Russell Group university that recognises that students come through all sorts of routes, backgrounds and challenges to get here. As far as Queen Mary is concerned, if an applicant has the potential to succeed with us, we will try to support them to join us.
Returning to the potential changes facing university funding: the stark reality is that any reduction in income, or changes to the current system, will decrease the number of and support for students from underrepresented backgrounds.
Many access schemes would simply be scrapped, and the support for students should they reach university removed. This would throw recent progress on widening access to higher education into reverse and we will continue to fail to address the country’s stark embedded inequalities.
In my view, the language of “tuition fees” is unhelpful. At the moment the cost of university for UK students is shared between the general taxpayer and the individual student. The student contribution is in fact a graduate contribution linked to future earnings, payable on the income that the individual earns above £25,000 and is written off after 30 years.
The more the individual earns in the future, the more they contribute to their university education. There is no evidence that the rise in fees adversely affected the number of the most disadvantaged students attending university: proportions of these students increased when the fees rose.
If the university system is wholly, or significantly, state-funded by the general taxpayer, some of whom will not benefit from a university education, we will return to a cap on student numbers and a corresponding decrease in the number of less-privileged students attending university. There has to be a balance, and university funding has to be sufficient to support the many people for whom, like for me, university is not the obvious choice.
My plea is to ensure that we continue to address the embedded inequalities in the country and that universities have the required funding, which the current system provides, to allow all UK students irrespective of their background the opportunity to attend university.
Publicație : The Times
Virtual reality technology ‘does not improve learning outcomes’
But research finds students prefer the mode over more traditional teaching methods
The use of virtual reality technology in teaching does not improve learning outcomes, but students overwhelmingly favour the tool over more traditional methods, a study has found.
Researchers at Cornell University assessed students’ understanding of moon phases – as a ready example of a traditional physical teaching practice – via a multiple-choice test taken before and after an activity. A third of the students participated in a traditional hands-on method involving a ball on a stick; another third used a computer simulation; and the final group used an immersive virtual reality simulator.
The results showed that there was “no significant difference” between the teaching methods: the average score before the test was about 36 per cent, and that increased to about 58 per cent post-test in all three approaches.
However, students’ attitudes towards the methods were vastly different. After completing their activity, each participant was shown the other two methods, and the virtual reality mode was preferred by 78 per cent of participants.
Overall, 172 Cornell undergraduates participated in the study, “Virtual Reality as a Teaching Tool for Moon Phases and Beyond”, which was published in Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings.
Natasha Holmes, the Ann S. Bowers assistant professor of physics at Cornell and co-author of the study, said that one explanation for the similar learning outcomes could be that learning is driven more by the general activity than by the technology used, noting that the students were “doing really similar things” in all three methods.
Another potential reason is that the benefits or qualities that “we think simulations and virtual reality should have get balanced by the technical difficulties or the distracting details in virtual reality”, she added.
While an overwhelming majority of students preferred learning in the virtual reality mode, those who did not prefer it reported that they found it “overwhelming” or that they “didn’t know how to use the controllers”, Dr Holmes said, which suggests that virtual reality may have a greater impact once students are more familiar with the technology.
“We can either say the learning was no different so we should go with the cheaper option, or we could say…the students really enjoyed it and…that’s going to be a benefit if we can still produce learning that’s as good,” she said.
However, Dr Holmes said, it was important to carry out more research to determine whether students’ enjoyment of virtual reality might “wear off over time”.
Sam Smidt, director of the UCL Arena Centre for Research-based Education and an expert in technology-enhanced learning, said that the fact that “students appear to have a strong preference towards VR doesn’t in itself show that it’s worth using, although it is an encouraging finding”.
“This is a particular example, reproducing a well-established approach to teaching a concept in a new environment, and we should not be too surprised that the learning was not significantly different,” she added.
“Where we at UCL have argued for wider engagement with VR is in exploring its potential to teach in ways, or explore concepts, that are not easily delivered in the face-to-face or computer simulation environment. One recent example is the development of a VR environment in which GPs can interact with VR characters of abused children and their parents in a realistic, immersive way and practise these sensitive interactions.”
Publicație : The Times
What next for the UCU after Sally Hunt’s exit?
The departure of the University and College Union’s long-time leader has intensified calls for democratic reform, and activists could take a greater role
Tributes to Sally Hunt came thick and fast after the University and College Union’s general secretary resigned, having served 12 years in the role.
Labour MPs, trade union bosses and some of the UCU’s 120,000 members took to Twitter to praise Ms Hunt’s leadership, particularly how she steered the union through the biggest strike action in UK academic history.
But many UCU members had become dissatisfied with Ms Hunt’s leadership, claiming that she was holding too much power in what should be a member-led union; last year’s congress descended into chaos after Ms Hunt led repeated walkouts to prevent the discussion of a motion calling for her “resignation…with immediate effect”.
That dispute, and Ms Hunt’s departure for health reasons, should be a moment to reassess the position of the general secretary, some believe. To that end, a democracy commission, established at June’s conference, is set to recommend that the UCU’s top official be subject to an early election if two-thirds of congress agree.
“It is something we will ensure can be used only in exceptional circumstances and it would be unhealthy if we used it a lot, but there is a feeling that the general secretary is beyond the democratic control of members,” said Sam Morecroft, a UCU branch officer at the University of Sheffield, who proposed the commission and is now serving on it.
“I think it would make the general secretary more receptive to the views of our membership,” he added.
Shortening the term of office from five to three years – an alternative proposal – might also encourage more rank-and-file union members to consider running, rather than having the role filled by professional trade union officials, said Mr Morecroft. “I’m a big believer in lay representation – we need to create the idea that this is not a permanent job and if members decide they do not want you, you go back to what you were doing,” he added.
One such career trade union official, Matt Waddup, the UCU’s head of campaigns and policy, is the front-runner to succeed Ms Hunt.
But it is likely that the UCU Left group will field a candidate, having recently seen Nita Sanghera and Liz Lawrence elected as vice-presidents. A third candidate – possibly from the USSbriefs pension activist collective, which fielded candidates for national executive committee seats – could also emerge.
On 1 March, however, the union’s national executive committee agreed that Ms Hunt’s successor should be elected before this year’s congress in Harrogate at the end of May, which would not give time for the commission’s findings to be adopted and applied to the new general secretary.
Delaying the election would, however, have meant the UCU went leaderless into a period in which crucial decisions on pay, pensions and Brexit will be made, said Emma-Jane Phillips, a UCU national officer from Northumbria University, who observed that the union has been without a general secretary since Ms Hunt first took leave in October on health grounds.
“For the stability of the union, we need to have a general secretary in place as soon as possible, which is before congress,” said Ms Phillips, who added that “waiting for congress.
Terry Murphy, UCU branch chair at Teesside University, also questioned the make-up of the democracy commission, saying that its members were “picked by the small minority of people who attended the most disruptive congress since the UCU was started”.
“It makes sense for the UCU after 12 years to review its democracy, but this commission seems obsessed with how to get rid of general secretaries above all else,” he said.
A broader look at the UCU’s democracy should include the greater use of online surveys of members, which would empower rank-and-file members, rather than concentrate power in the hands of those who attend congress, said Dr Murphy.
The UCU’s recent failure to hit the 50 per cent turnout threshold required for strike action, in a ballot on pay, suggested that the militancy of many activists was out of step with most members, Dr Murphy added.
“We have to make them feel included in the union, but the revolutionary language used by many activists just alienates people,” he said.
Three-year terms of office would also be a bad move, Dr Murphy argued. “We need to look at the evidence, which suggests that paid officials would be pushed to spend half their term canvassing for re-election like American sheriffs, and thus to focus inevitably on the bigger, richer branches with more delegates,” he insisted.
“That would really disadvantage smaller branches, particularly further education ones, where members are under the most pressure.”
Publicație : The Times