Studentii de la „Cuza”, sansa de burse in Germania

Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” (UAIC) din Iasi ii invita pe toti cei interesati la prezentarea programelor de burse pentru studenti, masteranzi, doctoranzi, cadre didactice si cercetatori oferite de DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst/German Academic Exchange Service).

Prezentarea, in Limba engleza si romana, va avea loc miercuri, 16 octombrie 2019, ora 14:00, in Sala de conferinte Ferdinand (Corpul A, etajul 2, Rectorat) si va fi sustinuta de Susanne Lorenz, Lector DAAD la Facultatea de Litere. Este vorba despre o oportunitate de top pentru studentii de la UAIC in a partipa la programe de studii de cel mai inalt nivel, recunoscute pe plan international.

Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași

EXCLUSIV in Studioul BZI LIVE cu universitarul venit din Statele Unite ale Americii la Iasi: „Am inteles esenta Romaniei citind opera lui Lucian Blaga”

 Luni, 7 octombrie 2019, incepand cu ora 15.00 si doar in Platoul emisiunii BZI LIVE a fost difuzata, in premiera si exclusivitate, un interviu – dialog ce a avut in prim-plan povestea incredibila si marturiiile emotionante ale scriitorului si traducatorului american care s-a indragostit de Iasi si de cultura, poezia si literatura romana. De aratat ca, vineri, 4 octombrie 2019, de la ora 10.00, in Sala Senatului Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza – UAIC din Iasi, toti cei interesati de arta traducerii in general si de cea a traducerilor literare in mod special au fost invitati sa participe la intalnirea cu profesorul, scriitorul si traducatorul american Sean Cotter • Acesta a transmis, intr-o maniera sincera si delicata faptul ca a inteles esenta Romaniei citind opera lui Lucian Blaga, Nichita Stanescu sau Mateiu Caragiale • Pe de alta parte, ajungand la Iasi, a povestit ca s-a indragostit de urbea moldava mergand la Bojdeuca lui Ion Creanga din Ticau sau la Teiul lui Eminescu din Copou • Urmariti, AICI emisiunea completa cu americanul Sean Cotter

Doar in Platoul emisiunii BZI LIVE a fost difuzata, in premiera si exclusivitate, un interviu – dialog ce a avut in prim-plan povestea incredibila si marturiiile emotionante ale scriitorului si traducatorului american care s-a indragostit de Iasi si de cultura, poezia si literatura romana. Acesta, saptamana trecuta si in Sala Senatului Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (UAIC) din Iasi, toti cei interesati de arta traducerii in general si de cea a traducerilor literare in mod special au fost invitati sa participe la intalnirea cu profesorul, scriitorul si traducatorul american Sean Cotter. Acesta a transmis, intr-o maniera sincera si delicata faptul ca a inteles esenta Romaniei citind opera lui Lucian Blaga, Nichita Stanescu sau Mateiu Caragiale.

Pe de alta parte, ajungand la Iasi, a povestit ca s-a indragostit de urbea moldava mergand la Bojdeuca lui Ion Creanga din Ticau sau la Teiul lui Eminescu din Copou. Cotter a conferentiat la FILIT plecand de la ideea „Traducerea in epoca globalizarii: Mateiu Caragiale in Limba engleza”. De reamintit ca povestea si legatura acestuia cu Romania este una fabuloasa si a inceput in 1994. Despre cum a ajuns aici, trecutul familiei si locului natal din State, cum a invatat Limba romana, cum s-a „apropiat” de marii poeti Lucian Blaga sau Nichita Stanescu au mai fost alte secvente reliefate de acesta la BZI LIVE. Sean Cotter a tradus in Limba engleza doua romane importante din literatura romana anume Orbitor de Mircea Cartarescu si, recent, Craii de Curtea Veche de Mateiu Caragiale. Mai mult, profesorul de la Universitatea din Dallas care a publicat si numeroase studii traductologice, a tradus poezii de Nichita Stanescu si planuieste sa traduca o serie de poeti romani contemporani pentru a-i face cunoscuti si in lumea literara de peste Ocean. Urmariti, AICI… emisiunea completa cu americanul Sean Cotter.

Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași

Minister orders summit with developers over student homes delay

Builders to be challenged over why accommodation blocks are not ready at start of term

The universities minister has called a summit to address the problem of unfinished student accommodation, which has resulted in hundreds of undergraduates having to find last-minute temporary housing at the start of the new term.

Chris Skidmore is to meet representatives from private developers providing student accommodation as well as universities after it emerged that freshers have had to be rehoused – some up to 30 miles away – because their promised accommodation was not ready.

The minister said the situation was “deeply concerning”, particularly because of the potential impact on student welfare, and warned that accommodation providers who fall short on their commitments would be held accountable.

According to a BBC report, there are 22 private student blocks across the UK that have been delayed this term – almost a third of those being built. Some students have been rehoused in hotels away from the university campus, making it hard for those affected to settle into university life.

Among the universities affected are Portsmouth and Bristol, where a number of students were temporarily rehoused in Newport in Wales.

There have also been student housing problems in Lincoln, Swansea, Liverpool and Durham, where more than 100 freshers had to be temporarily housed in other accommodation because of building works. A university spokesman said the vast majority of those affected were now in their rightful accommodation.

Much of the new student housing being built on campuses around the country is provided by private developers, which operate independently of the university and charge high fees from their student tenants.

Responding to reports about student accommodation problems, the minister warned: “Higher education providers are independent, but this situation is deeply concerning and we cannot allow this inadequacy to continue. The quality of accommodation can affect student welfare, which is why providers who fail to complete projects on time and provide adequate alternative provision need to be held accountable.

“I shall be calling together representatives from the private student accommodation sector and universities to ensure any impacts on student welfare are being taken seriously by all concerned.”

The universities’ regulator, the Office for Students, does not possess powers to regulate private accommodation providers. In cases of unfinished accommodation, students are advised to complain first to their institution, then to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator if they are not satisfied.

Nicola Dandridge, the chief executive of the Office for Students, said: “As the academic year continues, it is important that all students are able to settle quickly into university. Students are right to expect appropriate accommodation, ready on time, so they can focus on their studies. Where there is disruption, universities should act to mitigate these problems.”

Publicație : The Guardian

Students must be introduced to the human-machine workplace

Stronger ties between educators and companies will be essential if humans are to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution, says Adenekan Dedeke

There is wide acceptance of the prediction that robots will replace millions of human workers over the next decade. A widely quoted McKinsey study from 2016 predicts that 45 per cent of the activities that people are currently paid to perform could be automated using the technologies currently available.

However, these predictions are based on two questionable assumptions. The first is that the amount of jobs that will be eliminated by robots can be calculated simply by estimating the percentage of existing tasks that robots could perform. This underestimates the “soft” roles that the best employees play in organisations. These include spreading knowhow, suggesting improvements and contributing towards a humane company culture in their dealings with both co-workers and customers. You can see how some of an employee’s responsibilities could be assigned to a robot without their being made redundant by the machine.

Second, it is assumed that corporate executives will replace humans whenever it is proven that machines could do their work more efficiently. But machines have acquisition and ongoing maintenance costs, and need to be reprogrammed before they can take on tasks different from those they were designed for. A business might need to have a high throughput for the investment to be worth it.

Hence, the extent of job losses caused by the fourth industrial revolution may be far less than is currently being predicted. In fact, a position paper published in 2018 by the International Federation of Robotics concluded that future workplaces will mostly have humans and robots working together.

Some glimpses of this future are provided by the cockpits of commercial aircraft. Over time, the task of flying a plane has become highly computer-controlled, yet this has not eliminated the jobs of either flight captains or engineers. Instead, the modern pilot takes turns with the computer to fly the aircraft. However, the training of pilots has changed in significant ways. Pilots now spend more time learning about the automated systems than practising hands-on flying.

Similarly, in the future human-machine workplace, artificial intelligence-based tools will be used to perform specific tasks, within the parameters defined by the programmer. The responsibilities of humans will include taking over control when more complex or non-routine tasks must be performed. Workers will increasingly focus on roles related to unstructured activities, control, coordination and collaboration. According to the IFR, this could include managing production flows, resolving exceptions and bottlenecks, and dealing with customers.

For this reason, employers will place increased emphasis on “soft” skills, such as communication, problem-solving and decision-making under pressure. The new job profiles are also expected to include a strong digital element.

Given the significance of these changes, students must be introduced to the human-machine workplace before they leave college. This demands several changes to current higher education practice. In the US, for instance, a decision must be made about where the credits to teach the new courses will come from. Will general education, business courses or electives be sacrificed?

Moreover, which aspects of the human-machine workplace should be taught? Should colleges adopt a broad goal of exposing students to the benefits, risks and trade-offs of the human-machine workplace? In that case, teaching could focus on the deployment of machine-learning technologies, the ethical and privacy risks they throw up, the psychological and social impacts of artificial intelligence, and how to make the human-machine workplace humane.

Alternatively, colleges may prefer to focus on equipping students with relevant hands-on skills. In that case, the focus would be on things such as problem-solving, creativity, data analysis, introduction to algorithms and visualisation tools.

Lastly, higher education leaders must decide where the content should be taught. What should be taught in information systems departments and what should be housed in functional departments, such as finance, marketing and management?

Robotisation may also necessitate a closer relationship between higher education and professional organisations. One of the goals of such collaborative relationships would be to define the body of knowledge that colleges should teach, as well as what should be left to firms to teach their new hires.

Such collaborations could also create opportunities to better integrate academic and professional training. For example, some college courses could be accredited by professional certification agencies. Similarly, universities may count some exam-based certifications towards the fulfilment of certain courses, enabling students to earn credits towards professional certifications while still in school.

Such collaborations could also pave the way to the integration of human-machine workplace preparation and certification into university programmes that encompass work placements. For example, if a student has completed a certification exam, they could be offered a work placement that would count towards their certification requirements.

Either way, if universities are to fulfil this expanded mission to enhance human productivity in a workplace shared with machines, stronger ties between educators and companies will be essential. If academia and industry fail to collaborate, society might sacrifice the opportunity to effectively prepare students for the emerging reality.

Publicație : The Times

Japanese universities ‘closed to foreigners’, say overseas staff

Almost half of international academics in country believe they are wanted on campus only to ‘increase quantitative indicators of internationalisation’

More than a third of international scholars working in Japan believe that the country’s academic market is “closed” to foreigners, while almost half think that universities are only interested in hiring them to boost their metrics, according to a study.

A survey of almost 1,300 international academics at Japanese universities found that the majority (56.8 per cent) would still work in an institution in the country if they could make the choice again. But a high share of respondents highlighted that they were not fully welcomed by their university or other scholars.

More than a third (37.4 per cent) of foreigners surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that “the Japanese academic market is closed to international faculty members”, while a similar share (36 per cent) agreed or strongly agreed that “in general, Japanese faculty members are indifferent to their international colleagues”, rising to more than 40 per cent among UK and US citizens.

Almost half (47.3 per cent) said they felt that universities were only interested in attracting international faculty members “to increase quantitative indicators of internationalisation”, increasing to more than 50 per cent among US and UK respondents.

Meanwhile, just over two-thirds of respondents (41.6 per cent) agreed or strongly agreed that Japanese academics “regard international faculty members as temporary visitors”.

Since the 1980s, Japan has incentivised its universities to attract international staff and students in order to improve its rankings performance and offset domestic demographic decline through a series of excellence initiative-style projects.

The study, published in the International Journal of Educational Development, was based on responses from 1,285 full-time overseas academics.

A separate study published earlier this year based on interviews with international early career academics in Japan found that many felt “marginalised”, “disillusioned” and like “second-order” academics.

Futao Huang, a professor in the Research Institute for Higher Education at Hiroshima University and lead author of the paper, said that a large share of international scholars in Japan were “expected to only assume work roles and responsibilities which Japanese academics cannot take”, such as teaching English language programmes.

He also cited “distinctive Japanese culture and values such as seniority, ambiguity of Japanese private opinion and public stance, and difficulty of the Japanese language” as reasons why higher shares of international academics from the US and UK “feel isolated from Japanese society or their colleagues”.

Professor Huang suggested that Japanese universities should create “more favourable and friendly working conditions” for international staff and create opportunities to enable foreign and domestic workers to mingle.

However, James McCrostie, a Canadian and associate professor at Daito Bunka University, where he teaches English as a foreign language, said that “too many foreign faculty in Japan fail to make the effort to reach the required level of Japanese to fully function in a Japanese workplace”.

“Even when classrooms are English-only, becoming a fully integrated member of a Japanese university means you must be able to read and write Japanese, speak with the required levels of politeness, and also adopt Japanese decision-making methods,” he said.

Publicație : The Times

Tory manifesto co-author bemoaned ‘activist academics’

Munira Mirza claimed some academics wished to suppress intellectual freedom, in article written while working for King’s College London

The Conservative manifesto will be co-written by a former adviser to Boris Johnson as shadow higher education minister who has been described as having a “deep understanding of the importance” of universities, and by another Johnson adviser who has accused some academics of suppressing intellectual freedom.

Rachel Wolf, a former education adviser in No 10 under David Cameron as well as to Mr Johnson, will write the manifesto alongside Munira Mirza, the director of the No 10 Policy Unit and former executive director for culture at King’s College London.

Ms Mirza, who was deputy London mayor for education and culture in Mr Johnson’s time as mayor, worked at King’s between January and July this year before moving to Downing Street. She has a PhD in sociology from the University of Kent and formerly wrote for the online magazine Spiked.

In May, Ms Mirza wrote an article about the intellectual climate in universities for The Daily Telegraph, centred on the case of Noah Carl, a researcher dismissed by St Edmund’s College, Cambridge after complaints from students and staff that his writings on race and intelligence helped “legitimise racist stereotypes”.

She said in the article: “There is a growing trend for activist academics to sign ‘open letters’ against colleagues. The aim is quite explicit: to close down discussion about sensitive issues – especially around race, sexuality and gender – and, by doing so, narrow the boundaries of acceptable speech, often on the unproven grounds that the feelings of individuals from minority groups will be hurt.”

Ms Mirza added: “Academics are coming under increasing pressure to conduct research or teach according to prescribed values and ideas, which do not cause offence or deviate beyond a political consensus.”

And she also said: “Honest and open intellectual inquiry is how universities can best serve society but some academics seem keener on a mission of ethical hygiene.”

Ms Wolf told Times Higher Education in August that universities needed “to be aware that they are at the centre of some big issues” occupying the Conservatives, “including free speech on campus, [unconditional] offers and degree class, and their wider contribution to society”.

Last month, columnist Rachel Sylvester suggested in The Times that “No 10 has been polling ‘culture war’ issues, such as transgender rights, to see whether they can be weaponised against Labour in northern working-class constituencies”.

That might raise the question of whether the Tory manifesto would seek to address campus free speech, an issue that has been of long-standing interest to right-wing newspapers in the UK and has proved a rallying point for the US right.

Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, thought it “conceivable but unlikely” that campus free speech would feature in the Tory manifesto.

“Many Conservatives worry more about a perceived monoculture within which staff and students seem to be far to the left of the median voter and less reflective of society at large,” Mr Hillman said. “It is a real challenge to ensure that any conversation about that does not bleed into unnecessary culture wars that no one benefits from.”

Mr Hillman said that Ms Wolf, an adviser to Mr Johnson in his time as shadow higher education minister from 2005 to 2007, had “demonstrated a deep understanding of the importance of universities, science and research to the whole UK” through her work on the Civic University Commission.

Publicație : The Times

School student’s physics paper retracted over ‘self-plagiarism’

Senior co-author says he ‘forgot’ to add reference to overlapping paper

Getting two academic papers published while still at school, let alone one, would clearly be a major achievement for any teenager. But having one of those articles later retracted by a journal because your senior co-author “forgot” to properly acknowledge their similarity is probably not the best way to start a budding scientific career.

That is what has happened to a pupil at one of the US’ most prestigious private schools after a physics paper co-authored with a professor in China was retracted for self-plagiarism.

The article, in the field of optics, was retracted by the Journal of the Optical Society of America B because of “significant overlap” with another paper by the same authors published in a different journal just days before.

An investigation was launched by The Optical Society (OSA) after a whistleblower highlighted similarities between the articles and also raised questions about such a paper being authored by a high-school pupil.

The retracted article – which featured research into “Thomson backscattering” – was published in JOSA B on 14 June, around two weeks after another article by the same authors on Thomson backscattering appeared online in a physics journal called EPL (Europhysics Letters).

The JOSA B article appeared to be a longer version of the EPL paper, with passages in both featuring very similar – at times identical – wording, but with no acknowledgement of a link between them.

The JOSA B retraction notice states that the article had been retracted “due to significant overlap with another article by these authors without proper citation” in “violation” of OSA ethical guidelines. These guidelines state that there should be no “unacceptably close replication of the author’s own previously published text or results, even a few sentences, without proper citation”.

The first author’s affiliation is listed as Phillips Academy – an independent school in Andover, near Boston – which has been described as “America’s best high school”. Fees can be up to $57,800 (£46,600) a year and pupils often go on to study at Ivy League universities.

According to the original JOSA B article, the first author had conducted “much of the research…under the mentorship of the second author”, who is listed as Bai-Song Xie, a professor in the College of Nuclear Science and Technology at Beijing Normal University.

He told Times Higher Education that although the JOSA B article contained “many new research results and contents” that were not available in the EPL paper, he “forgot to add the reference” to the first paper.

“This is indeed not precise. I will learn the lessons of this matter and be more rigorous in future research work,” Professor Xie said.

Professor Xie added that he hoped the retraction would not have a “negative impact” on the student, who was “full of enthusiasm for scientific research”.

Bart van Tiggelen, editor-in-chief of EPL, told THE that because the JOSA B article was submitted and published after the EPL paper it was for the OSA “to investigate any self-plagiarism”. He added that after a “thorough investigation” the journal was “satisfied that no misconduct has taken place” with regard to “the authorship of an apparently very junior author”.

The EPL article remains online.

Publicație : The Times

Les secteurs et les entreprises qui recrutent le plus en alternance

Un tiers des offres d’alternance concerne les secteurs commerce, vente et grande distribution, selon une étude de Golden Bees. L’Île-de-France reste la région la plus plébiscitée par les candidats.

L’alternance séduit de plus en plus de jeunes pour faire un premier pas dans la vie active. Et les entreprises aussi. Selon une étude menée parGolden Bees, spécialiste dans le recrutement programmatique et l’analyse des données des candidats, 33% des offres d’entreprises proviennent des secteurs commerce, vente et grande distribution. Pour les domaines qualité, ressources humaines et direction, 14% des offres d’alternance sont concernées. En troisième position, 12% des offres d’alternance dépendant des secteurs de la banque, de la finance, de la comptabilité et de l’assurance.

■ Les 3 secteurs qui proposent le plus d’offres en alternance

  1. Commerce, vente et grande distribution (33%)
  2. Qualité, RR, direction (14 %)
  3. Banque, finance, comptabilité, assurance (12%)

■ Les 3 entreprises qui recrutent le plus en alternance

  1. Enedis
  2. Thalès
  3. SNCF

■ Les 3 régions les plus attractives

  1. Ile-de-France (50 %)
  2. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (13 %)
  3. Occitanie (7%)

Toutefois, l’étude met en avant que «les entreprises qui diffusent le plus d’offres ne sont pas forcément les entreprises qui réceptionnent le plus de CV». En effet, en commerce, vente et grande distribution, seulement 21% des jeunes candidatent. Les entreprises proposant le plus d’offres d’emploi en alternance sont Thales et la SNCF. Pour autant, celles qui sont le plus attractives en réceptionnant «le plus grand nombre de candidatures» sont le groupe Crédit Agricole, LCL et Dalkia.

À l’inverse, les secteurs qui recrutent le moins sont «en premier lieu l’environnement, le nettoyage et la sécurité», explique Fariha Shah, cofondatrice de Golden Bees. S’ensuit le domaine pharmaceutique, «avec tous les métiers qui tournent autour du médicament, que ce soit dans les officines ou dans les laboratoires», précise Fariha Shah. Les métiers des loisirs, du spectacle et de l’audiovisuel «proposent également peu d’offres, car ce sont des professions de niche».

La moitié des offres diffusées entre mai et juillet

Pour candidater au bon moment, mieux vaut être aux aguets au printemps. D’après l’étude, 50% des offres d’alternance sont diffusées entre mai et juillet. Parmi elles, un tiers concerne des offres en Île-de-France, 12% en Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes et 9% en région Pays de la Loire. De plus, la moitié des candidatures des jeunes est à destination de la très attractive région parisienne.

L’ordinateur n’est plus le seul outil qui permet aux jeunes de scruter les nouvelles annonces. Les chiffres des candidatures sur mobile sont en nette croissance, note Golden Bees. En 2018, 31% des candidatures se faisaient via mobile, soit un chiffre 2,5 fois plus élevé qu’en 2017. C’est pourquoi cette année, 85% des offres en alternance sont compatibles sur smartphone et tablette. D’après Golden Bees, les candidats recherchent, pour 41% d’entre eux, des offres sur internet entre 12h00 et 18h00. Pour Fariha Shah, «c’est obligatoire aujourd’hui pour les entreprises de proposer leurs offres sur des supports adaptés aux mobiles. Les candidats sont de gros utilisateurs de smartphones, ils ne se servent quasiment plus des ordinateurs».

Publicație : Le Figaro

Frédérique Vidal inaugure à Tunis la première université franco-tunisienne

L’Université franco-tunisienne de l’Afrique et de la Méditerranée (Uftam), qui doit délivrer des diplômes français et tunisiens, a officiellement ouvert ses portes vendredi dans la banlieue sud de Tunis.

«L’Uftam est là pour incarner le renouveau de la relation franco-tunisienne en matière de savoir et de recherche. Je pense que cela va être le projet phare pour les prochaines années», a indiqué Slim Khalbous, ministre tunisien de l’Enseignement supérieur, lors de l’inauguration. Présente pour l’occasion, la ministre française de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche Frédérique Vidal a affirmé que ce projet académique devait permettre de «co-construire de nouveaux diplômes (…) au service d’un objectif qui est la Méditerranée, l’Afrique, le développement économique, l’employabilité».

L’Université franco-tunisienne de l’Afrique et de la Méditerranée (Uftam), qui doit délivrer des diplômes français et tunisiens, a officiellement ouvert ses portes vendredi dans la banlieue sud de Tunis. L’établissement, qui accueille 200 étudiants pour sa première année universitaire 2019-2020, propose des diplômes de grade master (master 1 et master 2) en «expertise économique des politiques et projets de développement» ou en «gestion de l’environnement», ainsi que des formations en génie informatique, traitement du signal, automatique, énergie, électronique et télécommunication. Une année de scolarité coûte 9000 dinars tunisiens , soit 2873 euros. «Des bourses d’excellence seront attribuées par le gouvernement tunisien aux étudiants tunisiens les plus méritants», précise le site de l’Uftam.

Visant à attirer des étudiants subsahariens, méditerranéens et français, l’université basée à El Mourouj, dans la banlieue sud de Tunis, veut «répondre à un double défi: combattre le fort taux de chômage des jeunes en renforçant leur employabilité, tout en répondant aux besoins du tissu socio-économique tunisien», d’après le site de l’Uftam

L’université «illustre la volonté des deux pays de constituer en Tunisie un hub régional d’enseignement supérieur»

En février 2018, le président français Emmanuel Macron avait annoncé la création de l’Uftam lors d’une visite d’État en Tunisie, qui doit accueillir le sommet de la francophonie en 2020.

L’université «illustre la volonté des deux pays de constituer en Tunisie un hub régional d’enseignement supérieur», indique le site internet.

L’Union générale des étudiants de Tunisie et l’Union des étudiants communistes ont accusé, dans un communiqué publié en juin 2019, les gouvernements français et tunisien de «favoriser l’implantation d’universités étrangères et privées sur le territoire tunisien, en concurrence et au détriment des université publiques».

Publicație : Le Figaro