In Platotul BZI LIVE au fost invitati trei tineri manageri ai Universitatii Cuza din Iasi. Munca lor are efect DIRECT asupra ALIMENTATIEI si NATURII din Romania
Luni, 8 aprilie 2019, incepand cu ora 15.00 in Platoul emisiunii BZI LIVE a fost programata cea de-a 690-a editie - dialog speciala, proaspata si interesanta respectiv cea de-a 279-a pe zona educationala - culturala si istorica • De aceasta data au fost invitati la o productie riguroasa, constructiva si spectaculoasa din perspectiva cercetarii in Natura si pe varii segmente din aceasta perspectiva trei dintre tinerii valorosi, implicati si pasionati ai Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza - UAIC din Iasi • Acestia coordoneaza trei importante, unice si aparte statiuni de cercetare ale tarii care au o implicatie directa asupra ALIMENTATIEI si NATURII din Romania • Astfel, dezbaterea a avut in prim-plan detalii din ceea ce realizeaza in statiuni, proiectele pe care le au in derulare si pe cele pe care intentioneaza sa le puna in practica • Este vorba de lect. univ. dr. Ioan-Bogdan Robu - Statiunea Biologica Petre Jitariu Potoci - Neamt, adm. fin. grad. I (S) Cristian Alin Barbacariu - Statiunea de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Acvacultura si Ecologie Acvatica Iezareni, judetul Iasi si CS III Emanuel Stefan Baltag - Statiunea Biologica Marina "Prof. Dr. Ioan Borcea" de la Agigea - judetul Constanta • Astfel, de-a lungul intregii emisiuni au fost oferite detalii legate de aceste statiuni si importanta lor stategica • Editia completa cu acestia poate fi urmarita AICI
Pe 8 aprilie 2019, incepand cu ora 15.00 in Platoul emisiunii BZI LIVE a fost programata cea de-a 690-a editie - dialog speciala, proaspata si interesanta respectiv cea de-a 279-a pe zona educationala - culturala si istorica. Si de aceasta data au fost invitati la o productie riguroasa, constructiva si spectaculoasa din perspectiva cercetarii in Natura si pe varii segmente din aceasta perspectiva trei dintre tinerii valorosi, implicati si pasionati ai Universitatii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (UAIC) din Iasi.
Acestia coordoneaza trei importante, unice si aparte statiuni de cercetare ale tarii care au o implicatie directa asupra ALIMENTATIEI si NATURII din Romania. Dezbaterea a avut in prim-plan detalii din ceea ce realizeaza in statiuni, proiectele pe care le au in derulare si pe cele pe care intentioneaza sa le puna in practica. A fost vorba de lect. univ. dr. Ioan-Bogdan Robu - Statiunea Biologica Petre Jitariu Potoci - Neamt, adm. fin. grad. I (S) Cristian Alin Barbacariu - Statiunea de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Acvacultura si Ecologie Acvatica Iezareni, judetul Iasi si CS III Emanuel Stefan Baltag - Statiunea Biologica Marina "Prof. Dr. Ioan Borcea" de la Agigea - judetul Constanta. Astfel, de-a lungul intregii emisiuni au fost oferite detalii legate de aceste statiuni si importanta lor stategica.
Fie ca au oferit informatii despre rolul cercetarii pe care o desfatoara, practica oferita studentii, activitatea interdisciplinara pe care au initiat-o, biodiversitatea, acvacultura si studiul pasarilor sau al mediului, toate acestea au fost repere ale productiei BZI LIVE. Editia completa cu acestia poate fi urmarita AICI
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Unul dintre legendarii profesori si inventatori din Iasi, intr-un dialog de-a dreptul SPECTACULOS in Studioul BZI LIVE
Unul dintre legendarii profesori si inventatori din Iasi, intr-un dialog de-a dreptul SPECTACULOS in Studioul BZI LIVE! Omul de stiinta, celebru de la Moscova si pana in Statele Unite ale Americii va oferi o poveste de viata UNICA
Marti, 9 aprilie 2019, incepand cu ora 15.00 in lumina reflectoarelor Studioului BZI LIVE este invitat unul din legendarii profesori si inventatori din Iasi, din tara si strainatate! Este vorba de prof. univ. Ion Sandu de la Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza (UAIC) din Iasi! Acesta va oferi detalii si marturii din povestea sa de viata, cum a ajuns sa fie pasionat de inventica, Chimie si Arta! Intr-un reportaj, realizat acum aproape un deceniu, profesorul Sandu rememora multe din experientele sale!
Toti cei care au intrebari pentru prof. univ. Ion Sandu le pot adresa la rubrica de comentarii sau in direct, pe Facebook.
Emisiunile BZI LIVE inregistreaza un real succes, fiecare editie in parte numarand zeci de mii de vizualizari.
"Un loc bine ascuns, o lume fabuloasa si plina de secrete pe care si cele mai puternice servicii secrete ar vrea sa le aiba. Sute de medalii castigate la cele mai tari saloane de inventica din intreaga lume, reusit completate de distinctii cu rang inalt. Totul este "invaluit" de-un univers fabulos al unui laborator al Universitatii Al. I. Cuza (UAIC). Sute de oameni de calitate coordonati si care, astazi, sunt mari figuri in domeniul cercetarii celor mai moderne tehnologii la institute si universitati celebre din intreaga lume. Astfel poate fi descris pe scurt Ion Sandu, cercetatorul si inventatorul, omul care este devotat complet cercetarii de cel mai inalt nivel si care, prin ceea ce inoveaza, este furnizor de secrete tehnologice utilizate inclusiv de serviciile secrete. Camera secretelor viitorului O usa pe care scrie "Laboratorul de Investigare Stiintifica si Conservare a Patrimoniului Cultural". Odata deschisa, cobori pe niste trepte abrupte si, la capatul lor, frumos ordonate in vitrina, poti vedea numeroase lucrari stiintifice in filele carora este munca de zeci de ani a profesorului Sandu in varii domenii ale inovarii tehnologice. O figura impunatoare, un discurs fluent si incarcat de secrete fabuloase. "Sunt peste 400 de oameni pe care i-am format si care astazi lucreaza ca specialisti la cele mai importante institute de cercetare si universitati de prima importanta din intreaga lume. Aici este locul unde realizam experimente si, cu ajutorul dotarii laboratorului nostru aflat la cel mai ridicat nivel tehnologic din Europa, pregatim doctoranzi care devin experti in criminalistica, restaurare sau in domeniul protectiei mediului", isi incepea discursul profesorul Sandu. Artefacte vechi de patru mii ani, restaurate perfect Ca intr-o farmacie si intr-o perfecta ordine, intri intr-o lume parca desprinsa din laboratoarele NASA. Dintr-o data, treci intr-o lume veche si de peste patru mii ani. Artefacte din lemn sau diverse obiecte incarcate de istorie te intampina intr-una din "camerele secrete" ale inventatorului Ion Sandu. "Aici avem obiecte din lemn conservate de 200 sau 300 sute de ani, dar si un obiect folosit in extragerea sarii, pe care l-am restaurat perfect, ce dateaza de acum peste patru mii de ani. Imi doresc, in viitor, sa realizez un adevarat muzeu unde sa poti regasi diverse obiecte din lemn care erau folosite in gospodariile satului romanesc de acum cateva sute de ani", spunea cu pasiune in voce cercetatorul. Inventii care au starnit interesul serviciilor secrete In biroul sau poti zari, peste tot, numeroase liste cu rezultate la experimentele pe care le face, studii, lucrari de specialitate, iar, pe hol, doua panoplii cu zeci de medalii si premii valoroase care reprezinta recunoasterea internationala a muncii fantastice pe care o realizeaza profesorul Ion Sandu. Mereu modest si bucuros ca, prin el, tinerii cercetatori pe care-i coordoneaza au sansa de a studia la cel mai inalt nivel, acesta recunoaste ca a brevetat inventii folosite inclusiv in domeniul militar si cel al serviciilor secrete. "Sunt o serie de inventii de care s-au interesat inclusiv serviciile secrete, iar primele mele creatii au fost destinate domeniului militar, dar pe care nu pot sa le spun deoarece intra in categoria secretelor strategice", marturiseste Sandu. "Patriarhul" inventicii romanesti Ion Sandu, dupa 42 de ani in inventica si cercetare stiintifica, este autorul unic a peste zeci carti de specialitate, peste doua sute de lucrari stiintifice. A primit, in intreaga lume, aproximativ o suta de premii, ordine si distinctii in inventica de la Teheran, Bruxelles sau Pittsburgh. Are zeci si zeci de brevete pentru inventii recunoscute la cel mai inalt nivel si cu aplicabilitate in diverse domenii. Doi fosti doctoranzi pe care i-a coordonat din strainatate, respectiv Marta Quaranta din Italia si Mikiko Hayashi din Japonia, pe care i-a pregatit in cadrul programului EPISCON - European Ph. D. in Science for Conservation, au ajuns printre cei mai buni specialisti in tarile lor. Este primul conducator de doctorat european din Romania, in cadrul primului domeniu mondial al Stiintei Conservarii, finantat prin programul Uniunii Europene (UE) "Marie Curie". Profesorul Sandu a fost, de asemenea, presedintele Forumului Inventatorilor Romani din Iasi.
Repere biografice
Ion Sandu s-a nascut la 3 ianuarie 1952. A absolvit Facultatea de Chimie in anul 1975, si a profesat, pina la iesirea la pensie, la Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iasi, Facultatea de Teologie Ortodoxa, Sectia Patrimoniu Cultural.
A infiintat si dezvoltat, alaturi de alte cadre didactice din Universitatea Tehnica „Gheorghe Asachi” din Iasi, Institutul National de Inventica. De asemenea, este fondatorul Societatii Inventatorilor din Romania. Incepind cu anul 1994, a pus bazele primului centru national de cercetari in domeniul patrimoniului cultural – Centrul Mitropolitan de Cercetari TABOR Iasi, pe care l-a condus ca director general timp de sapte ani. Este expert in stiinta si ingineria materialelor, ecologie si ingineria mediului, dar si in conservarea bunurilor de patrimoniu cultural
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Iasi-orasul studentiei tale. Porti deschise la universitatile iesene
Pentru al doilea an consecutiv, Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, Universitatea Tehnica „Gheorghe Asachi”, Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie „Grigore T. Popa”, Universitatea de Stiinte Agricole si Medicina Veterinara „Ion Ionescu de la Brad” si Universitatea Nationala de Arte „George Enescu”, impreuna cu Primaria Municipiului Iasi, au initiat un parteneriat pentru a crea tinerilor un univers educational aparte: „Iasi-orasul studentiei tale. Porti deschise la universitatile iesene”.
Astfel, in perioada 13 - 17 aprilie universitatile iesene isi vor deschide portile pentru absolventii de liceu ce doresc informatii despre curricula academica ieseana. Vor fi prezentate oportunitati educationale, culturale, sociale si perspective economice pentru cei care decid sa devina studenti in Iasi. Pentru a aduce la cunostinta publicului larg, indeosebi absolventilor de liceu, oferta academica si oportunitatile pe care le ofera Iasul studentesc, marti, 9 aprilie 2019, de la ora 15.00, in Sala „Vasile Pogor” a Primariei Municipiului Iasi, in prezenta primarului Mihai Chirica si a rectorilor universitatilor publice iesene, va avea loc o conferinta de presa la care avem onoarea sa va invitam.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Universitatea "Cuza" din Iasi propune o noua investitie destinata fermelor de acvacultura
Universitatea "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" (UAIC) din Iasi a depus spre evaluare, la Ministerul Agriculturii si Dezvoltarii Rurale, proiectul intitulat "Înfiintarea unui centru de consiliere pentru fermele de acvacultura", la Statiunea de Cercetare Dezvoltare pentru Acvacultura si Ecologie Acvatica (SCDAEA) Iasi.
Depunerea proiectului s-a realizat în prezenta prof. univ. dr. Mihaela Onofrei, rector interimar al UAIC. Proiectul îsi propune înfiintarea unui centru de consiliere pentru fermele de acvacultura si formarea unei echipe de specialisti care împreuna sa poata solutiona diferite probleme legate de tehnologii generale de acvacultura, analize ale apei si furajelor, servicii ecosistemice, conservarea mediilor umede, marketing si planuri de afaceri în acvacultura. Bugetul total al proiectului este de aproape 600.000 de lei.
"Ne bucuram ca statiunile de cercetare ale UAIC sunt active, scriu si depun proiecte care pot aduce reala valoare adaugata în mediul academic, stiintific, dar si cel de afaceri. Proiectul depus de Statiunea de Cercetare Dezvoltare pentru Acvacultura si Ecologie este cel mai recent exemplu, avem încredere ca va primi finantarea si se va implementa cu succes", a transmis profesorul Mihaela Onofrei.
Concret, prin fondarea unui centru de consiliere în regiunea de Nord-Est pentru fermele de acvacultura la SCDAEA Iasi se va realiza un transfer relevant de cunostinte catre fermele de acvacultura, acest sector fiind mai bine promovat catre beneficiari. "Atingerea acestui obiectiv va avea un impact major asupra capacitatii SCDAEA de a atrage si pregati fermierii prin asigurarea unor conditii moderne de consiliere si acces la informatii. Valoarea adaugata va fi data de valorificarea potentialului fermelor de acvacultura din regiunea de Nord-Est, ceea ce va conduce la o mai buna dezvoltare economica a acestui sector. Proiectul a fost depus pentru finantare în cadrul Programului operational pentru pescuit si afaceri maritime 2014 - 2020 (POPAM), masura II.5, litera a: Crearea de servicii de gestionare, de înlocuire si de consiliere pentru fermele de acvacultura", au mai transmis oficialii UAIC.
Echipa de proiect este formata din dr. ing. Cristian-Alin Barbacariu (manager de proiect), ec. Mariana Hapau (responsabil financiar), ing. Daniela Brighiu (responsabil achizitii), biolog dr. Grigore Davideanu, biolog dr. Ana Davideanu, biolog dr. Marian Burducea, biolog Lenuta Dîrvariu, inginer chimist Eugen Oprea, biolog dr. Andrei Lobiuc si asist. univ. dr. Alexandru Maxim
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Anunt pentru studentii politehnisti cazati in Campusul "Tudor Vladimirescu" din Iasi
Universitatea Tehnica (TUIASI) "Gheorghe Asachi" din Iasi anunta, pentru studentii cazati in Campusul "Tudor Vladimirescu" faptul ca, incepand cu luna aprilie 2019, conform prevederilor Ordinului Ministerului Educatiei Nationale (MEN) nr. 3.130 din 5 februarie, urmatoarele categorii de studenti beneficiaza de gratuitate la cazare: studentii orfani de unul sau ambii parinti; studentii aflati in regim de protectie speciala (studenti proveniti din case de copii, centre de asistenta sau plasament familial); studentii cu dizabilitati si insotitorii acestora, studentii romani, copiii personalului didactic si didactic auxiliar, respectiv studentii straini fara plata taxelor de scolarizare, bursieri ai Statului roman, sau fara bursa. Aceasta masura vine ca o forma de sustinere si de incurajare a tinerilor sa poata urma studii superioare.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Seventy-five bogus universities shut down in past four years
Higher education watchdog has a register of 243 institutions offering fake degrees
Seventy-five bogus universities have been closed in the past four years, amid warnings that the business in fake degrees is undermining the reputation of the UK higher education system around the world.
The university watchdog the Higher Education Degree Datacheck (Hedd), which monitors fake degrees, has built up a register of 243 bogus institutions.
There is growing concern about students being mis-sold fraudulent degrees, with more than 200 potential cases of degree fraud under investigation since 2015.
Among the fake universities that came to Hedd’s attention was Manchester Open University, which was advertising degrees for fees of up to £35,000 on its website.
It claimed to have a campus on Oxford Road in the city, with 2,000 students from 90 different countries studying degrees in history, English and medicine, but officials called in to investigate were unable to find a trace of the institution.
In another case, Oxbridge University of Kilmurry, which offered masters, doctorates and professional qualifications on its website, was found to be registered in Gambia.
Jayne Rowley, the chief executive of Hedd, said: “Among the suspicious employers and fake certificates, we hear from genuine universities who spot fakes using their branding to attract students, collect personal information and course fees.
“This is damaging the reputation of our higher education system, but it is a global issue. The majority of websites are based outside the UK and therefore we need to collaborate more internationally.”
According to Hedd, bogus universities and degree mills attempt to make money from enrolment fees, premium phone lines and course fees. “This type of fraud is becoming more sophisticated,” Hedd’s guidance to higher education providers states, “with credible websites and verification services often modelled on their authentic counterparts – including the direct lifting of content and sections of material from genuine university websites.”
As well as reducing the number of fake institutions through investigation and awareness-raising, Hedd also hopes to combat degree fraud by getting employers and universities to make more verification checks when recruiting students and graduates.
“We need to focus more on prevention,” said Rowley. “If every employer properly checked the degree qualifications of every candidate there wouldn’t be a market for this type of fraud.”
Publicație : The Guardian
Should a PhD be hard?
Katherine Firth breaks down the different meanings of “hard” and gives tips for how students can persevere
Of course a PhD is “hard” – as in it “has a high difficulty setting” and also “is a lot of work”. It is three or more years of creating new knowledge, after all.
But how “hard” should it be, and what kind of “hard”?
In my work teaching research and writing skills at La Trobe University, students talk to me about their worries about finding their PhD “hard”. But these concerns tend to mean one of two very different things.
The first group of students worry that finding their PhD hard means that they are not smart enough, that they will not finish and that they do not belong in the PhD programme.
These students typically were excellent students in their school, undergraduate and coursework studies, and while they may have had to put in a good amount of work, they were not totally challenged. Part of the reason they are doing a PhD is because they are looking for a real challenge, but it is also a bit of a worrying shock when they realise they maybe do not know what they are doing and do not really understand the material.
This kind of student does not necessarily have a lot of skills in their tool box for when learning becomes “hard”. Perhaps they just “get” maths or poetry or writing, and are used to being considered smart for work they find quick and painless to complete. They are used to turning in work that is praised and given excellent grades. But once they hit the messy, ugly, uncomfortable bits of the PhD, where multiple failures and lots of negative feedback is normal, they worry that they do not have the tools to deal with it.
These students need to hear the following:
- It is normal to find the PhD hard
- Failing, getting negative feedback and being rejected from journals and grants, are all a regular part of the researcher experience
- You should expect to use the failures to learn and do better the next time
- You can get help from supervisors, academic skills advisors, peer researchers, mentors, books and blogs
- If you keep persevering and learning, you will probably succeed
A typical example of this kind of student is the international student whose first language is not English. As I have argued before, this kind of student does face a challenge, but that challenge does not have much impact on their passing rate or completion time. It is a challenge that, with some work in boosting their confidence, can definitely be overcome.
The second type of student is really struggling. They are finding the PhD tough for the wrong reasons.
Some research cultures are, frankly, toxic: early mornings, late nights, few holidays, no weekends, not taking sick days, no time off for families or friends, or sitting and thinking under a tree.
The long hours are enforced by surveillance, micro-management and bullying. People who do not “fit” or who “are not fit enough” are forced out. People with young children, a disability, or ill health are told (explicitly or implicitly) that they probably are not cut out for a PhD.
This kind of toxic culture can be created by an ambitious supervisor, or by a peer group of students who decide their way of researching is the best way. Or it can be created by institutional structures.
The university’s policies for making accommodations, taking leave, giving scholarships, processing visas etc. can be unintentionally clunky, or intentionally punitive and strict.
And these three cultures of power often intersect and impact PhD students. For example, a pushy supervisor recruits and retains a group of students who match their idea of what a “good” student is, around whom the university structures their progress policy.
In this kind of situation, the student who feels excluded and tries to complain often finds themselves being treated as the problem, as Sara Ahmed and Inger Mewburn have both shown in different ways.
A PhD is not examined on whether you are physically strong or a quick thinker. There are no pop quizzes or exercise drills before you graduate.
A PhD is about sustained intellectual engagement, creating new knowledge and contributing to the community of scholars in your field. This is achieved through an extended work of academic writing, and (perhaps) presenting your work verbally to others.
This group of students needs to hear:
- If you feel like you are being bullied or exploited, then you probably are
- Your institution, supervisor and peers are supposed to support you and make reasonable adjustments to help you study
- If you feel you are not being supported, you may find it helpful to explore changing supervisors, institutions or degrees
- If you decide to stay in a difficult situation (and there are often very good reasons for this), you need to find spaces where you are supported
- If you keep persevering, and learning, you will probably succeed.
In the work I do I often meet students who are worried they find the PhD hard, in both senses. I know that both kinds of students can complete their PhDs and make a difference to the world.
If you are finding the PhD hard, that’s okay. If you are being bullied or are getting sick because of the PhD, that’s not okay. Find a way to make the PhD hard like climbing a mountain, not hard like being hit with a stick.
This blog has been republished from the original version.
Publicație : The Times
UK universities lose grants and staff as Brexit uncertainty grows
Leading academics express doubt about UK government’s ability to underwrite large EU funding packages
Leading professors have warned that uncertainty over the UK’s future access to European Union research funding is already undermining grant applications and forcing academics overseas.
Scholars employed by British universities would lose access to new funding under the existing Horizon 2020 programme – including prestigious European Research Council grants – in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Delays in passing a withdrawal agreement may leave the UK outside Horizon 2020’s successor scheme, Horizon Europe, when it starts in 2021, and a no-deal departure could see British researchers excluded for the duration.
Trisha Greenhalgh, professor of primary care health sciences at the University of Oxford, said that she had been shortlisted for a €10 million (£8.6 million) ERC grant but felt that she was “unlikely to get it now”, given the uncertainty about whether the project could be completed.
Professor Greenhalgh said she doubted that the UK government would be able to underwrite such a substantial sum of money.
“If I were to win the grant, and we left Europe without a deal, there’s no question I’d lose the funding,” she said.
Another UK academic, who asked not to be named, said that she and her colleagues had been excluded from opportunities to work with longstanding collaborators on the Continent who feared the consequences of having British scholars on grant applications. A bid for EU funding “appeared to have been blocked” by French researchers who used what she described as “dirty tricks”, such as citing EU procurement laws.
While her own relationships with collaborators had experienced no problems, Professor Greenhalgh said there was “an overwhelming sense now, that [EU collaborators] are losing patience”.
“They’ve been good to us and understanding for so long, but we are beginning to see a breakdown in collegiality,” she warned. “There is no doubt collaborations will crumble and we will be left out in the cold.”
Other leading academics have questioned whether the UK government’s pledge to underwrite the value of EU research grants that have already been awarded would materialise.
Dorothy Bishop, professor of developmental neuropsychology at Oxford, said that her ERC grant, which is 18 months in, covers her salary and that of several staff. “If there was hard Brexit and the government did not cover the lost funds, there would be many redundancies,” she said.
“I don’t trust [the Treasury] to cover anything right now, as they have been spending huge amounts on all kinds of damage limitation and I doubt academic research would be a high priority. The uncertainty is crippling”.
Growing numbers of researchers have indicated that the uncertainty over access to EU funding has driven them to move abroad.
Earlier this year Catherine Heymans, professor of astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, told Times Higher Education that she was moving to the University of Bonn after winning a €1.5 million grant backed by the German government.
“It’s Brexit. The day after the referendum I started looking for alternative funding, because over my career about 90 per cent of my funding has come from the EU,” she said.
THE understands that, of two academics at Anglia Ruskin University who won ERC grants last year, one has already made the decision to leave the UK for an EU-based institution, for fear of losing the funds.
Other academics including Vera Troeger, professor of quantitative political economy at the University of Warwick, and Andreas Goldthau, professor of international relations at Royal Holloway, University of London, told The Guardian that they were moving back to the Continent because of Brexit.
Latest ERC figures showed that UK-based scientists secured more than one in five awards in the latest handout of its highly sought-after advanced grants, securing €112 million.
But Joanna Burton, a senior policy adviser at the Russell Group, said the political crisis over Brexit meant that “the future of our participation in the ERC hangs in the balance”.
“While applications are holding up for now, researchers making long-term career decisions are considering their options and urgently need to know if they can bid for ERC funding from the UK after Brexit,” she said.
“If we crash out without a deal, access to the ERC will be cut off with immediate effect and the government must provide alternative funding to replace these vital funds.”
The annual conference of the Centre for Global Higher Education last week heard that UK university leaders were in “cloud cuckoo land” if they thought their institutions would still be the collaborators of choice for European researchers after Brexit.
Ludovic Highman, who worked on a CGHE research project focusing on Brexit, said that European universities would continue to “do exactly what we are doing and they do not need us to do it”
Publicație : The Times
Germany faces first research funding cut in 16 years
After more than doubling its spending since the financial crisis, Germany’s long budget boom is set to come to an end
Germany’s federal research and education budget is set to be cut for the first time in 16 years, ending a boom period of increased spending and potentially leaving many academics on temporary contracts out of a job.
While swathes of European countries cut back on university funding after the financial crisis of 2008, Germany took the opposite path: the budget of the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has grown from €8.5 billion (£7.3 million) in 2007 to €18.3 billion this year.
Yet amid gloomy forecasts from the finance ministry over a slowing economy, and an aversion to taking on government debt, the BMBF budget is set to shrink nearly 3 per cent next year.
“We had a silver – not a golden – period over the last decade,” said Peter-André Alt, president of the German Rectors’ Conference. “Now it seems to be coming to an end.”
In percentage terms, the BMBF will lose more than any other major German ministry, despite a proposed rise in the overall federal budget of 1.7 per cent. “We are losing the most,” said Professor Alt.
And after a big cut next year, the BMBF budget is then set to dwindle slightly every year until 2023, despite small steady increases in overall expenditure.
Some commentators have accused the education and research minister, Anja Karliczek, of being silent in the face of cuts to her department. But the budget numbers are still subject to negotiation, and the minister has hit back, arguing that she is making the case for significant research investment, particularly in artificial intelligence.
The plans will make certain time-limited income streams for German universities – so-called “pacts” to cope with a surge in student numbers and to improve teaching – permanent, meaning that universities can make at least some of the temporary positions they funded permanent, Professor Alt explained.
But, given the budget cut, an as yet unclear number of these temporary academics will not have their contracts renewed, he said, exacerbating already chronic insecurity in the academic labour market.
These pacts were designed to help German universities cope with a surge of students over the past decade – the biggest increase since the Second World War – that was in part due to a cut in the length of Germany’s high school diploma in 2013, leading to a one-off double cohort, Professor Alt said.
But universities do not expect numbers to drop off, as they have taken on new fields once taught outside universities, such as bioinformatics. “We will be facing this wave [of students] again,” Professor Alt said.
Networks of research centres, like Max Planck institutes, have also benefited from steady 3 per cent annual rises in their funding from the BMBF, but this deal could now be “under serious pressure”, according to Professor Alt. These networks are now “fighting for the status quo”, he said.
However, universities and some research organisations like Max Planck are funded by their states as well as the federal government – so this latest budget cut could be cushioned – or exacerbated – by decisions at the regional level.
Publicație : The Times
Sunderland’s new civic role: to improve city life through culture
Sunderland v-c urges policymakers to recognise post-92 universities’ ‘contribution to the health of the nation’
Propelling revival: Sunderland Culture, a collaboration between the university, council and Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture Trust, aims to breathe life back into the austerity-hit city that was once a shipbuilding and mining hub
When the judging panel picking the UK City of Culture 2021 came to Sunderland, those leading the bid ensured that they stayed in a hotel with views of the coast. That Sunderland has a coastline of any kind would surprise ignorant first-time visitors, let alone one like the expanse of sand and crashing waves from Roker to Seaburn, bleakly beautiful on a windswept early spring day. The artist L. S. Lowry spent his summer holidays at Seaburn, painting seascapes and the Sunderland shipyards, vanished along with its mines in the UK’s era of breakneck-speed deindustrialisation.
Coventry may have won the City of Culture title, but being one of the five shortlisted cities left a legacy for Sunderland. The partners on the bid – the University of Sunderland, Sunderland City Council and Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture Trust – decided to keep working together and formed Sunderland Culture.
The joint venture manages five venues owned by the partners and aims to establish a cultural quarter in the city centre, including a new £8.2 million venue for music, drama and dance. The plan is to build all this into a cultural package that will attract more visitors and “improve life for everyone in Sunderland” by enhancing the city’s “economic and social development”.
As UK universities increasingly prioritise their roles in their cities and towns, and austerity-hit councils look to them for support, the University of Sunderland culture project is a new kind of university civic mission.
Sunderland Culture can bring a “benefit in terms of visitors and tourism, but there’s also a benefit for the confidence of the city”, said Sir David Bell, who took over as Sunderland vice-chancellor in September, after leaving the University of Reading and previously serving as permanent secretary in the Department for Education.
Other key civic fronts for the university include the opening of its medical school this autumn – a huge step for both university and city – and its role in taking local students and helping them on to good jobs in the region. Overall, 85 per cent of Sunderland students are from the north east and 45 per cent start as mature students (aged over 21), while more than 30 per cent are from the poorest neighbourhoods. “The social mobility is not about them leaving the area,” said Sir David, criticising higher education policies that reward the universities whose graduates move to big cities with higher earnings and recognise “social mobility” only in the small number of poorer students getting into the most selective universities.
“While every university wants to talk of itself as an anchor institution…you get a real sense that this is a very important part of the civic infrastructure here,” said Sir David.
Sunderland has come to greater prominence recently through the success of the Netflix series Sunderland ’Til I Die, a behind-the-scenes documentary on the city’s football club which tells the story of its shattering Championship relegation season, and also of the wider community. It is a place where “not many people have had it easy” after the collapse of shipbuilding and mining, a “working-class city” where the football club is at the heart of people’s identities, one supporter explains in the opening episode. “This isn’t Watford or Cambridge.”
The scale of the city’s challenges makes the university’s civic role particularly pressing. Although the shift to online retailing has hit many British city centres hard, Sunderland’s is the image of a deserted ghost town on a Tuesday evening. One of the rows of shops next to the train station features, in succession, The Clearance Outlet (closed down), Kwik Tan, Admiral Casino and Poundland.
Just 27 per cent of Sunderland’s working-age population have a qualification at Level 4 (between A level and degrees) or above, putting it 53rd out of 63 UK cities on that score, according to Centre for Cities comparative data.
In the European Union referendum, Sunderland followed the pattern for deindustrialised areas to return Leave votes. National media have trooped to Sunderland, prominent as the first constituency to declare a Leave vote on referendum night, to portray it as the city that “defined Brexit”.
Japanese carmaker Nissan is a key local employer at its plant northwest of the city, but recently dealt a blow when it abandoned plans to make its X-Trail model at Sunderland.
The city’s image, inside and outside Sunderland, is one aspect that Sunderland Culture aims to address. The project has five aims to deliver on: “improved profile and reputation of the city”; a “more vibrant creative economy”; “raised outlook and aspiration of young people”; “improved health and wellbeing”; and “a more socially cohesive city”.
The plan is to build on Sunderland’s existing attractions: a city by the sea, with the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens (currently showing a Leonardo da Vinci exhibition), the Empire Theatre (with a stage big enough to host West End shows such as War Horse) and the university-owned National Glass Centre on the banks of the River Wear. The last is a celebration and continuation of the city’s glassmaking heritage: a tourist destination – where you can see glass being blown and learn how ships in bottles, a Sunderland speciality, are made – home to the university’s glass and ceramics department (the largest in Europe) and home to the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art.
Can culture really improve life for people in Sunderland, beyond bringing in some extra tourists? Keith Merrin, chief executive of Sunderland Culture, said that the project is “not overpromising”. But greater access to theatre, the arts and museums could bring “greater confidence and aspiration” for the city’s school pupils, he argued. And developing a stronger creative economy could help keep more graduates in Sunderland, he added.
Sunderland Culture has won funding from Arts Council England, whose chief executive, Darren Henley, said that universities were increasingly important as “custodians of arts and culture in their places” and “Sunderland is a really strong example of this”.
There were benefits to universities in making their cities “great places to study and for academics to come and work”, but also in “reaching out into their communities” and not being institutions “separate from [their] place”, Mr Henley said.
He continued: “I believe very passionately that the arts, culture more generally – museums, libraries, galleries – should be open to absolutely everybody in this country, no matter where they live…Some people might say ‘why Sunderland?’ I would say ‘why not?’”
Patrick Melia, chief executive of Sunderland City Council, said that the culture plan meshed with the council’s plan to create a “vibrant” city centre by doubling the number of people living there to 5,000 and bringing 6,000 new office-based jobs.
Although the lost jobs in shipbuilding and mining have largely been replaced, these jobs are outside the city, “which meant the city centre itself has suffered and stagnated”, said Mr Melia.
He talked about “bringing the university more into the heart of the city” and creating more housing “on the back of the university”, which would in turn lead more graduates to stay in Sunderland. “The university can provide a real lifeblood in the city to make it feel and look different to the way it does today,” said Mr Melia.
On other key civic fronts for the university, Sir David said that the move to open a medical school “feels quite countercultural”, given that these were the preserve of Russell Group universities until relatively recently. The north east currently has the lowest rate of applications to medical school of any UK region, he added.
For the coming academic year, 45 per cent of applications have been in health-related disciplines including paramedic science, nursing and pharmacy, said Sir David, showing that the university is “very much addressing a skills need in the area”.
Teacher education is another area where the university aims to have an impact in the region and provide local students with good local jobs. Lynne McKenna, dean of the Faculty of Education and Society, and a Sunderland graduate, said the university had a “partnership approach” involving “going out to schools asking them what their needs are”, offering “bespoke services for the city of Sunderland”.
The government’s post-18 education review raises big issues for Sunderland and Sir David said that he has been “really open” with staff about the potential impact.
A £6,500 fee cap with no Treasury top-up would “cost us about £19 million, around a 14 per cent cut”, while a £7,500 cap would mean a £14 million or 9 per cent cut, he said.
Overall, Sir David called for policymakers to take “a more nuanced view of what a university like this does”.
He added: “I think it’s brilliant this country has such a diverse range of institutions…Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, Manchester – these are globally recognised, outstanding institutions that do so much for the country. Actually so are the Sunderlands, the Teessides, the Northumbrias, etc – we are equally making an incredibly strong contribution to the health of the nation.”
Publicație : The Times
Canadian brain gain policies are bearing fruit, says sector chief
Further policies to attract foreign researchers will boost efforts to recruit top talent to Canadian universities, explains Universities Canada president
New bespoke immigration assistance for academics considering a move to Canada will help to continue the steady influx of research talent into the country following the election of Donald Trump, the head of Universities Canada has said.
Speaking to Times Higher Education, Paul Davidson, president of Universities Canada, which represents 96 higher education institutions, said plans to invest C$200 million (£114 million) in immigration services unveiled in last month’s federal government budget would consolidate his country’s reputation as a welcoming place for foreign academics.
Under the plans, some C$78.6 million has been assigned to help improve the processing of Canadian work and study permits, as well as visitor visas, including the creation of a unit to handle applications from foreign researchers.
“Having this kind of concierge service for academics and their spouses will certainly help them get through our immigration process more quickly,” said Mr Davidson, who said that the budget changes “were entirely symptomatic of a system that wants to show it is open for business” to foreign researchers.
The budget plan is Canada’s latest initiative to bring top research talent to its universities. In March 2017, its government announced new funding worth C$117 million to recruit world-class professors from around the world under its Canada 150 Research Chairs programme, with the one-time funding scheme offering professors up to C$1 million a year depending on their research.
“We’ve had 200 serious applications for these 25 posts – including many from Nobel-quality researchers – so it’s proved attractive for many truly world-class academics,” said Mr Davidson.
Having universities capable of attracting this level of researcher was testament to the strong progress of Canada’s research system, he added.
“We are still a young country and, 50 years ago, it would have been audacious to think we would have the set of universities we do. Even 20 years ago, it would have seemed unlikely,” he said.
Asked if Canada had benefited from US academics leaving America to escape the Trump administration, Mr Davidson said this was a factor for some incoming scholars.
“However, the Trump administration has kept research funding high, so there has not been the exodus [of researchers] that some predicted,” said Mr Davidson.
Mike Mahon, president and vice-chancellor at the University of Lethbridge, in Alberta, told THE that one US researcher recruited under the Canada 150 Research Chairs programme had left the US, citing President Trump’s election.
“We recruited someone from the University of Texas who brought his entire research team with him – his computing needs actually doubled the computing capacity of the entire university,” he said, adding that he “absolutely came because of [Trump]”.
President Trump has also recently sought to impose fixed time limits on student visas – a move that many believe will see more international students head to Canada, where numbers have grown four-fold to 500,000 since 2000. That number could double to 1 million over the next decade, partly because of Canada’s generous post-study work visa arrangements, experts believe.
That, however, will not be a source of concern for Canadians, believes Professor Mahon, Universities Canada’s chair. “As a big country with a lot of capacity, we’ve grown and benefited hugely from immigration – this is just another step.”
Publicație : The Times
Le classement des universités championnes du développement durable
CLASSEMENT - Le Times Higher Education a publié, le 3 avril dernier, son classement mondial des établissements d’enseignement supérieur en fonction de leur impact économique, écologique et social. Neuf établissements français se distinguent.
Les universités françaises ont-elles un fort impact économique, écologique et social? Si l’on en croit le classement des universités championnes du développement durable publié le 3 avril dernier par le Times Higher Education (THE), la réponse est non. Elles ont en tout cas encore beaucoup de retard sur certaines de leurs voisines européennes, ou encore sur les établissements canadiens, très bien représentés dans ce classement.
L’université d’Aix-Marseille: championne française du développement durable
En tout, sur les 462 établissements figurant dans ce palmarès, seuls neuf sont français. L’université d’Aix-Marseille est celle qui s’en sort le mieux, avec une très honorable 43ème place. Une position qu’elle obtient notamment grâce à sa bonne place dans la catégorie «action climatique».
Centrale Nantes et l’université de Nantes (101-200 toutes les deux) viennent compléter le podium. Les autres établissements classés sont l’Ecole polytechnique (201-300), l’IMT Atlantique (201-300), l’université de Montpellier (201-300), l’université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (201-300), l’Insa Lyon (301+) et l’université 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (301+).
Avec seulement quatre écoles d’ingénieurs et cinq universités, la France n’est donc pas encore très représentée dans ce classement. Toutefois, ce dernier a été lancé récemment, lors du sommet «The Innovation and Impact Summit», organisé par l’Institut coréen de hautes sciences et technologies. Il est donc fort à parier que d’autres établissements français y participent, dans les années à venir.
Le Canada, la Suède et le Royaume-Uni très bien représentés
Si la première place de ce classement revient à l’université d’Auckland, en Nouvelle-Zélande, les universités canadiennes tirent particulièrement leur épingle du jeu: celle de McMaster (2ème), celle de Colombie-Britannique (3ème) et celle de Montréal (7ème) sont toutes les trois dans le top 10.
Et dans ce palmarès, l’Europe est loin d’être un mauvais élève: les universités britanniques sont en bonne position, à l’image de celle de Manchester (4ème), et du King’s collège de Londres (5ème). De même, l’université de Göteborg (6ème) et l’Institut royal de technologie (7ème), deux établissements suédois, font bonne figure. L’université de Bologne (9ème), en Italie, fait également partie des dix établissements champions du développement durable.
Des critères variés pour mesurer l’impact écologique et social
Douze critères ont été pris en compte par le THE pour effectuer ce classement. Parmi ceux-là, la consommation et la production responsables, les actions des établissements pour le climat, la réduction des inégalités, la santé et le bien-être, ou encore, l’égalité des sexes sont pris en compte.
C’est la deuxième fois qu‘un classement prenant en compte l’impact écologique et social des établissements est publié. L’an dernier, le classement UI GreenMetric avait plébiscité les universités les plus respectueuses de l’environnement. Quelques établissements français, dont l’université Aix-Marseille, étaient en bonne position. Deux exemples qui pourraient rapidement inspirer d’autres médias...
Publicație : Le Figaro
Università, il Tar contro la legge Gelmini: "Crea precari a vita"
ROMA - Tre giudici del Tar del Lazio ora mettono in discussione la legge Gelmini, la "240" sull'università italiana, in un suo passaggio centrale: i ricercatori precari. La sezione Terza, infatti, ha rinviato alla Corte di giustizia dell'Unione europea il ricorso di un avvocato amministrativista - Federico Dinelli, studio nella capitale, un lungo percorso da ricercatore all'Università di Roma Tre - constatando che la legge del 30 dicembre 2010, approvata con i tumulti in piazza, abbia fin qui costretto i post-laureati a una precarietà senza sbocco. Cosa impedita dal diritto comunitario (articolo 267).
Uno dei grandi problemi creati dalla legge Gelmini è la soppressione negli atenei italiani del ricercatore a tempo indeterminato. La "240", infatti, ha creato due tipi di figure, e soltanto due, per la ricerca post-laurea: il ricercatore a tempo determinato lettera A (di tipo A, quindi) e quello di tipo B. Il primo, dopo aver vinto un concorso, ha un rapporto di tre anni con l'ateneo rinnovabile di altri due. Dopo cinque stagioni deve lasciare l'università (e non ha possibilità di entrare in un percorso da docente). Nel secondo caso, il percorso di tipo B, dopo un contratto di tre anni l'ateneo può sottoporre il ricercatore a una valutazione che gli può aprire l'accesso alla carriera di professore associato. Il ricercatore B, nel frattempo, deve però aver superato - altro esame - l'Abilitazione scientifica nazionale per professore di seconda fascia.
In Italia, in un percorso medio che vede, dopo la laurea, tre anni di dottorato di ricerca, da uno a tre anni per un assegno di ricerca (dopo relativo concorso), quindi tre-cinque anni da ricercatore di Tipo A, uno studioso ha la possibilità di essere espulso dal sistema universitario alla fine di 7-11 stagioni di precariato. Intorno ai 35 anni di età, ecco. Nel 2018, va ricordato, nelle università italiane si è verificato il sorpasso dei ricercatori precari sugli stabilizzati.
Il ricercatore Federico Dinelli, oggi uno studio da avvocato avviato e una qualifica da Cassazionista (altro esame), si è ritrovato in questa impasse - per molti drammatica -, nonostante la laurea triennale in Giurisprudenza conseguita con lode, la specialistica con lode, il dottorato di ricerca in Diritto amministrativo concluso al primo posto. L'avvocato Dainelli, 35 anni, dopo cinque stagioni da ricercatore di Tipo A, è riuscito sì ad ottenere l'Abilitazione nazionale per i titoli maturati - la patente per diventare professore - , ma, poiché ha realizzato il percorso di tipo A, non potrà diventare un associato automaticamente. Sarà necessario un altro concorso (non richiesto, invece, al ricercatore di tipo B).
Nella sua istanza scritta con il collega di studio Giuliano Gruner, l'avvocato Dinelli ha chiesto di essere stabilizzato - cioè assunto da Roma Tre - in conseguenza "dell'accertamento dell'incompatibilità della legge Gelmini, nella parte in cui rende strutturale la figura del ricercatore precario, con i principi del diritto europeo in materia di contrasto all'abuso del rapporto di lavoro a tempo determinato". Il Tar ha fatto propri questi argomenti e li ha girati in Lussemburgo. In mano alla Corte di giustizia adesso c'è il destino di migliaia di precari - ed ex precari espulsi - dell'Università italiana.
Di questa ordinanza - emanata il 28 novembre scorso, resa pubblica in queste ore - dovrà tenere conto anche il viceministro Lorenzo Fioramonti che, con la sua delega all'università, ha dichiarato di voler estremizzare la stessa "Gelmini" con una nuova riforma dell'arruolamento accademico: cinque anni, ha proposto ai ricercatori Fioramonti, e chi non ha ottenuto la cattedra uscirà dal circuito.
Publicație : La Repubblica
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