The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) have released a new opportunity for research colleagues: In April POST ran a survey of experts on the COVID-19 outbreak expert database that resulted in the publication of syntheses about the future effects of COVID-19 in different policy areas. From this survey POST developed Parliament’s first Areas of… Read more »
Category / policy
This part of the blog features news and information about higher education policy and how BU’s research is influencing policy.
HE Policy Update for the w/e 9th October 2020
The virtual Conservative Party Conference took place – we’ve coverage of the relevant fringe events below; the Science and Technology Committee ran an interesting session on ARPA, and university adoption of the definition of anti-semitism is back on the agenda. What next for HE policy? Jonathan Simons of Public First writes Ambitious Minds for Research… Read more »
Social Innovation and older people
Over the last three years the EU funded project Staying Active and Independent for Longer (SAIL) has explored how the concept of social innovation can be used to support older people. Some of this research is soon to be published in Quality in Aging and Older People (Crossen-White, Hemingway and Ladkin 2020). The article… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 2nd October 2020
We’re in October already! This week has been busy in Parliament, and we had some Ministerial engagement too. Boris unveiled a skills pledge and Gavin Williamson made a statement regarding students returning to universities (and was subsequently slammed for inaccuracies). And angry parents have taken issue that their children might be prevented from returning home… Read more »
BU researchers contribute to POST report about life beyond Covid-19
In March 2020, the Knowledge Exchange Unit in the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology launched the COVID-19 outbreak database and over 5,500 experts signed up. With the launch of the House of Lords COVID-19 Committee inquiry on Life beyond COVID, a survey was sent to all of these experts to find out what implications… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 25th September 2020
Has anyone else been shouting at the radio last week and over the weekend, or muttering aloud while reading social media posts? Or is that just me? There has been nowhere to hide from negative and badly informed stories about students, universities and the virus this week. Then you add in the news that lorries… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 18th September 2020
Hi all, there is very much of a “what will the new academic year hold” feel about this week. Will there be another national lockdown? Is the rise in virus cases a second wave or a small bounce? What will university students do when they are not learning or socialising online? In the “find someone… Read more »
Parliamentary & Scientific Committee online events – autumn 2020
The Parliamentary & Scientific Committee (an All Party Parliamentary Group) are running the following (free to BU staff) seven online events: Monday 14 Sept at 17:30: Discussion with speakers on Non-Malignant Cancers, Precision Medicine and Genome Mapping. Speakers: Sarah McDonald, Director of Research and Patient Advocacy Myeloma UK Dr Karthik Ramasamy – Consultant Haematologist, Oxford University Hospitals… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 10th September 2020
We thought it might be a quiet week, this week, but we were wrong. The DfE has started the new academic year with a bang, and the Ofs are going to be busy. So we are back properly to our weekly schedule although with a bit of flexibility on days of the week. International student… Read more »
FHSS PhD student’s poster at prestigious GLOW conference
Today and tomorrow Sulochana Dhakal-Rai will have her poster ‘Factors contributing to rising Caesarean Section rates in South Asia: a systematic review’ online at this year’s GLOW Conference [Global Women’s Research Society Conference]. This year for the first time, this international conference is held completely online. Sulochana’s PhD project is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi,… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 3rd September 2020
So it’s back to school for pupils and teachers, and Parliament is back (although still mostly virtually). What’s in the news? Ofqual fight back The House of Commons Education Committee grilled Ofqual this week in a fascinating session – the transcript is here. Before the session, Roger Taylor, the Chair of Ofqual, submitted a written… Read more »
HE policy update 20th August 2020
Well, things happened while we were away! This is a results and admissions special, with some research news too. We’ll see what happens next before committing to our next update. Results! The withdrawal of BTEC results at 4.30 on Wednesday evening when L1 and L2 results they were due to be published alongside GCSEs on… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 23rd July 2020
We’ve been inundated with words – Ministerial speeches this week, (g)rumblings over social mobility continue, and Parliament showed no signs of slowing down as they hurtled towards recess. Plus lots to look forward to as we look to the next horizon. With that in mind, for BU readers we have issued a horizon scan in… Read more »
Join a conversation with Clive Betts MP
Policy Connect is hosting a discussion with Clive Betts MP, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Thursday 23 July 14:00-15:00 (via Zoom). It is one in a series of discussions Policy Connect have planned with the Chairs of the various Westminster Select Committees, discussing their views and visions for these bodies as… Read more »
Parliament for Researchers – 45 minute online seminar series
Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit is holding 45-minute online seminars on a variety of topics to help researchers confidently increase the impact and policy potential of their research. The seminars will provide key information and tips in a short burst to ensure colleagues have the knowledge to begin engaging with Parliament. How to engage with the… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 16th July 2020
This week we have more from the Universities Minister as the post-Covid policy direction becomes clearer, as well as that speech from the Secretary of State abandoning (again) the 50% target for HE participation , some Committee views on the impact of the virus and what to do about it, and in case you have… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 9th July 2020
A lot about skills and employment in the “mini-budget” this week. There is quite a lot on the “poor quality courses” debate, and on the financial impact of the virus on young people and on universities. Plus some regulatory changes that are starting to look ominous… A Universities Minister who thinks people shouldn’t bother going… Read more »
HE Policy Update 1st July 2020
There’s been so much news recently we had to delay our two most recent ‘tomes’ to bring you coverage of the full debate. With this policy update being issued two days after the last we were hoping you’d breeze through a light read. However, Parliament has other intentions. Apprenticeships and FE have been big mentions… Read more »
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