Regulating 3D printing has been the focus of attention recently, with the European Parliament adopting a resolution put forward by the Legal Affairs Committee to regulate 3D printing from the perspective of intellectual property (IP) and civil liability. The resolution was adopted in July 2018. Around the same time, the European Commission commissioned a project… 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.
Highly topical BU article on BREXIT
Congratulations to Dr. Rosie Read and Prof. Lee-Ann Fenge in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences who just published in the academic journal Health and Social Care in the Community. Their paper is called ‘What does Brexit mean for the UK social care workforce? Perspectives from the recruitment and retention frontline’ [1]. You can’t have a more… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 16th November 2018
Last week was dominated by the Brexit political turmoil and no major HE reports were launched (although there are some coming later this week). The media continued to wring all the coverage they could out of the fee cut speculations and there was news on an American university who is currently registering with the OfS… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 9th November 2018
Two major reports out this week covering value for money and international students plus all the excitement and intense debate from Wonkfest. Enjoy! Value for Money in HE The Education Select Committee have published their inquiry report on Value for Money in Higher Education. The committee calls on both universities and the Government to ensure… Read more »
Sustainable Seas
Colleagues with an interest in the sustainability of the seas may be interested in this summary of an Environmental Audit Committee Sustainable Seas session. Click this link to read the summary. The summary has been provided by Dods political monitoring consultants and is only available to BU staff and student readers. Alternatively you can view the… Read more »
Important update regarding human DNA from acellular materials
The revised Governance Arrangement for Research Ethics Committees document was released recently. Amongst updates to incorporate legal, policy and operational developments, following a public consultation by the Human Tissue Authority, research involving human DNA extracted from acellular material is now included in the document, as requiring NHS Research Ethics Committee review. If you are collecting… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 2nd November 2018
The Budget As previously trailed in the media the Autumn Budget was focused on demonstrating the end of austerity. There wasn’t much in the way of HE announcements, however paperwork released with the budget confirms that the Government intends to continue to freeze the maximum tuition fees at the current £9,250 level (UUK report this… Read more »
Do you need help with your research application?
If you need help with your research application and can meet certain criteria, then you may be eligible to receive support from one of our External Application Reviewers (EARs). With a new and simplified process, you can request this when you submit your Intention to Bid form, and you meet at least one of the… Read more »
HE Policy Update for w/e 26 October 2018
To read the policy update in full with the infographics click here or continue to read below without the infographics for widening participation. It’s been a busy week for activity in Parliament along with several new reports published, including the subject level TEF details and a focus on part time and flexible provision. Meanwhile the sector… Read more »
Recent changes to the Intention to Bid form (ItB)
The ItB form is a mandatory document for completion by all BU staff as part of the internal approvals process for external RKE (Research and Knowledge Exchange) funding applications. In line with the BU2025 Strategic Plan and the latest development from the RKE development framework initiatives, the ItB form has recently gone through some additions… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 19th October 2018
Policy impact – some steps you can take and why it’s a good idea (despite appearances) We wrote a blog on this topic – you can read it here. Choosing a university The Ofs have published a survey that shows the role of parents and friends in applicant decision making. There’s a big research paper by… Read more »
Policy impact – a great idea but it’s a nightmare to do – so why get involved?
We wrote about policy impact on this blog in May 2018. Since then we have continued to work with a number of academic staff across BU and with RKEO to support the development of policy impact. But it’s hard – not just for us, but for the academic staff involved. What is policy impact? This… Read more »
Parliament – nursing and midwifery
Nursing and midwifery both featured in Parliament last week. Last Wednesday the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, announced an increase in bursaries (to £10,000) for Scottish student midwives and nurses to help cover accommodation and living expenses. The Royal College of Midwives Scotland Director, Mary Ross Davie, commented: “This is great news and a forward… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 12th October 2018
Student Loans – further sales On Wednesday the Government announced their intention to sell off another set of student loans (written statement here). Angela Rayner Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary was granted an Urgent Question within Parliament to raise the sale and requested a statement from Universities Minister Sam Gyimah. Sam stated: I want to explain… Read more »
HE Policy Update for the w/e 5th October 2018
Conservative Party Conference The Conference ended with the PM’s speech, in which she declared the end of austerity and tried to fight back on Brexit. This came after a predictably colourful speech from Boris Johnson calling for the party to be more positive – and #chuckchequers. Neither talked about HE. Education was on the agenda… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 28th September 2018
Labour Party Conference The Labour Party concluded their autumn conference this week. Here are the key pledges from Angela Rayner’s (Shadow Education Secretary) speech: Ending the Tories’ academy and free schools programmes. (This should be interpreted as the end of new academies and free schools rather than bringing them all back under LA control.) Allowing… Read more »
HE policy update for the w/e 21st September 2018
Tuition Fees – means testing? The Higher Education Policy Institute and Canadian Higher Education Strategy Associates have published a joint research paper on means-tested tuition fees for higher education – Targeted Tuition Fees – Is means-testing the answer? It explores the different funding approaches around the world considering the three major approaches to subsiding students… Read more »
Congratulations on timely editorial in Nepal
Congratulations to FHSS academics Dr. Pramod Regmi and Dr. Nirmal Ayral who published an editorial yesterday in a scientific journal in Nepal. The paper ‘Experts warn Nepal Government not to reduce local Public Health spending’ [1] was co-authored by Dr. Bibha Simkhada who has just been offered a post as Lecturer in Nursing in the Department… Read more »
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