Monday

UUK report

In the first year of the new charging regime (2012-13), UUK report Patterns and trends in UK higher education confirms that the number of first year undergraduates enrolled in UK institutions fell by 16.7% compared with the previous year. The number of first year postgraduates also dropped, by 3.8%. Impact of higher fees on HE laid out in UUK report (Times Higher Education).

Tuesday

Overseas influence of UK universities

William Hague gave a speech at Greenwich University in which he described the international impact of the UK’s universities and their role in promoting democratic values in a time of growing authoritarianism.  He also highlighted the importance of universities as places for exchanges of ideas and cultures and the long-term influence of attracting overseas students. Hague says UK universities deliver overseas influence (BBC News Online).

Private Colleges

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee held a hearing on controls over public-backed funding at private colleges, following a report by the National Audit Office. Martin Donnelly, Permanent Secretary at BIS, who appeared at the hearing faced particular criticism. Going on to call the private provider situation a “complete scandal”, Ms Hodge said HEFCE had warned BIS about the potential for problems in 2010. Hodge tears into government over private colleges (Times Higher Education).

Wednesday

Nick Clegg

The Deputy Prime Minister has said he has learned his lesson over the tuition fee U-turn and has made an impassioned plea to young voters alienated by the Liberal Democrats’ broken tuition fee pledge. In a question and answer session with young people organised by the Bite the Ballot voter engagement drive, he argued that the coalition had introduced a fairer fees system. Nick Clegg ‘has learned lesson’ from breaking tuition fees pledge (The Daily Telegraph).

Postgraduate study

New HEFCE research based on the Intentions After Graduation Survey (IAGS) 2013 shows that over half of graduates who plan to go onto postgraduate study end up not doing so because of finance issues.  Intentions after Graduation Survey (HEFCE).

Thursday

REF2014 Results

The REF results revealed that 30% of the research submitted was classed as world-leading (4*), 46% was internationally excellent (3*), 20% was nationally recognised (2*) and 3% was nationally recognised (1*). Mark Leach, founder of Wonkhe said that the results clearly demonstrate a substantial grade inflation which while positive, may undermine the sector’s credibility and bargaining power with an austerity Treasury that simply will not buy it. Despite this, he argues that the REF shows how a mature society can find reasonable ways to fund and support the creation of new knowledge and the individuals that power it – fairly and with accountability to the taxpayers. The REF: fascinating, flawed and essential (Wonkhe).

Friday

UCAS Report

In its End of Cycle report for 2014, UCAS says the number of students who secured places in UK universities broke through the 500,000 barrier for the first time in 2014, rising 3.4 per cent to 512,000. However, when it came to actual results, the proportion of English 18-year-old students entering higher tariff universities having achieved the equivalent of ABB or better at A level fell to 82 per cent in 2014, after a high point of 89 per cent in 2011. Ucas report suggests fall in entrance grades at selective universities (Times Higher Education).

REF Results-London

London universities are breaking up the traditional dominance of Oxford and Cambridge, according to official figures on research excellence. Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said that unless there was an increase in overall budgets, funding would increasingly be concentrated in fewer places, such as the so-called “golden triangle” of London, Oxford and Cambridge. London overtaking Oxbridge domination (BBC News).

Santander funded networking and conference visit to Spain Dec 14

Dr Daniel Franklin from the Faculty of Science and Technology has been awarded funding from the Santander strand of the Fusion Investment Fund to establish working relationships and collaborations with the University of Malaga, Spain, a Santander Partner University.

The Department of Ecology and Geography at the University of Malaga hosts an active group of researchers interested in the response of aquatic ecosystems to increased CO2. Members of the Malaga research group have recently worked at the prestigious international mesocosm facility at the University of Bergen (Norway) which allows large-scale experimental manipulation of the aquatic environment to test research hypotheses. They have also used this powerful approach in their work in the Mediterranean. The Malaga group have just (late 2014) published a series of papers on the effects of CO2 enrichment on aquatic ecosystems.

Dan applied for and was awarded funding to visit the group in February 2015 in order to facilitate networking with the aim of establishing joint EU research proposals in the future and also researcher visits to BU. In addition to these activities, there is an international meeting of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) in nearby Granada (22-27 February 2015) for which two BU PhD students have had abstracts accepted and Dan will now also be attending the conference.

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

Wellcome Trust, GB

Biomedical Vacation Scholarships

These awards provide promising undergraduates with hands-on experience of research during the summer vacation, with the aim of encouraging them to consider a career in research.Scholarship holders in the past have included students of biological sciences (including biology, sports science and pharmacy) and medics, vets, dentists and optometrists. Students focusing on natural sciences or computing degrees are welcome to use this scheme as a taster for research in the biomedical sciences; however, a suitably focused biomedical research report project would be required.

Scholarships are available for between six and eight weeks and currently provide a stipend for the student of £250 per week. Research expenses are not provided.

Closing Date: 13 February 2015

 Innovate UK

Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst – Early-stage – Translation – Round 3

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are to invest £45m in major integrated research and development projects through the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst. Catalysts provide funding to innovative businesses and researchers working in priority areas with the aim of helping them to quickly turn excellent UK research into new or improved commercial processes and products.

The Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst programme will accelerate commercialisation by supporting the development of new industrial biotechnology products and processes, and enabling their potential scale-up. It will support R&D for the processing and production of materials, chemicals and bioenergy through the sustainable exploitation of biological resources. We are particularly encouraging a collaborative approach. There are five types of award – early stage: translation; early stage: feasibility studies;  industrial research; late stage: pre-experimental feasibility studies; and late stage: experimental development – and, with the exception of translation awards which are academic, can involve a single business or be collaborative. Total project sizes can range from up to £250k for feasibility studies to up to £10m for experimental development.

Competition opens on 11 December 2014.

Registration Deadline noon on 25 February 2015

Competition closes on noon on 4 March 2015.

 Leverhulme Trust

Visiting Professorships

Awarded to UK institutions that wish to invite an eminent researcher from overseas to enhance the knowledge and skills of academic staff or the student body within the host institution. The scheme covers maintenance, travel expenses and research costs. Visiting Professorships last for between three and twelve months.

The objective of these awards is to enable distinguished academics based overseas to spend between three and twelve months inclusive at a UK university, primarily in order to enhance the skills of academic staff or the student body within the host institution. It is recognised that Visiting Professors may also wish to use the opportunity to further their own academic interests. The over-riding criteria for selection are first the academic standing and achievements of the visitor in terms of research and teaching, and secondly the ability of the receiving institution to benefit from the imported skills and expertise. Priority will be given to new or recent collaborative ventures.

The sum requested should reflect the individual circumstances of the visitor and the nature and duration of the proposed activities. A maintenance grant up to a level commensurate with the salary of a professor in the relevant field at the receiving institution may be requested. Economy travel costs to and from the UK will also be met. Requests for associated costs, if justified by the programme, may include, for example, travel within the UK, laboratory consumables, and essential technical assistance.

Closing Date: 7th May 2015

Welcome Trust

The Hub Award

The Wellcome Trust is committed to supporting work at the interface of health and the wider arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences. To build on our existing programmes, we have launched The Hub at Wellcome Collection, a ground-breaking initiative that provides resources and a stimulating space for researchers and other creative minds to collaborate on an interdisciplinary project linked to the Trust’s vision of improving human and animal health.

As part of our transformation of Wellcome Collection, we have made available a specially designed, flexible space within the building for a research team to be resident for up to two academic years. The Hub Award is the way teams can apply to use this space and request funding for the project.

The closing date for preliminary applications for the second Hub residency is Friday 1 May 2015.

Royal Society

Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture

This award is made to support the promotion of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award is awarded annually for an outstanding contribution to any area of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). The award is supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and is named in honour of the biophysicist Rosalind Franklin. The first award was made in 2003. The medal is of silver gilt and is accompanied by a grant of £30,000. The recipient of the award is expected to spend a proportion of the grant on implementing a project to raise the profile of women in STEM in their host institution and/or field of expertise in the UK. There are no restrictions on the age of nominees, though it is anticipated that the award will be made to an individual in mid-career, with a maximum of 20 years post PhD or equivalent.  Please see the terms and conditions of this award. The winner is also called upon to deliver a lecture at the Society.

Closing Date: 30th January 2015

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Annual focus for responsive mode proposals under the welfare of managed animals priority

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council invites applications for its welfare of managed animals strategic priority area. This call encourages high-quality research that seeks to understand and promote the welfare of managed animals in the UK, including farmed, laboratory and companion animals.

Projects should involve the use of animals and demonstrate awareness of, and the potential to inform policy and societal implications. Research should seek to increase the knowledge of the following: the basic behavioural, neurobiological, immune, metabolic, physiological and tissue responses of animals to their environmental conditions; the consequences of human intervention, genetic selection and management, including agricultural intensification, for the normal function of animals; the incidence of disease, pain and mental disorders.

Application Deadline: 8th January 2014

Innovate UK 

Circular economy: business models

Innovate UK is to invest up to £800k in feasibility studies into the business case for retaining value in durable goods through reuse, remanufacture or leasing/maintenance. We are seeking projects that explore commercial models for a circular economy of goods in which resources are kept in productive use for longer following primary production – ideally at the same value/use. Projects will be expected to design a pilot to demonstrate how the model could become part of normal business. Feasibility studies (mainly pre-industrial research projects) must be collaborative and business-led. Projects are open to companies of any size. Consortia should include a business that has a relationship with the final customer and can enable the return of products.

The amount of funding you can receive varies according to the type of organisation and type of research being undertaken. Funding levels for feasibility study research will change for competitions opening from 1 January 2015. For further information please refer to http://interact.innovateuk.org/ funding-rules 

We expect projects to last 6 months and to range in size from total costs of £25k to £50k. This competition opens on 2 March 2015. The deadline for registration is at noon on 8 April 2015, and the deadline for applications is at noon on 15 April 2015. A briefing day for potential applicants will be held at the Resource Event in London on 3 March 2015. A webinar detailing the competition scope and application process will be broadcast on 9 March 2015.

The Royal Society 

DFID Africa Capacity Building Initiative

Monday

Research spending

The UK must spend more than £20bn extra a year on research and development to tackle decades of under-investment according to The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee. The committee wants the Government to commit to raising UK R&D spending to 3 per cent of GDP in five years’ time in order to fully capitalise on its science base and close the gap on international rivals by bolstering links between universities and businesses. Britain must spend billions to bridge gap in research, (The Independent).

Student votes

Students could tip the balance of power at the next general election, according to analysis by the Higher Education Policy Institute of their voting patterns from 1997 to the present day. Students could affect the outcome in about 10 constituencies including Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband’s seats. Student vote could swing 2015 election, suggests study (BBC News), Collapse in Lib Dem student vote puts Clegg’s seat at risk, (The Daily Telegraph).

Tuesday

Private Providers

The National Audit Office has published their investigation into financial support for students at alternative HE providers. The report found that drop-out rates at these private providers were on average 12% (compared to 4% for HEFCE funded HEIs). The report also reveals that 20% of publicly funded students on Higher National courses at alternative providers may not have been registered with the qualification awarding body in 12/13. This means they would be unable to attain the qualifications they were funded for. Private provider drop-out rates and loan access laid bare by NAO (THE).

Wednesday

Student retention

Following a survey by Blackbullion (an independent Financial Education Training service), one in 10 undergraduates admit that it is likely they will have to drop out of university because they can’t afford to continue with their studies. Furthermore, nearly a quarter of students say they are worried about how they will continue to fund their degree, supporting concerns that the maintenance loan provided to undergraduates may not be enough to cover costs. One in 10 students ‘can’t afford to continue at university’ (The Daily Telegraph).

Postgraduate Loans

It was announced in the Autumn Statement that from 2016-17, income-contingent loans will be available for postgraduate taught masters courses in any subject for those under the age of 30. To provide support for students in the meantime, before the loans become available in 2016, it was announced that HEFCE will allocate £50 million in 2015-16 to universities to offer bursaries on a match funded basis. These will be £10,000 each and will benefit 10,000 students. Autumn Statement: Postgraduate loans of £10,000 (BBC News), Ten thousand bursaries for ten thousand students in 2015 (HEFCE) .

Thursday

Postgraduate Loan Reaction

The Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that borrowers would face high effective marginal withdrawal rates on earnings, owing to the combined effect of repayments for postgraduate and undergraduate loans, alongside tax and National Insurance. Postgraduate borrowers ‘would face 50 per cent tax’ (THE).

Friday

Which? Student Survey

Which? have surveyed students on five extra-curricular aspects and produced rankings. The 5 categories were: sports, political scenes, creative scenes, nightlife and student union activities. Top student-rated universities revealed for 2014 (Which?).

Arts and Humanities

Professor Anne Carlisle, Vice-Chancellor at Falmouth University, has written a piece combating the myth that focusing on arts and humanities subjects restricts future career paths. She quotes recent research which shows that the creative industries will be worth over £100bn and provide 1.39m jobs by 2018. ‘Ignore creative subjects at your peril’ (Telegraph).