Two Scottish universities have launched a new initiative aimed at training 100,000 people in data skills, through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. With Scotland forecast to require around 13,000 extra workers each year with data skills, the £661 million (US$861 million) Data-Driven Innovation initiative, launched by Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt universities, will aim to transform Edinburgh and the surrounding area into the ‘data capital of Europe’, writes Liam Kirkaldy for Holyrood. More...01 octobre 2018
Scottish universities launch new data skills initiative
Two Scottish universities have launched a new initiative aimed at training 100,000 people in data skills, through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. With Scotland forecast to require around 13,000 extra workers each year with data skills, the £661 million (US$861 million) Data-Driven Innovation initiative, launched by Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt universities, will aim to transform Edinburgh and the surrounding area into the ‘data capital of Europe’, writes Liam Kirkaldy for Holyrood. More...Regional winners, losers in THE global rankings
The 2019 Times Higher Education or THE World University Rankings analysis shows marked improvement for Asian universities at the expense of stagnation or decline in North America, Europe and Oceania, while Latin American and African universities are still struggling to make an impact on the rankings. More...Remote participation yet to take off in universities
A new study of 1,000 United Kingdom university students has revealed that, on average, students miss 10 hours of classes a month, yet UK universities are struggling to keep up with the remote study trend, which has taken off in the workplace to adapt to modern lifestyles. More...Research universities alliance launches two new centres
The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) has launched two new centres of excellence, based at the University of Lagos (Unilag) in Nigeria – the first to be launched outside of South Africa. More...Curriculum transformation – ‘A long and tortuous battle’
By Sharon Dell. The transformation of South African universities will not be “handed over on a silver platter” but will have to be fought for in what is likely to be a “long and tortuous” battle, a recent conference focused on ‘decolonisation’ of university humanities curricula heard. More...Iran’s ‘branch campuses’ reach Sub-Saharan Africa
By Wagdy Sawahel. Iranian universities are rapidly expanding their branches in both number and capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa, in a move seen by higher education experts as either enhancing academia on the continent, or attempting to extend Iranian cultural diplomacy or 'soft power' to serve Iranian political, economic, religious and cultural agendas. More...Scholars targeted as Uighur purge engulfs universities
By Yojana Sharma. The families and academic colleagues of academics in Xinjiang who disappeared after major purges of the region’s universities are beginning to speak out after maintaining months of silence as Beijing’s widespread crackdown on the Uighur Muslim population of the Northwest province of Xinjiang engulfed higher education. More...Reduce publishing in India and increase quality
By Pushkar. In a recent article, Philip G Altbach and Hans de Wit argue that “too much [is] being published” leading to a “crisis in academic publishing”. For them, the fault lies with “most academic institutions [which] want to resemble the universities at the top of the academic pecking order”. The only solution they see is “drastic cutbacks” in scholarly publishing. More...The dangers of limiting research to elite universities
By Jenny J Lee and Alma Maldonado-Maldonado. With regard to our recent debate with Philip Altbach and Hans de Wit on research publishing, there are some points of agreement; however, key points of disagreement remain. More...Must academic evaluation be so citation data driven?
By Steve Fuller. For the past quarter-century, I have reviewed cases for academic tenure and promotion in many disciplines in many countries. Usually what is required is an evaluation of the candidate’s research record. Teaching and, increasingly, public engagement are also mentioned as factors to weigh. Grant income often appears as a consideration, but not so as to give the impression that I am being asked to judge the candidate’s suitability to make partner in a law firm. More...
