The following is a guest post by P. Pushkar, a former lecturer in international-development studies at McGill University who is now based in Gurgaon, India.
Many researchers who have been looking at data on international migration believe that the ideas of “brain drain” and “brain gain” have become less relevant in the 21st century. Instead, there are signs of “brain circulation,” in which skilled workers move around the world more freely than before to the benefit of all nations. In Indian higher education, however, little has changed; its most talented scholars continue to leave for Western countries. The paradigm of brain drain and brain gain stubbornly persists. A recently released study by Wan-Ying Chang and Lynn M. Milan of the National Science Foundation found that only 5.2 percent of Indians who study outside their home country to earn doctorates in science, engineering, and health return home. These numbers, which are based on a 2008 survey, are substantially lower than the 20.4 percent of foreign graduates who reported working or living in their countries of origin. Read more...

Academic honesty education and plagiarism prevention
Project summary: The FAIR project is a collaborative project between the Centre for the Study of Higher Education staff at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning and staff at the School of Population Health. Within this project, an enhanced e-learning resource to support students’ development of knowledge and skills relating to academic integrity will be created. Using a mobile web content approach, the resource will deliver a personalised learning experience, tailored to individual needs. The resource will be designed in line with national and University policy guidelines,andcontent will be developed in collaboration with academic staff, Academic Skills Unit staff and Library staff. It is envisioned that the content of the FAIR resource will focus on the underlying core principle of academic integrity. It will lead students through a guided series of practical activities and information designed to teach and assess their ability to understand and apply this core principle across the related themes of academic honesty, referencing, academic skills and professional/workplace conduct and skills. The resource will be designed for use on mobile devices across multiple platforms and the content will be adaptable for LMS subject sites, and will be customisable to suit the teaching needs of different disciplines. This project aims to demonstrate that through an innovative and effective use of e-learning, positive graduate outcomes can be enhanced.
Staff:
- Project coordinators: Dr Catherine Howell, Dr Melissa Russell and Rebecca Cameron
- Project officer: Jacqueline Williams email: jkw@unimelb.edu.au.

By Koi Kye Lee. A new rating system known as the Discipline-Based Rating System (D-Setara) initiative has been introduced to rate the quality of learning and teaching of undergraduates.
It will cover four disciplines: Engineering; Tourism and Hospitality; Medical, Dental and Pharmacy as well as Health Sciences.
Implemented by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the four areas of study were chosen as the disciplines were underlined in the government’s education initiatives of the National Key Economic Areas.
The implementation of the D-Setara rating system is aimed at ensuring continuous improvement to the quality and competitiveness of higher learning institutions. Read more...