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9 mars 2013

Not headed for academia? Industry internships may be the answer

By Jennifer Lewington. Just one of four PhD graduates becomes a professor, which begs the question of how to capitalize on the talents of those not headed for academia. One answer, many believe, is internships at the master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral level. Such programs give young scholars an early taste of working in industry and help Canadian companies boost research and development activities.
“We have a huge number of reports that talk about innovation being critical and for the need for creative thinkers with the capacity to move ideas to market,” says Janet Walden, vice-president of research partnerships for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), which offers an industry internship program. “A huge amount of talent comes out of our universities and with that talent comes a lot of ideas and knowledge and you want to put that to work for Canada.”
However, matching companies and researchers is a challenge. Canada lags the United States in the proportion of PhDs in industry, research shows, and newly-minted PhDs, with theoretical expertise, typically lack job-ready experience. Read more...

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9 mars 2013

Should funding take language into account?

By Karen Seidman. That was the reaction from some university officials to the recent public charge that English universities in Quebec are getting more than their fair share of funding.
The allegation, made by a group of nationalist academics in an open letter in Le Devoir, left some university officials wondering why this issue keeps arising.
After all, this is an age where a francophone student can study at an English university and write all papers and exams in French, where HEC Montréal offers courses in English and where McGill University’s new principal-designate is a francophone for the first time. Read more...

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9 mars 2013

Fewer postdocs with higher salaries? Hold your horses!

By David Kent. There has been a lot of rumbling over the last few years about how poorly compensated postdoctoral fellows are and how the system churns out too many doctoral students. Many have suggested that the best solution is to trim the number of positions and increase the salaries of those remaining. However, I suspect that many of the people arguing for better pay and fewer postdoc positions do not consider that they might be part of the cohort who would lose their jobs if such a measure were undertaken. I imagine that just about everyone would like to have more money and more job security, so I always find the “pay me more” arguments tough to swallow unless they are backed up with some good reasons and a clear plan for how things will be paid for. There are certainly good examples of exploited and underpaid postdoctoral fellows – I know this is especially prevalent in Canada and would love to remedy it. Read more...

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9 mars 2013

Why we undervalue a liberal arts education

By Adam Chapnick. It’s because too many graduates complete their degrees without an ability to articulate what they have learned. Tough economic times are inevitably difficult for supporters of the liberal arts. When governments cut back, they prioritize. And when it comes to education, the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) almost inevitably win out. Recently, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario committed over $900,000 to a Youth STEM Initiative. According to the press release that accompanied the announcement, the program was meant “to expand, enhance and coordinate the reach and impact of educational outreach programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for children and youth in kindergarten through grade 12.” Read more...

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9 mars 2013

A better way for selecting effective university leaders

By Patrick J. Monahan. York University modernized its system for choosing academic administrators based on research about what works. Given the increasing competitive pressures and financial challenges facing universities across North America, most academic administrators recognize that strong and effective leadership is a key ingredient for institutional success. Yet, while there has been a proliferation of writing on the topic of what effective academic leadership entails, relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to the selection process for academic leaders. Are there certain kinds of processes or methodologies that are more likely to result in the selection of more successful academic leaders?
Over the last decade, the procedures governing senior academic searches at York University, where I served as a dean and then as provost from 2003 to 2012, have changed considerably. The key driver behind this evolution has been a widely shared desire at the university to improve the reliability and the validity of the academic search process by imparting a greater sense of discipline and rigour. Read more...

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9 mars 2013

Université de Sherbrooke continues its efforts in Haiti

By Jean-François Venne. The faculty of medicine has already completed over 30 training missions in the country.
Université de Sherbrooke’s faculty of medicine and health sciences is set to launch three new medical training projects in Haiti, to be carried out in conjunction with Université Quisqueya located in Port-au-Prince. The faculty, which also has initiatives underway in Mali and Uruguay, has already completed 30 training missions in Haiti. “Promoting international cooperation is one of the faculty’s guiding principles,” notes Paul Grand’Maison, director of the faculty’s International Relations Office. “We see it as a matter of social responsibility. It is unthinkable that we should go about our business here at home without any regard for others elsewhere.” Read more...

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9 mars 2013

Top 10 universities in the world by reputation

Top 10 universities in the world by reputation
Education Picture Galleries.
1    Harvard University
2    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3    University of Cambridge
4    University of Oxford
5    University of California, Berkeley
6    Stanford University
7    Princeton University
8    University of California, Los Angeles
9    University of Tokyo
10    Yale University.

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9 mars 2013

Apprenticeships overhaul to offer school-leavers way into professions without university degree

By James Kirkup. School-leavers will be able to become accountants, airline pilots and join other professions without a university degree under an overhaul of apprenticeships expected next week. Ministers will announce measures intended to raise the standing of vocational training to make it a credible alternative to university. Read more...

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9 mars 2013

Student loans bill for EU undergraduates tops £100m

By Alex Usher. The amount of taxpayers' money handed to students from mainland Europe to take courses at British universities soared above £100 million for the first time last year, it has emerged. Figures show that funding awarded to EU students increased by more than £15m – 17.5 per cent – in just 12 months on the back of a surge in demand from eastern European nations. In all, almost 32,000 undergraduates took out Government-backed loans to cover tuition fees in 2011/12 – almost four times the total five years earlier.
Students from Romania were one of the largest recipients of funding, while those from Lithuania and Bulgaria also received more loans than most other countries. It is predicted that the size of loans awarded to EU students will soar further this year following a sharp rise in university tuition fees. Read more...

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9 mars 2013

University spending rising faster than income

By John Morgan. Spending by English universities rose faster than their income did in the year before £9,000 tuition fees were introduced, while institutions again increased their reliance on fees paid by overseas students.
Although the rises in spending at England’s universities are below or in line with inflation, they are under intense pressure from the government to reduce their costs. The issue could be a factor in current talks over the 2015-16 spending review, in which the Treasury is thought to be seeking a cut of around £1 billion from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills budget. Expenditure by English universities rose by 2 per cent to £22.2 billion in 2011-12, outstripping the 1.5 per cent rise in their income to £23.3 billion, according to figures on finances published yesterday by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Read more...

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