“At the heart of every great university is a great library. My vision for the library is that it becomes the central ‘beating heart’ of academic information – for the University community as well as for the wider public …” (more)
[Colm Kearney, 30 March]
“Two students are taking legal action over the government’s decision to treble tuition fees to £9,000. Callum Hurley, 16, and Katy Moore, 17, are seeking a judicial review into the decision, which they believe breaches human rights laws by penalising students from disadvantaged backgrounds …” (more)
[Jessica Abrahams, The Journal, 30 March]
“At last, some good news for UK universities. At a time of funding cuts, turmoil over tuition fees and protest over changes to pensions, the latest data on philanthropic giving to universities is encouraging …” (more)
[Joanna Motion, Guardian, 30 March]
“Students on free school meals will get an average of £370 a year less under plans to replace axed study grants in England, a think tank has said. On Tuesday, the government announced £180m for bursaries for low-income 16 to 19-year-olds after cutting the £560m Education Maintenance Allowance scheme …” (more)
[BBC News, 30 March]
“Burnett J’s judgment in Abramova v Oxford Institute of Legal Practice [2011] EWHC 613 (QB) (18 March 2011) – about which I blogged last week – is now available on BAILII. The Oxford Institute for Legal Practice successfully defended this case …” (more)
[Eoin O'Dell, Cearta, 30 March]
“The James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway has acquired the archive of the world-renowned dramatist and novelist Thomas Kilroy. The recently acquired archive contains research notes, drafts and scripts of Mr Kilroy’s novels and play …” (more)
[Galway Independent, 30 March]
“Madam, – In a letter on the plight of postdoctoral researchers (March 29th), Paddy Healy in his bid for Senate election blatantly misrepresents the career development for young researchers at UCD. Indeed, UCD has been to the forefront among Irish universities and has reformed the shambolic and ad hoc systems of the past to provide postdoctoral researchers with stable contracts of employment …” (more)
[Desmond Fitzgerald, Irish Times, 30 March]
“A move by Limerick County Council to stop those travelling to the University of Limerick from parking in an adjacent private housing estate has been deferred following objections by local landlords …” (more)
[Jimmy Woulfe, Irish Examiner, 30 March]
“What’s your job? I am a mathematics lecturer in the University of Glasgow. I teach maths to undergraduate and post-grad students and I do research in low-dimensional topology …” (more)
[Brendan Owens, Irish Times, 30 March]
“In a post on this blog a couple of months ago I looked at the emergence of campaigns to protect the concept of ‘public’ universities. I noted at the time that the term ‘public university’ might not have as clear a meaning as some might think, and that as a society we are not really sure about how we want our higher education to be structured …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 30 March]
“NUI Galway has confirmed that weather damage to a fuel line at its Irish academy in Carraroe, Co Galway, has resulted in an oil leak into the public water supply …” (more)
[Lorna Siggins, Irish Times, 30 March]
“… As financial pressures increase this is unlikely to get much better, and it may be time for universities to review how they structure their courses. The assumption that students are available without competing pressures during what one might loosely call office hours is not necessarily a valid one any more, at least for some student …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 30 March]
“Scotland’s Education Secretary is facing a public backlash over his outspoken attack on the running of one of the country’s leading universities. A senior figure in higher education urged Michael Russell – and other politicians – to stay out of the day to day running of universities …” (more)
[Herald Scotland, 30 March]
“At the outset I have to declare an interest here. As a member of Dublin South East Labour for many years, I know Ruairi Quinn personally. I have campaigned on his behalf on many issues and argued with him on all sorts of topics at constituency meetings. We have shared more than one pint over the years …” (more)
[Pass Level Politics, 29 March]
“NUI Maynooth has spun out a new company called Cerebeo, which aims to boost the speed, efficiency and effectiveness of the €1bn outsourced drug research and development industry …” (more)
[John Kennedy, Silicon Republic, 29 March]
“A crowd of nearly 200 people gathered here on Monday to listen to a series of academic luminaries speak passionately about the importance of the humanities. Though billed as a ‘Symposium on the Future of the Humanities’, the talks were less about new directions than about the value of traditional humanities in an era of gutted budgets …” (more)
[Jennifer Ruark, Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 March]
“… Irish legal academics should take note; the paucity of Wikipedia’s entries on Irish law is lamentable. To take an example, I’ve just been to an excellent lecture by Mr. Justice Hogan about Mr. Justice Henchy. That there’s no Wikipedia article about Mr. Justice Hogan is surprising enough. But what’s truly appalling is that there isn’t even an entry on Mr. Justice Henchy, who was arguably the greatest of Irish judges …” (more)
[Paul McMahon, Ex Tempore, 29 March]
“The student fees policy is absurd. Higher education should kick its addiction to state cash and call the coalition’s bluff …” (more)
[Simon Jenkins, Guardian, 29 March]
“The UCD Ball out in Belfield actually looks half decent to me. Firstly, the Saw Doctors aren’t playing it. Secondly, a lot of good bands are …” (more)
[Come here to me!, 29 March]
“Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has appointed of Irish Independent Education Editor John Walshe as his special adviser …” (more)
[RTÉ News, 29 March]
