“University College Dublin has opened Rosemount Environmental Research Station, a €5m new research facility at its Belfield campus …” (more)
[Joe Dermody, Irish Examiner, 28 September]
“Three recent graduates from Limerick Institute of Technology are setting off to the NASA space centre in Florida to further their studies under a partnership between LIT and the US facility …” (more)
[Jimmy Woulfe, Irish Examiner, 28 September]
“The future of Scotland’s four-year degree is under threat after a university said it would offer shorter courses to cut down on costs for students. Dundee University has become the first to develop a three-year honours degree …” (more)
[Andrew Denholm, Herald Scotland, 28 September]
“The parents of privately educated children are likely to sue universities if their offspring are rejected for degree places under new plans to penalise them for going to top-performing schools …” (more)
[Richard Garner, Independent, 28 September]
“The new academic year is under way all around the country, with over 45,000 first year students starting in third-level colleges or universities. The transition from the structured environment of secondary school to the more independent existence at third level can be liberating and daunting at the same time …” (more)
[Independent, 28 September]
“The HEA has published its impact analysis of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions h/t Colm Harmon. It is good that government agencies are increasingly open to such evaluation …” (more)
[Richard Tol, Irish Economy, 27 September]
“The interest in measures of ‘college quality’ (i.e. university rankings) assumes naturally that high quality is a good thing. It might seem to be true by definition. Another way of thinking about it is that for a student to do well at college she/he needs to be well matched to their place of study …” (more)
[Kevin Denny: Economics more-or-less, 27 September]
“Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD, has welcomed the announcement of a new commercial partnership worth over €130,000 between CRANN, an internationally recognised nanoscience research institute, hosted by Trinity College Dublin, and the Cork based biotech and pharmaceutical company Merck Millipore, who employ over 400 people at their Carrigtwohill facility …” (more)
[The Labour Party, 27 September]
“The Union of Students in Ireland are set to launch a ‘seven step’ campaign in the run up to December’s budget that could see another mass student protest similar to last November’s ‘Education not Emigration’ march. Gary Redmond, President of the Union of Students in Ireland, told the College Tribune that a ‘large scale event’ will take place if the Labour Party do not publicly agree to honour promises they made to students …” (more)
[College Tribune, 27 September]
“Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) is finalising plans for the biggest ever business exhibition and seminar to be held outside of Dublin …” (more)
[Jimmy Woulfe, Irish Examiner, 27 September]
“The expansion of the University of Ulster’s Magee campus must form part of the Executive’s Programme for Government, according to business and community leaders …” (more)
[Donna Deeney, Belfast Telegraph, 27 September]
“After the excitement of the past six months we are entering a critical stage in Ruairí Quinn’s tenure at the Department of Education. A dizzying array of initiatives and reforms have been signalled, but the next eight weeks will tell whether Quinn can make the transition from aspiration to achievement …” (more)
[Irish Times, 27 September]
“Which universities award the most first-class degrees and which are tougher? Are some colleges ‘easier’ than others? Could your choice college influence your chance of graduating with a top degree? The question has become critical for many students, with employers increasingly demanding a 2:1 degree or higher before they will consider a job application …” (more)
[Gráinne Faller, Irish Times, 27 September]
“During my time as an Irish university president I got used to hearing commentators – often economists – arguing that the investment of public money in academic research did not represent good value …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 27 September]
“Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn wants the Junior Certificate reformed – quickly. He wants to cut the number of subjects to eight, and he wants to have 50 per cent of the final marks determined by continuous assessment. Are there merits in these proposals? …” (more)
[Barry Hazel, Irish Times, 27 September]
“Teacher group leaders have said they oppose members marking their own students as part of the new Junior Certificate testing — even though hundreds are already doing so …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 27 September]
“Closing half of Britain’s universities is among the radical ideas being considered by Labour leader Ed Miliband, his policy adviser says …” (more)
[Brian Wheeler, BBC News, 26 September]
“The recent publication of the QS world rankings generated a lot of interest as well as criticism from various people, including me. A common response to such criticisms is to say ‘Like it or not, they matter to people so we need to pay attention to them’. But do they matter? …” (more)
[Kevin Denny: Economics more-or-less, 26 September]
“On the tenth anniversary of the European Day of languages today, IBEC, the group that represents Irish business, called on the Department of Education and Skills to introduce a national language policy to provide an integrated and coherent approach to language education …” (more)
[IBEC, 26 September]
“The Chronicle Review has an excellent article on a new campus novel from Jeffrey Eugenides about leaving campus behind. A five year old post on my other blog includes reference to a couple of articles, including one by David Lodge, on the ‘end of the campus novel’. The core of the argument here was that campuses really just aren’t funny places any more …” (more)
[Registrarism, 26 September]
