University applications from UK-born students fall 15%

The latest statistics, published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), show 133,357 applicants have applied from within the UK, compared with 157,116 this time last year.

Universities and politicians have worried that the decision to almost treble tuition fees to up to £9,000 next year will deter thousands of students, particularly the poorest, from applying. Students can pay the fees with a student loan, which they start repaying when they are earning more than £21,000 a year after leaving university.

But the figures suggest that the fall in the number applying to university since last year is mostly owing to a glut of applications in 2010 in anticipation of the fees rise. In 2010, the number of applicants from within and outside the UK combined was 162,706, while the number from those born in the UK came to 139,875.

Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, which represents the UK's 20 leading universities including Oxford and Cambridge, said it was too early to predict how many students would end up at university next autumn.

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/nov/28/university-applications-uk-students-fees?newsfeed=true

Vocational training vs. college education: Lessons from Europe

Thanks to the feverish coverage of the European debt crisis, we know that Germany is the economic engine that’s kept the Eurozone afloat.

The Germans attribute their success in large part to their dual education system. At a young age, schoolchildren go on tracks that determine whether they’ll receive vocational training to prepare them for employment or go to university.

While the system provides little flexibility, it does deliver on jobs. Germany, as well as Switzerland and Austria — which have similar education models — have the lowest youth unemployment figures in Europe. Young people in countries like France and the U.K., which put a greater emphasis on college degrees, fare much worse. In the U.S., youth unemployment is double that of adults.

Pepper Culpepper, a political science professor at the European University Institute in Florence and editor of the book The German Skills Machine, tells Worldview what the U.S. can learn from foreign educational models.

NEWS BY:http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/2011-11-30/vocational-training-vs-college-education-lessons-europe-94463

Progress Educational Trust Conference: Growing Concern?

The consequences of assisted reproductive technology (ART) are a matter of great concern, whether this is the development of the embryo, the perinatal health of the mother, or the ongoing health of the child.

The latter two issues were discussed in 'Growing Concern?', the final session of the Progress Educational Trust's conference, 'The Best Possible Start in Life: The Robust and Responsive Embryo'. This session was chaired by Professor Bobbie Farsides, of Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

At least five million children have been born from ART since 1978, and so it is crucial to assess any impacts the process has on health. Jane Denton, Director of the Multiple Births Foundation, started the session with a discussion of the risks of multiple births.

The chance of multiple pregnancies is substantially greater with ART than natural conception, largely because of the practice of transferring more than one embryo. Indeed, half of children born via ART are not the result of singleton pregnancies. Significant risks have been associated with multiple pregnancies to both the mother and babies, with mothers experiencing a higher risk of complications and maternal mortality, and babies more likely to be premature, of low birth weight and to die at an earlier age.

NEWS BY:http://www.bionews.org.uk/page_115739.asp

How to build a university mobile application: best practice and insight

Don't get bogged down in the large strategy development surrounding digital - consider short term solutions and wins too

During my time at Precedent, we noticed that universities are shifting away from creating recruitment apps, and are looking more at developing applications that benefit existing students. These serve a dual purpose. As well as improving the student experience they also enable prospective students to see what really happens at the university and feel a part of student life before they enrol.

As mobile is relatively new universities seem to be struggling to find quick solutions while they develop their wider digital strategy. One short term solution is the creation of mobile optimised templates for their existing website; this is a quick win at a relatively low cost.

Our first education sector mobile app was for Southampton University, it helped Southhampton deliver prospectus style content in an innovative way.

We are currently seeing a large number of universities exploring mobile. Unfortunately it seems like many are getting bogged down in large strategy development. It is important to ensure that even when developing a wider integrated strategy, to consider short term solutions and wins. Digital channels move too quickly to wait six to 12 months.

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/2011/dec/08/building-university-mobile-apps

Large drop in student applications for UK universities

A rising number of students are being deterred from University as the government's new tuition fees start next year. Ucas statistics have shown a decrease in applications which will come as a blow to the coalition government.

Universities Minister David Willets has said it is too early in the applications cycle to make predictions on demand. Yet experts believe the drop in applications for next years degree courses is one of the biggest.

The figures show a drop of 23,759 applications to 133,357 compared to the same point last year. This means that universities are going to become over reliant on overseas students who pay the full cost of courses, as much as £26,000 a year. However the number of applicants from outside the EU has risen by 11.8 per cent amid extensive overseas recruitment drives.

Part of the decrease in applications is the amount of students that cancelled gap years to beat the tuition fee increase. Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said: ‘I think this is the highest drop outside of the two World Wars, when some universities almost became bankrupt due to falling applications. They were rescued by State support.

NEWS BY:http://www.studenttimes.org/st_news/st_article1.php?article_id=1855

UK should make military alliances in Africa, says chief of defence staff

The armed forces' most senior officer has called for the UK to consider new military alliances with countries in Africa and the Arab peninsula rather than trying to compete for influence over the emerging powers of China and India.

General Sir David Richards, chief of the defence staff, said in a world that looked "especially unpredictable and unstable" it was more important now than before to reach out beyond the obvious alliances to ensure the UK's security.

Richards said the UK and France were already working closely together and that other alliances should emerge. "As the world evolves, so new groupings will emerge. The most obvious is our alliance with the French. It is much more than the Entente Cordiale of a century ago. It is a vehicle for joint action.

"The UK will require other carefully chosen alliances over the coming decade through which to influence the strategic landscape and help determine the outcome of fast-moving crises.

"Already our collaboration with countries in the Gulf and Africa has delivered results in the region. Perhaps we should be focusing our defence relationships on these regions rather than competing for influence, with many others, in China or India."

Richards said that with the US saying explicitly for the first time that its main military focus was now in south-east Asia, it was time for the UK to "think through what this means to us".

In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute thinktank on Wednesday, Richards said Nato would remain "the most powerful military pact the world has ever known", but he warned that this would not be enough in the future.

NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/14/uk-military-alliances-africa-defence?newsfeed=true

Pension funds to finance UK projects

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George Osborne has struck agreements with Britain’s pension funds to help fund a £30bn infrastructure package – unlocking a big new source of finance to up­grade the country’s transport, energy and communications networks.

Canadian and Australian pension funds have already invested heavily in the UK, and sovereign wealth funds in China and the Gulf are also exploring new opportunities. Treasury insiders say British pension funds felt they were “being left behind”.

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which hold roughly £800bn in assets, have committed to talks with the Treasury on investing in infrastructure, which could provide a reliable long-term source of income, providing better returns than gilts with less risk than equities.

“We believe we can unlock £20bn extra in funding for infrastructure in the UK through this initiative,” said a Treasury official, although no money has been committed.

Separately, Mr Osborne is to announce that a further £5bn of savings and cuts inside government will be switched to priority “shovel-ready” capital projects to give a quick boost to the economy.


NEWS BY:http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0b0399f8-190e-11e1-92d8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1gTMngCz1

Alistair Brownlee: 'It would be incredible if we crossed together'

Alistair and Jonny Brownlee sit at their kitchen table and pause briefly over a dreamy snapshot of the future. In the imagined picture, in the last seconds of a gruelling Olympic triathlon, the brothers are racing towards the finish. The final outcome is in the balance but the current world No1 and 2 will settle the small matter of winning gold and silver medals within the family.

Outside, on a rainy Yorkshire afternoon, the lovely old lady who keeps feeding them lemon drizzle cake has drawn her curtains against the blackness spreading across the village of Bramhope, on the outskirts of Leeds. In their tight little cul-de-sac, and at the bakers down the road where they're also given free treats, the Brownlees are certified celebrities. Yet they would be engulfed by national fame if they could produce a defining Olympic story by finishing first and second or, best of all, in a dead heat in the triathlon next August.

An incredible prospect is not mere fantasy. It is rooted in the reality of their world rankings and the fact that this year they have reached the podium together in five major races where the Olympic standard tests them in a 1.5km swim, a 40km ride and a 10km run. Alistair is the new world champion, for a second time, while Jonny finished just behind him in the world series after the deciding triathlon in Beijing. Over the same course used for the Beijing Games, Alistair's winning time was a minute-and-a-half quicker than that recorded in 2008 by the Olympic champion, Jan Frodeno.

"We have got a good chance," Alistair admits, looking as steely as he is thoughtful. "But everything has to go right for us to finish first and second. In triathlon, there's a 50% chance of something going wrong. So I'd say there is a one in four chance of it happening for both of us. The odds stack up."


NEWS BY:http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/dec/05/brownlee-alistair-jonny-triathlon-olympics?newsfeed=true

Engineering aids UK job market

The Reed Job Index for November stands at 133 – with employer demand for new staff being a third higher than it was 23 months ago and 20% percent higher than last year.

Paul Jackson, chief executive at EngineeringUK, said to Engineering Capacity: “The findings in the Reed Job Index reflect the engineering sector’s contribution to the UK economy. The demand for engineers is supported by EngineeringUK findings; out of a total of 2.1 million businesses in the UK, just over 550,000 are engineering businesses.

Engineering businesses employ 5.6 million people and generate turnover over £1.15 trillion, which is almost a third of the turnover all UK businesses.

“Employers recognise the need to promote engineering careers to young people, and demonstrate their commitment to inspiring tomorrow’s workforce through programmes, such as The Big Bang and Tomorrow’s Engineers.”


NEWS BY:http://www.engineeringcapacity.com/news101/business-news/engineering-aids-uk-job-market

Prof. Gartner Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

The award, given at most every second year by the Transportation Science and Logistics Society of INFORMS, the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science, recognizes an individual “who throughout his or her professional career has made fundamental and sustained contributions to transportation science and logistics and has influenced the field through his or her writings, teaching, service and nurturing of younger professionals.”

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by one’s peers and to join a distinguished list of individuals who were awarded such honor in the past,” says Gartner. “Two of the four previous U.S. winners are members of the National Academy of Engineering and all foreign awardees are prominent scientists in their respective countries — the U.K., Canada, Germany and Italy. Furthermore, I feel it is an honor for UMass Lowell to join a distinguished list of top universities recognized for their outstanding research and educational achievements in the transportation field.”

“Prof. Gartner has been at the forefront of transportation science research for the past 40 years, since he completed his doctoral dissertation at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology in 1970,” says Marguerite Zarrillo, a UMass Dartmouth physics professor who nominated him for the award. “Most of all, he educated, mentored and guided scores of undergraduate and graduate students in transportation and traffic theory and practice.”

She cites among Gartner’s numerous contributions — which today are standard textbook material — the development of the first Link Performance Function for traffic network control and for traffic assignment, the excess-demand concept and method in elastic-demand assignment, the MITROP, MAXBAND and MULTIBAND programs for traffic signal optimization in arterial streets and in large-scale arterial networks and the “rolling horizon” concept for traffic-adaptive control and estimation.

NEWS BY:http://www.uml.edu/News/stories/2011-12/Gartner-Award.aspx

Chinese automaker Geely to enter UK market in 2012, US debut could be coming

Geely reached an agreement with the Manganese Bronze Holdings (MBH). MBH wil become Geely's distributor for selling cars in the United Kingdom, as well they will supply parts and provide an maintenance on vehicles. The UK distributor operation will be known as Geely Auto UK.

Geely and MBH are already working together manufacturing the iconic London black cabs for the UK market. Manufacturing takes place in Coventry by The London Taxi Company, which is a division of MBH.

Geely Auto UK headquarters will share offices with the London Taxi Company in Coventry. This will allow them to utilize the existing workforce that has expertise in marketing, logistics and finance.

“We are all aware of the success that the Korean brands, Kia and Hyundai have had in the UK and we can work with Geely to achieve similar success in the future” said John Russell, Chief Executive Officer of MBH.

“We are starting with a clean sheet of paper with the distribution of Geely passenger cars into the UK, the first major Western European country to receive them. We will start by importing the Geely Emgrand EC7, C/D segment sized four door saloons and five door hatchbacks, initially with 1.5 and 1.8 liter petrol [gas] engine options. But Geely has a comprehensive range of models well suited to European requirements. We will be aiming to widen our range just as quickly as possible, probably at least a new model range every year for the next four to five years”. Said Matthew Cheyne, who is the Market Development Director of Geely Auto UK. Mr. Cheyne is also heading up the team responsible for the sales, marketing, anddealer development and distribution of Geely vehicles in the UK.

The first Geely car to be sold in the UK, the Emgrand EC7, will have a price range of approximately £10,000 British pounds. (That is equivalent to about $15,600 dollars.) Geely cars will carry a five-year, 100,000 mile warranty. It should be an attractive choice for car buyers looking for a bargain.

NEWS BY:http://www.torquenews.com/1070/chinese-automaker-geely-enter-uk-market-2012-us-debut-come

Global ad expenditure expected to rise

The global advertising market is looking robust as advertisers are in a better position than they were at the start of the downturn in 2008, says ZenithOptimedia’s latest report.

The media company says that advertisers have built up large cash reserves since 2008 but as they are earning poor interest rates, companies are likely to invest in advertising “in competition for marker share, and as a way of stimulating extra consumption.”

The media agency network predicts global ad expenditure will grow 4.7% in 2012, up from 3.5% in 2011, despite the crisis in the Eurozone. Expenditure is then expected to rise 5.2% in

It attributes the robustness to the “quadrennial” effect of four events next year, the Olympics, European Football Championship, US Presidential elections and other elections, alongside a recovery in Japan from the earthquake earlier this year.

Western Europe is expected to show smaller growth, predicted at 2% in 2012, despite the fillip of the London 2012 Olympics. The forecast assumes that GDP will continue to slow in the Eurozone and assumes that even if conditions deteriorate the impact on global growth will be “limited”. Defaults in two Eurozone countries could turn growth into a -4% reversal but global ad expenditure would still rise by 3.2%.


NEWS BY:http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/advertising/global-ad-expenditure-expected-to-rise/3032432.article