…ee, Robert Halfon MP Executive Chair of Research England, David Sweeney Chief Executive and Chief Nurse from Health Education England Director for Post-16 Strategy at the DfE, Keith Smith Chief Executive and Chair from Innovate UK Skills and Apprentices Minister, Gillian Keegan Shadow Universities Minister Emma Hardy MP Sir Michael Barber, Chair of the OFS Nicola Dandridge, CEO of the OFS 3. We have significantly expanded the networks available to…
…to reaching the target of spending 2.4 per cent of GDP on R&D. This should combine commitments to both excellence and fair distribution. Those of us championing a place-based agenda need to find new arguments to navigate these complex issues, while avoiding simplistic interpretations such as the north-south divide and cities vs towns. These ignore the poverty in parts of London and the southwest and the affluence of some towns. The other divide in…
…we should be championing higher participation rates, not lower. Headline recommendations for fee cuts and the reinstitution of maintenance grants may now be common knowledge but there is fresh ambiguity as to their impact, whether they will be adopted and by whom, as the Conservatives search for their new leader. Having said this, with uncertainty also comes opportunity; HE is high on the political agenda. We hoped to grasp this opportunity with b…
…nett, Deputy Head of Doctoral Training programmes It might be a cliché to define 2020 as an extraordinary year, but for the DTA3 programme, 2020 has been the third extraordinary year in a row. In early 2018 University Alliance was awarded funding through the ambitious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Cofund doctoral programme, which offers PhD researchers high-quality and innovative training and knowledge sharing opportunities. We are one of only a small nu…
…d diverse place, whilst also acknowledging the work that still needs to be completed to overcome the existing challenges. Fortunately, throughout my time at Sheffield Hallam University, as both an undergraduate Law student and now as a member of staff within the Department of Law & Criminology, I have avoided discrimination. However, this is unfortunately not the case for all students within UK universities, as research by Stonewall found that on…
…economic and cultural development in communities across the UK. It is therefore extremely welcome to see universities recognised as an important enabler of the levelling up mission. Alliance universities are particularly well placed to play an integral role in delivering this agenda. Our members have strong, historic links with their local towns and cities, which has borne out partnerships with regional industries and communities that mean each u…
…are like a Celtic knot: inextricably intertwined. In an epiphanic moment in 2016, having completed my doctoral studies, I realised two significant issues about Film [Production] degree programmes that were being taught at many universities throughout the UK, including my own: firstly, the curriculum had barely changed in 30 years and, secondly, our students were effectively ‘on their own’ in terms of employment, especially when they graduated. As…
…s, but also in the current and proposed Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). These are arguably set to become more influential in the future, particularly if OfS goes ahead with plans to impose absolute minimum baselines in the B3 conditions – which are opposed by University Alliance and many others in the sector, from Universities UK to the British Academy. Alliance universities are justifiably proud of their students’ outcom…
…ent happen. In a different kind of awards, Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) outcomes showed Alliance universities were the most likely university group to score gold for teaching. UWE’s VC Professor (now Professor Sir!) Steve West was knighted, whilst the University of Brighton’s VC (and UA’s outgoing Chair) Professor Debra Humphris was awarded a CBE. Professor Jane Harrington, CEO at the University of Greenwich, replaced Debra as our new Chair…
…“I am very surprised and honoured to have won the UA DTA Images of Research 2020 competition – Judges Category. “The UA DTA has provided me a platform to conduct research that I am really passionate and enthusiastic about. However, it extends more than this, they have given me the opportunity to access training to improve my skills, whilst also giving me a network of researchers across the UK to help me through my studies (especially Molly Browne…
