In policy and funding news:
proposed Beechwood site was delayed again. UHI also chose to use the findings of a study of youth migration in the Highlands as an opportunity to call for additional funded places from the Scottish Funding Council, with The BBC covering the news:
In student news:
- There was better news for students this week as a HESA media release outlined some positive statistics on recent graduate career progress. UCU Scotland welcomed the figures and Labour Spokesperson Claire Baker MSP tweeted to note that 86.9% were satisfied with careers to date & 88.9% were employed. Whilst The Times chose to report the news positively The Guardian went with "Graduates struggle to find full-time jobs".
- Some graduates also found themselves with a bit more money in their pocket as negative interest rates meant they were owed money by the Student Loans company or there was no interest on their loans. Both The Scotsman and The Guardian ran pieces on the issue.
- In other student news, The Scotsman ran a piece considering the pros & cons of studying at your local university; a student-run charity at Edinburgh University was awarded £2,000 by BBC Children in Need; Edinburgh College of Art students' work found itself, quite literally, in the shop window; and Scotland's first Polish Student President took up office at Edinburgh Napier University.
In research news:
- The Times Higher Education magazine published Research Council funding statistics showing that, amongst Scottish institutions, Edinburgh and Glasgow universities take the lion's share of grants whilst the University of Strathclyde leads in terms of success rate. Overall, the stats showed that increased competition across the UK as a while means that the chance chances of a research grant application being successful were all-time low, something about which the RCUK chair was reported to be 'awfully concerned':
- Edinburgh University researchers' findings called into question the wisdom of taking an aspirin everyday and the news was reported globally. The extensive media coverage included pieces in The Times and The Herald.
- St Andrews University researchers achieved similar media ubiquity with a press release announcing that girls at single-sex schools are more attracted to feminine looking boys. The BBC and The Scotsman were just two of the many outlets to pick this up.
- The biology sector in the capital received a boost with the announcement of a major initiative in synthetic biology at Heriot-Watt University and a significant appointment at Edinburgh University' BioQuarter, where Simon Best is to lead commercialisation activity.
- The Face of Evil reconstructed in Dundee
- Lecture proves levitation isn't just science fiction
In our competition for the best sector media release title, this week's competition was declared a dead heat between the University of Dundee's:
and St Andrews University's:
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