The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 29 August 2013.
Russia: UK university will train managers of Russian railway
Anglia Ruskin University in the UK will be training managers of one of Russia’s biggest employers, Russian Railways, reports the BBC. The railway’s president, Vladimir Yakunin, has said that it is part of a scheme to enter the “global transport market”. The management training will be provided at the company’s corporate university outside Moscow. It will be “delivered in English with simultaneous translations”, and will cover “areas such as risk management and project management”. The company operates across 11 time zones, and it is hoped that the scheme will help increase international cooperation.
Sweden: Researchers confirm new artificial element
Researchers at Sweden’s Lund University have conducted an experiment that confirms the existence of an artificial element that was created last year, reports Azom.com. The artificial element has been temporarily called ununpentium, and has an atomic number of 115. It was created by Russian physics groups at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt in Germany. The latest experiment recreates ununpentium and confirms its existence by observing the decay products it leaves behind, because it only has a half life of 140-190 milliseconds. This was observed 37 times by the Russian researchers and a further 30 by the Swedish team, led by Professor Dirk Rudolph. It means that ununpentium, or Element 115, may be added to the periodic table.
Liberia: University to admit 1,800 students who initially failed entrance exam
After every single one of almost 25,000 candidates failed the entrance exam to the University of Liberia, 1,800 of them will nevertheless be admitted, reports the BBC. Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made the announcement after discussions with university officials, but did not say why they had agreed to take on the students. However, she did say that the university had set a higher standard for admission this year.
UK: Scottish university teams up with hospice
The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) has teamed up with Ayrshire Hospice for the benefit of people with life-limiting illnesses, reports The Herald Scotland. It is the country’s first university hospice, and the team’s first project will be the appointment of a trainee advanced nurse practitioner working with the support of an academic research mentor. The deputy principal of UWS, Paul Martin, said: “This formal partnership… will allow our organizations to jointly develop research and practice that will benefit palliative care patients and their families."