The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 2 April 2013.
US: Engineering students make shoes for penguins
Normally, we associate engineering with things like bridges, machinery or airplanes, but students at Chicago’s Northwestern University have been turning their skills to the often-neglected area of penguin footwear. Students at the university have developed a special shoe called the ‘Tuxedo’, which helps penguins who get a disease called (don’t laugh) bumblefoot, which is caused by standing for too long on uneven, rough surfaces. The students, reports Time, will be turning their attention to sea otters this term. But as odd as this sounds, the challenges the students are being set are intended to reflect those they’d encounter in real life, such as those from aquariums which are struggling to find specialized equipment – like penguin footwear!
Argentina: State investment in research to be increased
State investment in research and development in Argentina may be raised from 0.65% of GDP to 1.65% by 2020 if proposals contained in the government’s new science, technology and innovation plan are carried through. ‘Innovative Argentina 2020’ also suggests that research funding is spread out over the country rather than concentrated in major urban hubs and that the private sector makes a substantial contribution. The country’s scientific community has welcomed the plan, reports University World News.
US: Californian universities may be required to award credits for MOOCs
In a move that some think could have profound consequences for higher education, public universities in California may be obliged to award credits for online courses taken in lieu of university courses which are full. The online courses would not need to be associated with the institution at which the student was enrolled, meaning that MOOCs (massive open online courses – freely offered online programs from a range of universities) could come to play a key role. The potential policy is intended to tackle the issue of students not being able to complete their degrees in the expected time, due to courses necessary for graduation being oversubscribed – a problem which has become worse due to several consecutive years of budget cuts to California’s three public systems (the University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges).
US: Dorm Room Funds offers cash student start-ups
A Philadelphia-based organization called First Round Capital is offering funds for students who want to start their own businesses from their dorm rooms. A team of 11 students from the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University is in charge of allocating the first round of funding, which totals $500,000 and is available to students studying in and around Philadelphia. So far, six start-ups have been selected to receive an average of US$20,000. A similar scheme is set to launch in New York soon, and a further fund will be offered to students in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year.
UK: 40% drop in part-time students suggests considerable reduction in mature student numbers
Since the 2010-11 academic year, the number of students studying part time at universities in the UK has fallen by 40%, according to figures from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Mature students make up a large proportion of those studying part time, so this drop is likely to indicate that far fewer of these students are taking up places at the country’s universities, reports The Guardian. Like so many other drops in student numbers in the UK, it is thought that the tripling of tuition fees to £9,000 (around US$13,600 at today’s exchange rates) coupled with a loan system which leaves many part-time students ineligible for support, is behind the drop.