The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 22 July 2013.
Canada: Students leading the way on sustainability
Sustainability has become an integral part of campus life at many leading Canadian universities, The New York Times reports – and this has largely been led by students themselves. At McGill, for example, the McGill Feeding McGill initiative was the result of demand from students for more organic and locally produced food. This led to an agricultural program which now produces some 40,000 kg of vegetables per year for McGill’s student dining halls – and an additional project which provides fresh produce for a local Meals on Wheels service for elderly people.
France: Increased funding for student grants welcomed
Student unions in France have welcomed reforms to the student grants system, University World News reports. The reforms mean an extra €318 million (US$417 million) allocated to student grants over the next two years, starting from September. Priority is being given to students from the lowest income families, those who have to work while studying, and those who lack support from relatives. It’s estimated that one in seven grant recipients will be better off as a result of the reforms.
Greece: Students arrested following protests over closures
Just over 30 students have been arrested in Greece after locking themselves into part of Athens University as part of a protest against planned university closures, University World News reports. Students were protesting against the government’s Athina Plan for university reform, which will mean closing four universities and dozens more departments and colleges – forcing many students to move to new cities in order to complete their degrees. Reporter Makki Marseilles points out that the arrests also underline the end of an era in which Greek universities represented a place of ‘asylum’.
UK: Manchester hosts world’s largest history of science conference
This week the UK’s University of Manchester is hosting the world’s largest ever conference on the history of science, the university reports. Held every four years, the International Congress of History of Science, Technology and Medicine is returning to the UK for the first time since 1977. Across seven days, the event will host more than 1,700 researchers from 59 countries, presenting more than 1,500 research papers. Special events will also include the UK première of a multimedia opera about the life of computer theorist Alan Turing, and a recreation of a Victorian séance.