“George Boole’s former home at Grenville Place in Cork City is now up for sale as an investment ‘site’. For €350,000 you can purchase this large city centre building which was once home to Queen’s College Cork’s first Professor of Mathematics …” (more)
[Eoin Lettice, Communicate Science, 22 February]
“Students at Exeter University have been told cross-dressing is offensive to transgender people – but history shows drag has been a part of student revelry for more than a century …” (more)
[Matthew Holehouse, Daily Telegraph, 22 February]
“Universities talk about internationalisation and diversity, but often students voluntarily self-segregate on campus. Instead, institutions should be looking at how to encourage students to be more resilient and open to change and different ways of thinking …” (more)
[Viv Caruana, University World News, 19 February]
“Is history a coherent story? This is not the sort of question that is likely to be either asked or answered in the milieu I normally inhabit. In the universities of Europe and North America (and much of the rest of the world as well), the agenda has veered away asking such big questions …” (more)
[Helena Sheehan, Critical Legal Thinking, 20 February]
“After receiving recognition for her work in bringing science to a wider audience, Anne Osterrieder discusses how researchers and academics can make their work more accessible …” (more)
[Guardian Professional, 20 February]
“Becoming a university professor requires a lot of work for very little financial reward, compared to most other professions. In STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields, the minimum requirement is four years of undergraduate education, plus anywhere between four and a half and eight years of graduate studies, followed by an (ever increasing) number of years of post-doctoral work …” (more)
[Matt Ford, Ars Technica, 19 February]
“Twitter users have been reacting strongly to an article in The Sunday Telegraph claiming that slavery is ‘at the root of the fortune’ of prominent theologian and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins …” (more)
[storyful, 19 February]
“DCU Student’s Union have launched a respect campaign in response to complaints against student behaviour at the college’s late bar. Some students are turning over bins and causing noise disruption on the way to the campus every Tuesday night …” (more)
[Dublin Studenty.me, 19 February]
“One of the things that people tends to think about scientists is that we are all machine-like robots who are technically advanced, but without an ounce (or gram) of creativeness. I’m planning in this brief blog to dispel this criticism with a few choice counterpoints …” (more)
[No Comment, 17 February]
“Difficulties in hiring and retaining women scientists and engineers are worrying universities. A study published in Science has tracked several thousand science and engineering faculty members over 19 years to unpick where the barriers lie …” (more)
[Natasha Gilbert, Nature News & Comment, 17 February]
“The European Union publishes an annual report entitled Key Data on Education in Europe. In the 2012 issue there is some interesting statistical analysis of the structure and nature of Europe’s education systems …” (more)
[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 16 February]
“University rankings have been stirring up debate for a good few years, but everyone knows that going to university is about more than just choosing the most famous or prestigious institution. While we all naturally base much of our decision-making on identifying the best university and degree program, the city in which you choose to spend three or four years living and studying will shape your university experience …” (more)
[QS Intelligence Unit, 15 February]
“Philip Nolan gives his talk at the IGNITE night at the Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin in December 2011.” (video)
[YouTube, 15 February]
[HT: Conor Houghton]
“… at least, according to the latest ranking by QS. They’re quiet about the method, but if you click on any of the cities, you will find what matters to them …” (more)
[Richard Tol, Irish Economy, 15 February]
“Dublin has been rated as one of the best student cities in the world – and ‘the craic’ has a lot to do with it. It shares eighth place with Berlin in a table topped by Paris, followed by London, Boston, Melbourne, Vienna, Sydney and Zurich …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 15 February]
“Des saw 2 Mandarins swimming out in the middle of the lake!! Typically I chose this lunchtime to work through, but when I saw his email, I looked at my work, thought sod that and pulled on my jacket. Didn’t see any Mandarins swimming around in the open by the time I got over, but a closer look on the little island where the swans always nest gave a glimpse of a male mandarin’s head! …” (more, video)
[Drimnagh Birdwatch, 14 February]
“Almost three-quarters of Irish students surveyed have had sex without a condom, with 13% citing impairment due to alcohol as the reason for having done so, a survey has found. The survey, published today, was carried out by the Union of Students in Ireland …” (more)
[Pamela Duncan, Irish Times, 13 February]
“Students are good at making friends and cracking jokes, but are poor at managing time and taking risks, a survey suggests. Research into 1,000 UK students’ strengths for an accounting firm suggests they are weakest at overcoming fears and being resilient …” (more)
[Hannah Richardson, BBC News, 11 February]
“Higher education gives students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds the biggest boost in the labour market. But it has the opposite effect on their prospects in the marriage market, an American study has found …” (more)
[John Ross, The Australian, 11 February]
“There’s a lot of talk these days about media diversity. (On Monday last I was at a useful conference on the subject hosted by Nessa Childers, MEP.) A problem is that ‘media diversity’, like so many terms, is increasingly becoming drained of meaning …” (more)
[Colum McCaffery’s Weblog, 10 February]
