NUIG academics reject Croke Park ‘deal’‏

“A well attended annual general meeting of the academic section of SIPTU at NUI Galway has rejected the General Public Services Agreement (the so-called ‘Croke Park Proposals’) …” (more)

[Indymedia Ireland, 30 April]

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Rogue E-mailer Hits Student Inboxes

“An anonymous e-mailer adopting the pseudonym of ‘John Murphy’ has exploited a major breach in UCC’s online security setup by sending an unsolicited email to most of UCC’s registered students …” (more)

[Cork Student News, 30 April]

Free speech on campus rightly has limits

“Freedom of expression – and I am thinking here primarily of freedom of expression on university campuses – is a very precious but often misunderstood commodity. A fundamental purpose of any university is to pursue the truth. That is the journey upon which we who work in academia – I mean, faculty and students – have embarked. But it is a journey full of perils and snares …” (more)

[Geoffrey Alderman, Guardian, 30 April]

Procrastination

“While I can’t say that I perfected perfectionism, I can state that I truly perfected procrastination. I was a master at finding other things to do rather than working on my dissertation. I had two things in my favor. One, I typically procrastinated with fairly productive tasks – like cleaning the kitchen floor or taking my dog for a walk (and he was always up for a walk) …” (more)

[Peg Boyle Single, Inside Higher Ed , 30 April]

HEA candour welcome but misplaced, says IFUT

“The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has welcomed the candour of the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority, who has warned higher education staff of plans to make fundamental changes to their contracts, to close courses in colleges and extend the academic year radically …” (more)

[IFUT, 29 April]

Mergermania

“There it is again. Once again we are being told that we have too many higher education institutions. This is how the Irish Independent yesterday reported comments by Tom Boland, chief executive of the Higher Education Authority (HEA): …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 30 April]

‘Cleggmania’, fees and the student vote

“The televised debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg have boosted student support for the Liberal Democrats, new research shows. A poll of more than 1,000 students by Opinionpanel Research conducted after the first two leaders’ debates found that half of those planning to vote back the Lib Dems …” (more)

[Melanie Newman, Times Higher Education, 30 April]

Croke Park Drama

“Croke Park is becoming a central location in the national conversation about our public services, and now, about our higher education institutions. The Jones Road venue has certainly witnessed no shortage of high-octane emotions over the past century, and to continue the sporting metaphor, there is still much left to play for in terms of the reform agreement …” (more)

[Ciarán Ó Catháin, A President’s Notebook, 29 April]

Parents of UCD student ‘deeply saddened’ by assault

“The parents of a UCD student who was attacked in Chicago a week ago have said they were ‘devastated and heartbroken for their beautiful daughter’ …” (more)

[Genevieve Carbery, Irish Times, 30 April]

Let’s talk about science

“Science has yet to become the election issue it should, according to the chief executive of one of the UK’s leading academies of science. On Thursday morning, Dr Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), said science has to be on the agenda because of its importance to the economy and the future well-being of the country …” (more)

[Susan Watts, BBC Two, 29 April]

SIPTU Academic Staff NUIG : Motion on The General Public Services Agreement

“Whereas the Government is trying to shift even more of the burden of the financial crisis on to the backs of working families through the public sector pay agreement with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and in so doing will undermine educational standards and ensure further bail-outs for bankers and developers …” (more)

[Paddy Healy’s Blog, 29 April]

Strategic plans

“Can a university strategic plan with 187 pages and a list of 243 objectives have any effect in practice?” (tweet)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, Twitter, 30 April]

“@vonprond: Can ANY university strategic plan have any effect in practice?” (tweet)

[Eoin O’Dell, Twitter,30 April]

TCD thinking big with nano lab

“For instruments involved in cutting-edge research and analysis on the ultra-small nano scale, the new microscopes at Trinity College Dublin are surprisingly huge. They can be found in the university’s €12m advanced microscopy laboratory at the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) …” (more)

[Karlin Lillington, Irish Times, 30 April]

Third Level Contract Staff

“Senator Ivana Bacik: This matter relates to the position of contract researchers in third level institutions. The Minister of State is aware that pay cuts and pension levies have been applied to such staff in third level institutions, despite the fact that they have no permanence or do not have the benefits enjoyed by full-time academics and research fellows …” (more)

[Seanad Debate, 28 April]

EU gives €3m for security research

“Irish organisations have received more than €3m in funding for security research projects from the European Commission’s seventh Framework Programme. The rate of involvement by Irish small and medium-sized enterprises in the programme is one of the highest in the EU, at 53% compared to the EU average of 22% …” (more)

[Gordon Smith, Irish Times, 30 April]

Simplify rules for research grants: EU Commissioner

“Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has proposed a plan to simplify the procedures for taking part in EU-funded research projects. Announcing the plan at The European Commission in Brussels today, she said that minimising the administrative burden on researchers was vital …” (more)

[Deirdre Nolan, Silicon Republic, 29 April]

‘Merge or die’

“Wonder who the HEA’s merge or die is aimed at. IOT sector gets my vote based on a few things said in the article. http://bit.ly/cFGvd6” (tweet)

[Dermot Frost, Twitter, 29 April]

Limerick biotech firm bought by US giant

“Stokes Bio, a University of Limerick (UL) spin-out company, has been bought by California-based Life Technologies for US$44 million, it was announced today. The company, which emerged from the Stokes Research Institute at UL, has pioneered the development of revolutionary genetic analysis instruments …” (more)

[Education Ireland, 29 April]

Colleges told: merge or die

“Ireland has too many universities and colleges that must now merge to survive, the head of the State’s third-level funding body has warned. In a landmark address yesterday, Higher Education Authority (HEA) chief executive Tom Boland set out a reform agenda for the biggest ever shake-up of the country’s third-level system …” (more)

[John Walshe, Independent, 29 April]

A matter of 4 billion Euro, give or take a fiver

“Yesterday’s Irish Times published details from an internal report prepared by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) suggesting that higher education institutions would need a capital investment of €4 billion in order to accommodate the additional students now expected to be recruited over the coming decade, and in order to bring the existing stock of buildings to an acceptable standard …” (more)

[Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 29 April]