What’s this all about?

Below is an email I received today. I have no idea what it is about, or who the individuals are or what institution is involved. It’s just one of those odd messages I get from time to time… hello fellow scientists ! as u know somethings have changed… i  encourage u to communicate only with [...]

So what’s next for Germany?

As some of the more internationally minded readers of this blog will know (and presumably any German readers will know it), there has just been a general election in Germany, and this has resulted in the prospect of a slightly new government consisting of a coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), their Bavarian sister [...]

The cuts, the cuts – cleaning up

So what’s in store for us next? Well, a report in Times Higher Education tells us that staff in Sheffield University are now having to clean their offices themselves; or rather, the normal cleaning service now happens only every two to three weeks. The whole issue was made public by the British academics’ trade union, [...]

Referendumitis

As everyone knows, Ireland will be voting in a referendum this Friday on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community. That will be the only issue to be placed before the Irish people in a referendum this year. And notwithstanding the excitements [...]

Evaluating quality assurance

Last week the European Commission published a Report on progress in quality assurance in higher education. It is worth quoting the opening paragraph of the report in full, as it sets out the case for quality assurance systems. Quality assurance in higher education is at the heart of efforts to build a coherent, compatible  and attractive European [...]

Fordism

Exactly 101 years ago today, the first Ford Model T car came off the production line in Detroit, Michigan. Not only was this the birth of an iconic car, it also marked the beginning of mass motor car production, with implications for personal mobility that revolutionised not just transport but also the nature of modern [...]

Scotland, and the question of tuition fees

The debate about the reintroduction of tuition fees is not just taking place in Ireland, but is also a hot topic in Scotland. As readers of this blog may know, Scotland has not followed the lead taken in England, where fees were reintroduced and gradually increased after the report of the National Committee of Inquiry [...]

And still on inappropriate humour…

It may seem that I don’t have much of a sense of humour, or that I am jumping on to every bandwagon that happens to come rolling along involving disapproval of someone trying desperately to be funny. Readers from outside Ireland may not be aware of this, but an Irish comedian, Tommy Tiernan, has come [...]

Male academics and curvy women?

Oh dear, some middle aged male academics just can’t appear to resist the idea that there is something sexy about being sexist. The latest man to demonstrate this is Terence Kealey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham. In a piece on ‘lust’ (part of a bigger collection of comments by several academics on the seven [...]

Universities and the social partners

Over the past two decades, Ireland’s economic growth and social stability has been built on the framework of social partnership. Regular negotiations between the government, the employers, the trade unions and some other interest groups have produced agreements that have regulated pay but also secured developments and changes in social and economic policy. These agreements [...]