06 September 13
We are all too familiar with the now clichéd phrase ‘publish or perish’. In the world of academia, so much seems to depend upon that thing called the Publication Record – jobs, funding, research projects, career advancement, peer recognition. But getting onto the publication ladder during, or after, a PhD can be a daunting leap.
At the publishing session of the vibrant DocLinks Summer School in Helsinki, ...
29 July 13
‘Without data, you are just another person with an opinion’. These were the challenging words of Dr Andreas Schleicher at the end of his keynote address to the ACU’s Graduate Employment Network conference, co-hosted in Auckland with Universities New Zealand from 11–13 July 2013.
The theme of the conference - ‘Exploring the value of higher education to the economy’ - brought together an ...
16 May 13
The need to increase Africa’s stock of PhD-qualified staff has featured prominently in many discussions and reports in recent years – and not solely in university circles, with national dailies picking up the story in Kenya and Nigeria. It’s part of a broader concern with securing the ‘next generation’ of academics, a critical foundation for universities, and something on which their future teaching ...
21 December 12
by Jonathan Harle
It goes without saying that a university's future rests on its next generation of academics. But universities aren't always doing enough to nurture and support their emerging talent. This is particularly true in a region which perhaps depends more than most on its next generation: Africa.
Here the 'greying of the professoriate' presents an even more serious challenge because the academic middle tier – not ...
12 December 12
I always leave Nigeria with mixed emotions. Hugely impressed by the enthusiasm for higher education, and the optimism that expansion will produce social and economic benefit, mixed with concern that expectations of the system are perhaps just too great.
I’ve just returned from a two week visit - to support seminars at Obafemi Awololo University and the University of Ibadan, as part of the ACU project on ‘Development ...
