ENGINEERING BULLETIN

Education Minister Leighton Andrews says the University of Wales has let down higher education in Wales and brought the nation "into disrepute".His criticism comes after a watchdog's report told the university to review its worldwide college links.BBC Wales found the links included one with a Malaysian pop star with bogus degrees and a college in Bangkok college said to be operating illegally.The university says it is developing a new international strategy.Prof Roger Brown, a higher education expert, said it was the "most damning" report on a university's overseas operations he had seen.

Philantropy is becoming big business for Australian universities as they seek to prop up income from government and student fees.With the University of Sydney set to sell a donated Picasso for an expected $18 million tomorrow, the tertiary sector is embracing new methods of gleaning gifts.Some universities in NSW employ their students in call centres to help raise donations. They ring alumni to ask them to invest in a stranger's future.Advertisement: Story continues below Universities receive property, books, manuscripts, artworks and millions of dollars in cash for scholarships and research.

Concerns have been voiced that only one in five new teachers in Scotland found permanent, full-time jobs after qualifying in 2009-10. Top officials in Scotland are voicing concerns over newly-released data that claims only one in five new teachers in Scotland were able to find permanent, full-time jobs after becoming certified in 2009-10.  The startling figure was first revealed last week when the results of a survey conducted by the General Teaching Council for Scotland.  More than 1,200 full-time and substitute teachers were surveyed.

Universities are having to dumb down the maths requirements on some of their courses in order to fill places, a report says. The BBC News service is reporting that UK universities are having to “dumb down” math requirements on some of their courses in order to fill places.  This is according to a newly-released study.  It maintains that nearly two-thirds of the students accepted on courses needing post-high school math skills do not posses them. 

Since 1930, electric clocks have kept time based on the rate of the electrical current that powers them. If the current slips off its usual rate, clocks run a little fast or slow. Power companies now take steps to correct it and keep the frequency of the current - and the time - as precise as possible.The group that oversees the U.S. power grid is proposing an experiment would allow more frequency variation than it does now without corrections, according to a company presentation obtained by The Associated Press.Officials say they want to try this to make the power supply more reliable, save money and reduce what may be needless efforts. The test is tentatively set to start in mid-July, but that could change.

(Medical Xpress) - With a combination of synthetic biology and optogenetics, researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology published a paper in Science outlining their new technique which enables certain genes to be turned on simply by the switch of a light.

The US is the choice of many Vietnamese talents. It is estimated that there are 100 Vietnamese people who are working as professional mathematicians, and the majority of them are settling in the US. Those famous Vietnamese mathematicians in the US include Professor Vu Ha Van of Rutgers University, Professor Duong Hong Phong of Columbia University, Professor Dao Hai Long of Kansas University, Professor Le Hai An of Utah University, Professor Le Tu Quoc Thang of Georgia Technology Institute, Professor Pham Huu Tiep of Florida University, and Professor Ngo Thanh Nhan of New York University. According to Le Tuan Hoa, Chair of the Vietnam Mathematics Association, about 30 Vietnamese mathematicians living and working abroad have regular exchanges with colleagues and institutes in Vietnam and sometimes. And a half of the number of the mathematicians is working in the US.

Further confirmation that the job market for US MBA students is improving comes from the MBA Career Services Council, the US-based organisation which compiles data from business school careers offices. According to the MBA CSC, 76 per cent of schools experienced an increase in on-campus activity over last year. The official statistics for job offers are not available until the beginning of September - three months after graduation.

Growth in overseas student numbers for higher education, the last sector of Australia's education export industry still on the rise, has slowed to just 1.9 per cent. In the year to April, there were 58,471 higher education starts, up 1.9 per cent on the corresponding period last year, according to the latest figures from Australian Education International.However, there were deepening declines in overseas student commencements across all other education sectors.

The cream of Welsh undergraduates is choosing to study in England, writes Gareth Evans for the Western Mail. Figures obtained by the newspaper provide clear evidence the best young brains in Wales are being lost to institutions across the border. They also highlight the apparent gulf in stature that exists between Welsh universities and their English counterparts.

That 2011 is the Year of India in Canada is a fact not lost on Canadian universities, many of which are ramping up efforts to play a larger part in serving India’s skyrocketing demand for higher education.Canada has lagged behind its Western counterparts in forging educational ties with India. But bolstered by the perceived success of a visit undertaken by 15 university presidents last November, many schools have begun the slow process of deepening ties with the emerging power.

Universities in England will begin charging students over €10,000 next year.Irish universities could face a surge in applications from Britain next year as cash-strapped students flee soaring fees.Annual fees at many English universities will be increased to over €10,000 a year. The new charges will come into effect for new entrants to college courses in 2012.The fees hikes will mean there will be a huge difference in charges between English and Irish universities.As EU citizens British students are entitled to study here for the same fees as their Irish counterparts. That means that their annual charge, as things stand, will be a student contribution of €2,000.

The government of Bangladesh will form a national accreditation council, aimed at improving the standard of education in private universities, reports bdnews24.com. It also remains committed to establishing a public university in every district."It'll be a separate and independent council," Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told parliament in during a question-answer session last week. He said only nine of the 51 private universities in the country had their own campuses, and that universities that had failed to obtain temporary permission to operate "will have to fulfill the requirement by the summer semester this year. And they won't be able to admit new students after September, but are given five years to complete the existing sessions."

Postgraduate qualifications are supercharging salaries of men in the mining sector, who are commanding average salaries of $140,000 three years after entering the workforce, Graduate Careers Australia research shows. Men with postgraduate qualifications in management and commerce are earning average salaries of $118,000, according to the study that resurveyed graduates three years after leaving university.

Private higher education provider Navitas has signalled the worst is over in the collapse of overseas student numbers, with the business in recovery after a low point last October. Chief executive Rod Jones said student numbers had been on the increase since then, with feedback from agents in key markets, including China, suggesting this positive trend was being felt nationally across the international education sector."From about June last year we've seen a steady increase in terms of international students coming back," Mr Jones said.However, Navitas expected total student numbers this month could be 5-6 per cent down on March last year because of pipeline effects.A host of causes are responsible for the drop in overseas student numbers, including attacks on Indian students, currency and price movements, and policy changes weakening the link between education and migration.

A model for concentrating research areas at certain institutions, called hubs and spokes, could be applied to teaching as a way to sustain disciplines that may be affected by low enrolments once the student-driven demand system starts next year. The proposal, which has been informally floated by Universities Australia, could result in some niche disciplines being concentrated in only a few universities. This would allow students from other universities to study at these hubs while receiving full credit towards their home degree.The proposal comes in response to questions about how the government would preserve some disciplines and ensure skill shortages were met under the demand-driven system.

Seven Australian universities are in the world's top 50 for arts and humanities according to QS Rankings data released on June 2. The Australian National University came sixth in the world in modern languages, philosophy and geography and area studies, 10th in linguistics, 12th in history and 29th in the final category, English language and literature.The University of Sydney and University of Melbourne were in the top 20 in every category but geography and area studies. Melbourne and Sydney were the only institutions to top ANU in any subject, pushing it to third spot for English language and literature.The Australian results were extracted from the QS Rankings top100 tables.

More than 50% of school pupils receive private tuition in some EU countries, according to a new report published by the European Commission. The report, which is the first to look at the issue across the EU, shows that parents are spending several billion euros a year to supplement their children's education.

Taiwan's Cabinet approved a four-year NT$5.68 billion (US$196 million) plan on 26 May that will boost education sector competitiveness and promote the country as a hub of advanced learning in East Asia, writes Kwangyin Liu for Taiwan Today. "The scheme focuses on creating a friendlier environment for international students while marketing Taiwan's higher education credentials," Ministry of Education official Tony Lin said during a news conference in Taipei. "Taiwan aims to more than double its number of international students to 95,000 by 2014," Lin said. "We expect foreign nationals to make up 7.48% of the country's student population, a rate comparable with Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea."

By the end of December, every major campus of every university in South Africa will have top-class broadband connectivity to the South African National Research Network (Sanren), writes Farzana Rasool for IT Web.