Higher Education and academic research

Senior humanities and social science academics come out in support of move to ‘take knowledge out of silos’

 

Sixty senior figures from the humanities and social sciences in France have published a statement in national newspaper Le Monde in support of open access.

The signatories, who include university presidents, librarians and journal editors, warn that if the humanities and social sciences were to opt out of wider moves towards open access they “would become isolated and ultimately extinct”. (...) - By Paul Jump, Times higher Education, 28 March 2013

 Work is in progress to give the humanities and social sciences a separate section in Horizon 2020, to be called ‘Europe in a Changing World’ and focusing on ‘secure societies’. The programme will have its own budget and be part of the sixth challenge in Horizon 2020. (...) - University World News, by

Jan Petter Myklebustn, 06 January 2013, Issue No:253

Part of PPG’s Impact of Social Sciences project focuses on how academic research in the social sciences influences decision-makers in business, government and civil society. Rebecca Mann talked to Dr Chris Loxley, a social scientist at Unilever, about how research can promote innovation in the private sector. (...) Blog LSE: "Impact of Social Science"

Recently, at a one-day colloquium on Open Access I learned why academic publishing is so expensive, and I was disappointed to discover that resistance to open access from scholarly societies is not linked to the costs of publishing, but to the cost of non-publishing activities. The UK is in the midst of a heated debate about Open Access, following the Finch Report and an incoming policy that will require all research funded by the taxpayer to be published open access. (...) - par Adam Crymble, Blog Impact of Social sciences, March 13, 2013

 

 

As part of a British Politics and Policy special feature John Holmwood reflects on the broader changes which higher unviersity fees will brought about, arguing that higher education has a enduring public value which is obscured within the contemporary debate but that the public university faces an existential threat.

 

The academic year has started with the entry of the first cohort of students under the new fee regime. Direct public funding of arts, humanities and social sciences degrees has ceased, with students charged fees of up to £9000, underpinned by a new student loans system. (...) - by John Holwood, LSE blog "impact of social Sciences", Nov 18 2012

Are confidence and real world knowledge the key to impacting on government? Mariell Juhlin, Puay Tang and Jordi Molas Gallart find that academics working with government benefit from an ‘expert’ effect as having an academic background enhances credibility when dealing with policy colleagues.

 

The good news for anyone with a PhD or studying for a PhD is that having a doctoral degree equips social scientists in Government with both greater confidence and ability to apply a whole range of methods and solutions to real world problems. In addition to this “expert” effect, having a PhD did also enhance the credibility of the holder in interactions with policy colleagues as well as with external academics. The fact that social scientists with a Masters or a PhD also had higher positions within the Civil Service (controlling for age, gender and years in service) suggests that higher qualifications, and the skills associated with these, are valued by Government employers. (...) Blog Impact of Social Sciences, Oct 12, 2012