Magazine Profile p15
Comment p10-11
Charlotte Runcie p6
James Counsell, Union President, tells us about the Pokemon in his troubled past.
Avantika Chilkoti on the fallacy of work experience and why internships are a waste of time.
Our award winning columnists writes her first piece of the term. This week: her new filofaz...
FRIDAY 1ST OCTOBER 2010
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1947
Cuts in store for science
ISSUE NO 723 | VARSITY.CO.UK
DEVON LUKE BUCHANAN
OSAMA SIDDIQUI
Leading figures warn against effects of reduced funding on scientific research
COLLEGE
JANE ASHFORD-THOM
Scientific research in UK universities already suffers from low funding, and is in danger of being undermined by cuts, according to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. The Committee asked leading universities to provide evidence that a reduction in funding would undermine scientific research, in response to Universities and Science Minister David Willett’s assertion that proof of this was needed. The University of Cambridge was among the respondents. Lord Krebs, head of the Committee and Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, emphasised the threat of international competition in drawing academic research teams away from the UK in an open letter to Mr Willetts. He wrote that “there is a significant risk that a worsening differential in funding between the UK and other countries will damage the ability of UK universities to attract and retain high quality researchers. “As our competitors have recognised the importance of science to economic growth and have increased the proportion of funding for research, the competition for international talent will heighten.” This view was supported by the Academic Secretary of the
University of Cambridge, writing on behalf of the Vice Chancellor. The letter cites Neuroscience and Aeronautics as fields which have already suffered from ill funding and competition from North America and Germany. He wrote that universities already face the problem of “generally lower salary levels, the complexities of visa and immigration requirements, and (now) uncertainty about pensions and taxation. “We are in no doubt that uncertainties about future levels of funding will exacerbate an already difficult situation and risk inflicting serious damage to the science base, negating much of the value of investment from the public purse over the last decade.” He also highlighted an increased dependency on additional funding from organisations such as the MRC and the Royal Society, without whom “it would have been extremely difficult to have recruited to some key recent professorial appointments”. Other universities raised specific cases of individuals withdrawing applications for research grants based on the superior pay and facilities available abroad, and wrote that existing staff are being lured away by such offers. Sir Keith O’Nions, rector of Imperial College, London, noted that CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
UL opens borrowing to all undergrads
Two of the thousands of students arriving in Cambridge this weekend for the start of term. This year the University received 15,966 applications for just over 3,000 places.
The University Library (UL) is set to extend its borrowing policy to cover all students at the University. Beginning 1st October, all undergraduates will be able to borrow up to five books from the UL for a period of two weeks. Under the current policy, only third years and affiliated undergraduates are allowed to borrow books. The prospect of having even more students in competition for the UL’s limited resources has alarmed some. According to one postgraduate student, “It is already difficult to track down certain books. Now that potentially thousands of more students will have access, it will become even more difficult, not to mention more crowded.” These concerns may be minimised by the fact that the UL offers a recall service that allows users to request borrowed items, which are then made available to them within a week’s time. Other students have welcomed the change. According to a thirdyear historian, “Borrowing books in first and second year will enable students to develop a habit of going to the UL, which will prepare them well for third year, when they really need the UL for dissertations.” Anne Jarvis, the University Librarian, echoed this sentiment. “The University Library is pleased to extend borrowing to all Cambridge undergraduate students. We hope that they will benefit from gaining familiarity in the use of a great research library from early in their student life,” she said.
The psychology behind Twilight
College rankings revealed
Shock resignation of CUSU Officer
Graduate Tax Decoded
News Interview: Daniel Zeichner
The wildly-popular Twilight series, which has spawned a global following, finds its way inside the ivory tower, as academics and psychologists discuss the impact of the books on the teenage mind at a special conference ❯❯p4 in Cambridge.
Emma reclaims the top spot from Trinity, whilst Churhill jumps up to third place and Caius drops to eleventh. Varsity looks at the performance of all the Colleges in this year’s exam league table, which has been an annual Cambridge ❯❯p3 tradition since 1981.
CUSU Coordinator Chris Lillycrop has resigned from his position at CUSU, just weeks into the new post. Leaving the Student Union in the lurch at the busy start of a new academic year, he has taken up a graduate job at a secure solu❯❯p4 tions firm instead.
With the Browne Report due to be released this autumn, the future of British universities may be decided in the months ahead. Varsity previews the positions of the major players and helps to demystify what the Graduate Tax might mean ❯❯p5 for you.
Daniel Zeichner, former Labour candidate from Camridge and an organiser for Ed Miliband, talks about Labour’s counter to the Coalition, Ed Milliband’s rise to the top, and his own experiences at Cambridge in our ❯❯p6 News Interview.
The Essay p12 Emerging as a human being: Maria Nikolajeva
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