On the Brink

News and views for those about to make the leap

RED BULL BASEMENT

A global initiative designed to challenge students’ innovation while promoting social change through tech- solutions, Red Bull Basement is a competition that gives resources to help develop ideas and implement tech solutions that will make a meaningful impact on campus and student life. Previous winners come from Austria and Canada – will the next champion wave a red, white and blue flag?

MORE NURSES

London South Bank University (LSBU) trains a quarter of London’s nurses, and come September 2021, LSBU will open a new campus in Croydon to expand further and give the next generation of nurses a state- of-the-art facility to hone their skills. Based at Electric House, the former site of the Home Office, the new site will also be used for business, accounting and finance.

COVID SCHOLARSHIP

Coventry University is launching the CU Career Enhance Scholarship for
300 people who will have to demonstrate that their careers have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and so need to retrain. As well as a small fee-remission, worth £500 a year, the recipients of the scholarship will receive technical and professional training, along with skills and knowledge taught at Coventry University. coventry. ac.uk

UNITING IN TECH

Leading European science and technology universities – including Technical University of Denmark, École Polytechnique, Eindhoven University of Technology and Technical University of Munich – are uniting to be EuroTech universities in a Euro Tech Universities Alliance. Looking at technology with a holistic approach, the alliance aims to start an international study programme with the goal of jointly shaping the engineering education of the future.

LEEDS’ FOOTBALL OFFERING

Leeds Beckett University has partnered with Premier League side Leeds United to offer students top-level coaching from Leeds United while studying for a degree. Further exciting plans in the pipeline include the development of a multi-disciplinary sports degree.

EXPANDING IN EGYPT

The University of East London (UEL) is supporting and assisting in the establishment, government and recruitment of academic teams for two new universities in Egypt – Al Alamein International and New Mansoura. The aim is to expand the capacity and quality of teaching in the area. UEL is also providing dual degrees in engineering, computer science, tourism, art and design.

THE COVID EFFECT

The education community database ToucanTech recently published its research findings into how much coronavirus really has affected school leavers. Sixty-seven per cent of schools thought key post-school options like university or employment had been unaffected, with only ten per cent suggesting there was a drop in the number of students affected. Additionally, it was only 20 per cent who said students had considered deferring university by taking a gap year.

ONLINE MSC

EDHES Business School has begun teaching a fully online MSc in international business management with eight universities and business schools – including Imperial College London – in the Future of Management Education (FOME). The inception of the course is a reaction to the struggle students are having world-wide, managing their education with the coronavirus restrictions.

STUDENT BUDGETING GUIDE

The website money. co.uk has created an all-inclusive budgeting guide for students before, during and after university. Giving a vast array of tips for students to handle money, the site leaves no stone unturned, offering advice on how to manage student loans, student bank accounts, discounts and perks, council tax and more.

LONDON’S CALLING

London has been named the best city for student living in the world, according to research by Fresh Student Living. Taking into account aspects such as student mix, employer activity and affordability, Tokyo comes in second and Melbourne third. Edinburgh is the next British city in 15th place globally, and Manchester third in 29th place globally.

BASKERVILLE

The University of Birmingham has been granted £4m by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop a computing system that will help researchers speed up scientific discoveries. Called Baskerville, after John Baskerville, the project is a collaboration between Birmingham University, The Rosalind Franklin Institute, The Alan Turing Institute and Diamond Light Source.