News in Brief
The University's Chemistry department is due to receive over £60m in funding from the investment bank Beeson Gregory as part of a new partnership scheme. In return, the department will give up half of the equity of its spin-off companies for the next fifteen years. Previous spin-off companies, have enjoyed significant commercial success, such as Oxford Glycosciences which is now valued at £784m.
A study conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research has found that a staggering nine out of ten teachers believe that their students do not apply to Oxford because they believe they "would not feel comfortable." It was also found that over twenty thousand able pupils do not apply to university due to financial worries, preferring to earn money than continue education.
The government looks set to life the restrictions on the numbers of students Universities are allowed to admit. The proposal, which is part of the campaign to increase the level of young people in higher education to fifty percent within a decade, will probably be of most advantage to the elite Russell Group of universities. Despite the obvious prospects for growth that the change could offer, some academics fear that it will force weaker universities into co-operating or merging with other institutions in order to survive.
Oxford is battling it out with rivals Birmingham and Belfast to claim JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis respectively, as local heroes. The city has joined the fray in an attempt to become European Capital of Culture in 2008. There is the potential to follow Glasgow's example and increase tourist numbers and generate the equivalent of £19 million as in 1990. The DJ Norman "Fatboy Slim" Cook is backing Brighton's promise to adorn its most famous buildings with massive sculptures designed to represent body-piercings. Belfast's main claim to cultural fame remains the invention of the tractor and the pneumatic tyre, while Milton Keynes continues to revel in the title of "City of the Concrete Cow". Our Prime Minister, Tony Blair, will make the final decison.
10th Jan 2002