Rick Delbridge

The British university mess is so clearly what happens when the incentives of the people administering and consulting on the system bear no relation to those of anyone actually working in it

Guilty

More information on our latest and last CCR challenge lshubwales.com/news/innovat...

A critique of Cardiff University's plans. Redacted, revised and abridged.

Last time of promoting this - next week, we publish our alternative for Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd

ukania.substack.com/p/a-critique...

YouTube video by CCR Challenge Fund CCR Challenge Fund- impact to date

After four years, the current phase of the CCR Challenge Fund is coming to an end, but we are very proud of what we have achieved through our work during this time.

Watch the video to find out more about the impact of the CCR Challenge Fund:

big scoop from @georgewparker.bsky.social

“English university is set to be fined a record £585,000 over allegations it failed to uphold free speech and academic freedom, in a landmark ruling in the debate over student rights on campus”

Endoscopy Challenge, part 2 (Eng subs)

Find out from our case study video how IQ Endoscopes are working with @cavuhb.bsky.social and @cedarcardiff.bsky.social in the last phase of the Endoscopy Challenge

@zvhilton.bsky.social @clivelloydspex.bsky.social @cherj.bsky.social @cu-cardiffbusiness.bsky.social

This is a great example of the challenge-led innovation we have been supporting in collaboration with @ccrchallenge.bsky.social #innovation #mission

Missions in Action, 21 Feb- event highlights

Our recent #MissionsInAction event (21 Feb) featured case studies of real-life mission-led/challenge-based activity. Did you miss it? Find out more and watch all the presentations on our website:
www.challengefund.wales/news/mission...

Chart from The Economist showing which countries share greater trade with the US and China. In 2000 about 80% of countries shared greater trade with the US; by 2020 it was only around 27%

A lot can happen in 20 years

Important critique of how the ‘transformation process’ that is engulfing Cardiff University is being managed. We should debate the what but not the how of organizational change. The twin harms of reputational damage and to staff wellbeing must be minimised.

Sunday Supplement - Ukraine, Higher Education, a new electoral map, Covid remembrance, the Law Society at 200 - BBC Sounds Political news, discussions and analysis, plus a review of the Sunday papers.

I talk about why academics in Cardiff University are angry, why I’ve voted for a strike, and higher education policy more generally from about 15 minutes in.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

In 2004, defence accounted for > 30% of UK govt R&D spending; in 2022 it stood at 13%.
An important graph for appreciating the scale of changes to the UK’s science & innovation landscape that geopolitics is likely to dictate, as the “peace dividend” unwinds

Two Weeks In The Death Spiral Of Cardiff University - Reading Time: 4 minutesBy an anonymous academic. Cover image by Adwitiya Pal On the second day of classes…

Read this: it really captures the reality of mass redundancies in the university sector, which will only snowball from here.
voice.cymru/two-weeks-in...

Universities are: successful exports, magically avoiding trade barriers. The buyers come here and give you £! They are also spreaders of our values and way of life abroad. They are great ways of levelling up as a campus does not need to be in the South.

University applications drop leading to economy concerns Wales will be at an

The Welsh university system is in such dire straits. For a small, mostly rural country that needs economic growth, and is trying to build a sense of itself, that's a disaster. Yet the whole reaction (unlike steel) is like *shrugs shoulders, whatever*. I don't get it. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Great gesture

Here's the crazed madness of British Higher Education policy: there's a big demand to do Engineering, but unis can't afford to offer more places. Utterly maddening. Stupid, dumb as rocks country. 🇬🇧

Around 400,000 people work in universities across the UK, and more then 200,000 of them are academics.

The closures and job losses we’re seeing in the sector just now are a major industrial crises affecting the key workplaces and economic drivers of hundreds of towns and cities.

Hey industrial relations people (labo(u)r relations, unions etc.). This looks like a great network.

Call for major review of Welsh higher education Plaid Cymru call for a review of how universities are funded follows redundancy plan at Cardiff University.

Totally agree with this. If there isn't a major course correction there won't be much left of Welsh Higher Education by the end of the decade. It's in even worse shape than the HE 'system' in the rest of the UK. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Today's universities slashing and burning have been Brunel and Edinburgh. As the crisis deepens, there'll be multiple news like this most days. Remember: you can't cut your way to safety, it's impossible.

One underreported facet of the Great University Crisis is the contribution of a small number of consultancy firms who recommend:
*Centralise functions
*Cut small courses
*Reduce student options
*Abolish loads of joint awards
*Chop staff headcount
This is *exactly* what you must not do. (1/3)

@cssjournal.bsky.social Call for Papers on Re-emergence of #IndustrialStrategy edited by @dgbailey.bsky.social @gretegans.bsky.social @lisadepropris.bsky.social and @cgrisbath.bsky.social Co-Director @prt1969.bsky.social

Please share widely 👇

think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu...

Do you have a research paper on #coworkingspaces #thirdspaces?

See @cssjournal.bsky.social Call for Papers. Special Issue edited by @fmfai.bsky.social & Ilaria Mariotti 👇🏼

@clivelloydspex.bsky.social @dgbailey.bsky.social @stefaniafiorentino.bsky.social
@edwardyates.bsky.social

Very good advice here for all those university colleagues now facing redundancy. Do have a look also if you can feel the crisis getting nearer and nearer. 👇

The Guardian view on campus cuts: academics pay a high price for Westminster’s mistakes | Editorial Editorial: The government should not stand aloof as a crisis unfolds in our universities. A new settlement is needed

An entirely new financial settlement is needed in Higher Education - as many of us have been saying all along. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Interesting piece

Medical device business secures multimillion-pound funding from BGF and Development Bank of Wales - Insider Media A South Wales-based medical device business has secured multimillion-pound funding from BGF and Development Bank of Wales.

Congratulations to IQ Endoscopes for securing major new funding!

The company's work is also supported through our #EndoscopyChallenge with @cavuhb.bsky.social @cedarcardiff.bsky.social

@zvhilton.bsky.social @clivelloydspex.bsky.social @cherj.bsky.social @cu-cardiffbusiness.bsky.social