— UNIVERSITIES —

July 28, 2021

QS announces Best Student Cities Rankings 2022

Photo: Munich, Germany. Munich is one of the top QS Best Student Cities for 2022. Image Credit: Peter.

LONDON, July 28, 2021 — With the world’s students seeking to resume their international study plans, QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analysts, have released the ninth edition of the QS Best Student Cities Ranking.

The results, which enable students to compare 115 premier educational destinations, see London retain its status as the world’s best student city for the third consecutive edition. Munich follows London, rising from 4th to 2nd.

London’s ascendency is due to:

• Its high concentration of world-class universities getting the second-best score in the University Rankings indicator.

• Highly positive feedback from students studying in the city: it scores 98.4/100 for Student View, a result bettered only by Berlin.

• Outstanding career opportunities for graduates: it is placed 4th in the Employer Activity metric, scoring 92.9/100.

• Its high levels of openness to international students, which see it achieve the world’s fifth-best score (95.9/100) for Student Mix.

Other highlights from this year’s edition include:

• Boston is the only new entrant into the top ten, rising from 13th to joint-9th. It shares the position with perennial table-toppers Paris (down two spots) and Montreal (down three places).

• Germany and Australia are the only locations to have two of the world’s ten best student cities.

• The United States’ 15 ranked cities are suffering from a systemic decline in the Desirability indicator.

• Latin America’s number-one student destination is Buenos Aires (22nd, up by nine ranks).

• Switzerland’s Lausanne enjoys a noteworthy debut in the rankings by getting placed at 19th.

• Moscow and Beijing break into the top thirty, sharing 25th-position.

• Driven by declines in Employer Activity, five of Australia’s seven ranked cities have fallen.

• All three of Spain’s ranked cities suffer double-digit drops in rank.

Ben Sowter, QS Director of Research, said: “Responses to our surveys from students that have studied in London make it clear that the city still offers outstanding cultural, economic, and educational opportunities. With two of the world’s ten best universities situated in the city, it remains a world-leading educational hub. However, exponentially-increasing COVID cases and lingering Brexit effects may serve to undermine London’s privileged position.”

• QS Best Student Cities Ranking 2022

Rank — City

1. London — United Kingdom
2. Munich — Germany
3. Seoul — South Korea
4. Tokyo — Japan
5. Berlin — Germany
6. Melbourne — Australia
7. Zurich — Switzerland
8. Sydney — Australia
9. Boston — United States
10. Montreal — Canada
11. Paris — France
12. Edinburgh — United Kingdom
13. Toronto — Canada
14. Vienna — Austria
15. Hong Kong SAR — Hong Kong
16. New York — United States
17. Singapore — Singapore
18. Vancouver — Canada
19. Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe — Japan
20. Lausanne — Switzerland
21. Amsterdam — Netherlands
22. Buenos Aires — Argentina
23. Stockholm — Sweden
24. San Francisco — United States
25. Beijing — China (Mainland)
26. Moscow — Russia
27. Taipei — Taiwan
28. Glasgow — United Kingdom
29. Brisbane — Australia
30. Manchester — United Kingdom
31. Auckland — New Zealand
32. Kuala Lumpur — Malaysia
33. Los Angeles — United States
34. Barcelona — Spain
35. Adelaide — Australia
36. Perth — Australia
37. Canberra — Australia
38. Shanghai — China (Mainland)
39. Dublin — Ireland
40. Madrid — Spain
41. Chicago — United States
42. Coventry — United Kingdom
43. Newcastle Upon Tyne — United Kingdom
44. Leuven — Belgium
45. Prague — Czech Republic
46. Birmingham — United Kingdom
47. Milan — Italy
48. Lyon — France
49. Copenhagen — Denmark
50. Brussels — Belgium
51. Gothenburg — Sweden
52. Bristol — United Kingdom
53. Nottingham — United Kingdom
54. Ottawa — Canada
55. Leeds — United Kingdom
56. Atlanta — United States
57. Santiago — Chile
58. Budapest — Hungary
59. Sheffield — United Kingdom
60. Warsaw — Poland
61. Liverpool — United Kingdom
62. Lisbon — Portugal
63. Philadelphia — United States
64. Washington DC — United States
65. Dubai — United Arab Emirates
66. Helsinki — Finland
67. Aberdeen — United Kingdom
68. Mexico City — Mexico
69. Rome — Italy
70. Istanbul — Turkey
71. Graz — Austria
72. Hsinchu — Taiwan
73. St. Petersburg — Russia
74. Bangkok — Thailand
75. Pittsburgh — United States
76. Athens — Greece
77. Brno — Czech Republic
78. Daejeon — South Korea
79. San Diego — United States
80. Christchurch — New Zealand
81. Durham — United Kingdom
82. Sao Paulo — Brazil
83. Stuttgart — Germany
84. Cape Town — South Africa
85. Tomsk — Russia
86. Toulouse — France
87. Valencia — Spain
88. Brighton — United Kingdom
89. Gold Coast — Australia
90. Seattle — United States
91. Leicester — United Kingdom
92. Abu Dhabi — United Arab Emirates
93. Baltimore — United States
94. Johannesburg — South Africa
95. Nanjing — China (Mainland)
96. Riyadh — Saudi Arabia
97. Monterrey — Mexico
98. Ankara — Turkey
99. Bogota — Colombia
100. Houston — United States
101. Krakow — Poland
102. Kazan — Russia
103. Vilnius — Lithuania
104. Wuhan — China (Mainland)
105. Almaty — Kazakhstan
106. Mumbai — India
107. Miami — United States
108. Novosibirsk — Russia
109. Cairo — Egypt
110. Bangalore — India
111. Guangzhou — China
112. Nagoya — Japan
113. Manila — Philippines
114. Quebec — Canada
115. Lima — Peru

QS ranks cities with a population of more than 250,000, with at least two universities placed in the QS World University Rankings. The ranking offers a powerful lens into the sentiments of both prospective and former students, with over 95,000 survey responses contributing to the Desirability (prospective students) and Student View (former students) indexes.

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 11:18 AM | View the original post

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Chandigarh University in Punjab, India, kicks off Admissions to Undergraduate and Postgraduate Distance Programs for September 2021 Academic Session.

Photo: Faculty members of Chandigarh University Institute of Distance Learning (CU-IDO) launch the prospectus for Admissions 2021 September session at the university campus. Approved by UGC-DEB (University Grants Commission - Distance Education Bureau), CU-IDOL offers 5 Post-Graduate and 5 Under-Graduate programs that include MBA, MCA, M.Com., MA English, MA Psychology, BA, BCA, BBA, B.Com., and B.Sc. Travel & Tourism. Chandigarh University is a NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) A+ Grade autonomous educational institution located near Chandigarh in Punjab, India.

Source: Chandigarh University

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 10:12 AM | View the original post

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July 21, 2021

Universities should become thought leaders in finding solutions to global challenges, says Vice President of India

• Vice President of India addresses the World Universities’ Summit organized by OP Jindal University.

• Urges philanthropists and industrialists to help in the cause of education.

• Says virtual education is no substitute for classroom learning; we need to develop a hybrid teaching model for the future.

• Says teaching is not simply content delivery; it should prepare students to think independently and creatively.

• Calls for using technology to build a more equitable system of teaching and learning.

• Asks for using artificial intelligence and big data for personalized education of every child.

• Wants universities to become flag bearers of sustainability in every field.

• Praises the role of universities in research on Covid-19 vaccination and related subjects.

New Delhi, July 21, 2021 — The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu, today asked universities to become thought leaders in finding solutions to global challenges such as climate change, poverty, and pollution. He also wanted the universities to discuss various socio-economic and political issues facing the world and develop ideas that the governments can implement as per their needs and suitability.

Addressing the inaugural session of the World Universities Summit organized by O.P. Jindal University virtually, the Vice President said that universities should produce good academicians, economists, and politicians who have good conduct, capacity, character, and caliber.

Referring to the theme of the Summit, “Universities of the Future: Building Institutional Resilience, Social Responsibility, and Community Impact,” Mr. Naidu called for promoting multi-disciplinary approaches and emphasized the need for collaborative academic effort to create sustainable and scalable solutions to the challenges around us. He opined that sustainable development was the answer to many challenges today, and universities can play a significant role towards this end. “Universities need to embed sustainability as an underlying mission across all activities they pursue in various fields,” he said.

Stating that virtual education cannot substitute traditional classroom learning, the Vice President emphasized the need to develop a hybrid teaching model for the future by combining the best offline and online education elements. He said that such a model should be both interactive and exciting for the learner and the teacher to ensure optimum learning outcomes. Furthermore, Mr. Naidu stressed that teaching is not simply content delivery; instead, it should prepare students to learn independently and creatively. “Through pro-active critical thinking, learners should be molded into leaders in their chosen fields so that eventually they evolve into drivers of social change,” he added.

Mr. Naidu recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic had forced faster innovation in the discipline of education, which can help us build a more equitable system of teaching and learning. However, he also expressed the need to improve and upgrade the online academic ecosystem constantly.

Referring to the saying “no one is safe until everyone is safe,” he stated that crisis management on a global scale requires a many-pronged, multicultural, collective approach warranting the cooperation of all.

Mr. Naidu appreciated the role of universities in research on Covid-19 vaccination and related fields. He said that humanity owes much to thousands of faculty members, research scholars, and students who have spent countless days and nights working silently to bring out helpful research for the world’s benefit.

Calling for the internationalization of the curriculum, he wanted increased collaboration on research, joint classes, and student projects with the active involvement of the industry. He also wanted Indian varsities to sensitize the world to the richness of ancient Indian knowledge systems that seek to promote sustainable ways of production and consumption.

Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, and Prof. (Dr.) D. P. Singh, Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC), were among the dignitaries who attended the virtual event.

This Summit will witness 150+ Thought leaders from 6 continents and 25+ Countries. Institutional heads from over 100 universities will participate in the Summit. That includes 31 Vice-Chancellors, 28 Presidents & Rectors, 21 Provosts, Deputy/Associate/Executive Vice Chancellors & Vice/Associate Provosts, and 25 Deputy/Vice/Executive/ Presidents & Rectors.

Leading Universities and Colleges across Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong SAR, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America are participating in the Summit.

• The Summit will see senior leadership from multiple National, Regional, and International organizations. That includes:

• Professor (Dr.) Uttam Gaulee, President, Society for Transnational Academic Research (STAR) Network
• Mr. Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer, Times Higher Education (THE)
• Mr. Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)
• Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, President, Association of American Universities and Colleges
• Dr. George R. Boggs, President and CEO Emeritus, American Association of Community Colleges
• Dr. Nina Arnhold, Global Lead for Tertiary Education, World Bank.

• One will get an opportunity to hear from and even interact with renowned academics from leading universities, which include:

• Harvard University
• University College London
• The University of Oxford
• The University of Queensland
• The University of Southampton
• The University of Wollongong
• Macquarie University
• Universidade Estadual de Campinas
• The University of Sussex
• IE University
• Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
• Durham University
• Deakin University
• Universiti Tenaga Nasional
• The University of New South Wales
• The University of Manchester
• Victoria University of Wellington
• Chulalongkorn University
• The University of Delhi
• Zhejiang University
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences
• King’s College London
• The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
• Yonsei University
• National Taiwan University
• Singapore Management University
• Monash University
• Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
• The University of Pretoria
• University of The Witwatersrand
• Ashoka University.

• The participants will discuss over 30 themes across the sessions to cover a wide range of topics that include:

• “Virtualizing Mobility: Innovations for Internationalisation of Higher Education”
• “Minding the Gap: Rethinking Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment amid the Covid-19 Disruption”
• “On a Road to Equity: University Support System to Promote Diversity & Inclusion in Higher Education”
• “Being Glocal: University as a Site of Local Innovation and Meaningful Community Engagement”
• “The Power of Youth: Harnessing the Strength of Students for Institution Building and Community Impact”
• “Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Universities Promoting Equality and Nurturing Future Women Leaders”

Sources: Vice President’s Secretariat, O.P. Jindal Global University.

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 12:14 PM | View the original post

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July 19, 2021

University Grants Commission (India) issues Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for Higher Education Institutions.

University Grants Commission (India) has issued Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for Higher Education Institutions. The new academic session in universities and colleges across the country will begin on October 1. The admission process has to be completed by September 30.

Photo: University Grants Commission (India) issues Guidelines on Examinations and Academic Calendar for Higher Education Institutions.

Source: University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 11:26 AM | View the original post

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Chandigarh University's International Academic Alliance program is helping Indian students in studying abroad.

• Chandigarh University offers global programs in association with universities from the USA, Australia, UK, and Canada.

Photo: Officials from the University of Maryland, USA, and Chandigarh University exchanging the Academic MoU documents under the International Academic Alliance Program.

CHANDIGARH, India, July 19, 2021 — Indian students find it challenging to travel abroad due to the prevalent travel restrictions imposed by countries because of the pandemic. According to an estimate, more than 7.5 lakh students from India travel abroad every year to pursue their dream to study at International Universities. However, it saw a 30% percent decline during 2020. Chandigarh University offers an alternate plan to realize the dream of studying abroad for Indian students under its International Academic Alliance program. With tie-ups with more than 309 Universities in 60+ countries, CU is offering various programs, including semesters abroad, student exchange, summer internships, and joint research initiatives. Chandigarh University is also offering International Articulation Programs in Engineering, BBA, Fine Arts, Commerce, Hospitality Management and MBA.

“More than 1200 students have benefited from the International Academic Alliance program at Chandigarh University. They have traveled abroad to countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Italy, and Germany to fulfill their dreams of pursuing higher education from foreign universities,” said the university Pro-Chancellor. Foreign institutions are offering 1+1 Masters and 1+2, 2+2 Under-Graduate programs for Indian students. Participating institutions include Vancouver Island University Canada, University of North Alabama USA, New York Film Academy, Arkansans State University, University of Canberra, University of New Castle, Curtain University, and Wollongong, Australia,” he added.

The Pro-Chancellor further said that “Indian students seeking admissions under the International Articulation Programs are in a win-win situation as they complete their initial 1 or 2 years of study at Chandigarh University. It saves money as they have to pay fees according to the local fee structure. They can then shift to their respective foreign universities to complete their degrees. It is a safe way to fulfill your dreams to study abroad as the success rate of getting visas under the International Articulation Program is 100%. In addition, the students are also eligible for benefits like work permit, stay till completion of the degree, and application for PR.”

“The students need not wait to ease travel restrictions as the initial 1 or 2 years of academic learning will be done in India. By then, things would be normal, and hence the students will save at least one academic year under the Chandigarh University International Articulation Program. In addition, the students are also eligible for government and university scholarships and fellowships. To date, CU has extended a benefit of Rs. 28 crores in the form of scholarships to students traveling abroad,” said Meenu Bhardwaj, Department of International Affairs, Chandigarh University.

Satnam Sandhu, Chancellor, Chandigarh University, said, “Chandigarh University has always worked to match the aspirations of today’s youth. Students and their parents aspire to undergo world-class education, enhancing career options at the global level. With this aim, we have started this International Academic Alliance Program where students get a platform to choose the country, university & course from the wide variety of international options. It can turn the dream of studying abroad into a reality.”

Chandigarh University is an autonomous educational institution located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab, in India. It offers more than 109 undergraduate and postgraduate programs in engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, and commerce.

Source: Chandigarh University

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 10:25 AM | View the original post

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July 16, 2021

MSc program in Global Luxury and Management (GLAM): SKEMA and NYU School of Professional Studies sign agreement to allow enrolled students to study in NYC

Photo: NYU School of Professional Studies. Image Credit: SKEMA.

PARIS, July 15, 2021 — SKEMA Business School has announced a new agreement with the New York University School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS) Division of Programs in Business (DPB).

SKEMA Business School is one of the top French business schools devoted to higher education and research.

This agreement will establish the creation and launch, in New York City, of a customized course that will serve to complement the courses offered by SKEMA’s Global Luxury and Management (GLAM) program—an MSc accredited by the French Conférence des Grandes Ecoles. The program, which is open to students holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, affords a one-year and a two-year track, with a limited cohort of 50 students. Under the agreement, NYU SPS will also offer four courses on ‘Luxury Business Ethics.’

Students will spend their first semester in the United States on SKEMA’s American campus (Raleigh, NC) and the NYU SPS campus. They will continue their second semester on the new ‘Grand Paris Campus’ (France) Flagship, which opened in early 2021.

• Living present luxury and thinking its future

In addition to the courses given at NYU SPS, the program includes a study tour of New York City, including visits to significant luxury companies such as Tiffany & Co.

According to Anthony Ledru, President & CEO of Tiffany & Co, a 1995 SKEMA alumnus and member of the GLAM program board: ‘The United States is one of the leading luxury markets. To be able to understand it from inside with its actors on the field is an undeniable added value for a young graduate who ambitions to start a career in this sector.’

In addition, the GLAM MSc allows students to understand the diversified world of luxury - Paris, New York, Champagne, Cannes, or Monaco - through various sectors: fashion, hotels, travel, automotive, yachting, services… The program also addresses the new challenges of luxury - Corporate Social Responsibility & sustainability, digitalization, and client-centric processes - and ends with completing a master thesis and an internship of at least four months.

According to Patrice Houdayer, Vice-Dean in charge of the international programs and student life: ‘The development of strategic agreements is one of our SKY25 strategic plan (SKEMA Years 2020-2025). The choice of NYU SPS, already recognized for its expertise in the luxury sector, illustrates this perfectly and allows our students to access one of the best universities in the field.’

Source: SKEMA Business School

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 12:20 PM | View the original post

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July 13, 2021

Harvard Tops FORTUNE's 2021 Best MBA Programs Ranking

NEW YORK, July 13, 2021 — Today, FORTUNE Education published its first-ever Best MBA Programs ranking, with Harvard University taking top honors, followed by Stanford University and The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. The Howard University School of Business (No. 30) was named the nation’s most underrated full-time MBA program by FORTUNE’s editors.

FORTUNE produced a ranking that gets back to the core of why professionals decide to pursue MBAs: To position their careers better and significantly improve lifetime earnings. The payoff of an MBA continues to increase, and FORTUNE’s research finds an extraordinary rise in starting salaries for MBAs.

FORTUNE Education Editorial Director Lance Lambert says, “Employers still want MBA grads, and they’re willing to pony up for them. But not all programs are equal. That’s why in this fast-changing digital world, FORTUNE set out to find the top business schools. We looked for programs that not only see their graduates head into good jobs right out of the gate but also have a track record of placing alumni into the highest echelons of Corporate America.”

FORTUNE invited around 100 traditional full-time MBA programs to participate in the 2021 ranking. In all, 69 programs completed the questionnaire. That information, along with data collected from companies and executives, was used as the core of the ranking. A FORTUNE 1000 Score, based on the number of alumni C-Level employees at FORTUNE 1000 companies, accounts for 10% of each school’s score. Based on alumni starting salary and placement rates, an Outcomes Score accounts for 65%. Finally, based on Ipsos survey results of business professionals’ opinions of the schools, a Brand Score accounts for 25%.

• FORTUNE’s Top 10 MBA Programs of 2021

• Complete Ranking

1. Harvard University - Boston, MA
2. Stanford University - Stanford, CA
3. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) - Philadelphia, PA
4. University of Chicago (Booth) - Chicago, IL
5. Northwestern University (Kellogg) - Evanston, IL
6. Columbia University - New York, NY
7. New York University (Stern) - New York, NY
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) - Cambridge, MA
9. Yale University - New Haven, CT
10. Dartmouth College (Tuck) - Hanover, NH
11. Duke University (Fuqua) - Durham, NC
12. Cornell University (Johnson) - Ithaca, NY
13. University of California-Berkeley (Haas) - Berkeley, CA
14. University of Virginia (Darden) - Charlottesville, VA
15. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) - Pittsburgh, PA
16. University of Texas-Austin (McCombs) - Austin, TX
17. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) - Chapel Hill, NC
18. University of Washington (Foster) - Seattle, WA
19. Georgetown University (McDonough) - Washington, DC
20. Vanderbilt University (Owen) - Nashville, TN
21. Indiana University (Kelley) - Bloomington, IN
22. Rice University (Jones) - Houston, TX
23. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Carlson) - Minneapolis, MN
24. Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller) - Atlanta, GA
25. Texas A&M University-College Station (Mays) - College Station, TX
26. University of Maryland-College Park (Smith) - College Park, MD
27. University of California-Davis - Davis, CA
28. University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) - Notre Dame, IN
29. University of Florida (Warrington) - Gainesville, FL
30. Howard University - Washington, DC
31. Michigan State University (Broad) - East Lansing, MI
32. University of Georgia (Terry) - Athens, GA
33. Brigham Young University (Marriott) - Provo, UT
34. Boston University (Questrom) - Boston, MA
35. Southern Methodist University (Cox) - Dallas, TX
36. University of Texas-Dallas - Richardson, TX
37. Rutgers University-Newark and New Brunswick - Newark, NJ
38. Fordham University (Gabelli) - New York, NY
39. University of Pittsburgh (Katz) - Pittsburgh, PA
40. George Washington University - Washington, DC
41. University of Tennessee-Knoxville (Haslam) - Knoxville, TN
42. Texas Christian University (Neeley) - Fort Worth, TX
43. University of California-Irvine (Merage) - Irvine, CA
44. Purdue University-West Lafayette (Krannert) - West Lafayette, IN
45. Babson College (Olin) - Babson Park, MA
46. University of Massachusetts-Amherst (Isenberg) - Amherst, MA
47. William & Mary - Williamsburg, VA
48. Pepperdine University (Graziadio) - Malibu, CA
49. University of Denver (Daniels) - Denver, CO
50. University of San Diego - San Diego, CA
51. University of Arizona (Eller) - Tucson, AZ
52. West Texas A&M University - Canyon, TX
53. University of Houston (Bauer) - Houston, TX
54. American University (Kogod) - Washington, DC
55. University of Oklahoma (Price) - Norman, OK
56. Tulane University (Freeman) - New Orleans, LA
57. Clarkson University (Reh) - Potsdam, NY
58. University of Alabama (Manderson) - Tuscaloosa, AL
59. University of Oregon (Lundquist) - Eugene, OR
60. Auburn University (Harbert) - Auburn, AL
61. University of Cincinnati (Lindner) - Cincinnati, OH
62. Hofstra University (Zarb) - Hempstead, NY
63. Texas Tech University (Rawls) - Lubbock, TX
64. Louisiana Tech University - Ruston, LA
65. Syracuse University (Whitman) - Syracuse, NY
66. Appalachian State University (Walker) - Boone, NC
67. Case Western Reserve University (Weatherhead) - Cleveland, OH
68. Morgan State University (Graves) - Baltimore, MD
69. Lindenwood University - Saint Charles, MO

Curated by a team of expert journalists, FORTUNE Education is a destination for articles, insights, and ongoing reporting about what prospective students should know to make the best, most impactful decisions for their careers. FORTUNE Education also produces rankings and ratings of graduate, post-graduate, executive education, and personal and professional improvement programs, informed by FORTUNE’s unique understanding of which skills matter to businesses today.

FORTUNE says it drives the conversation about business — “With a global perspective, the guiding wisdom of history, and an unflinching eye to the future, we report and reveal the stories that matter today-and that will matter even more tomorrow.” It adds, “With the trusted power to convene and challenge those who are shaping the industry, commerce, and society around the world, FORTUNE lights the path for global leaders and gives them the tools to make business better.”

Source: FORTUNE Media

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 12:09 PM | View the original post

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July 11, 2021

Union Cabinet of India approves the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), United Kingdom (UK).

Photos: The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, at a cabinet meeting, at the Prime Minister’s Office, in South Block, New Delhi, on May 31, 2019. [File Photos]

New Delhi, July 10, 2021 — The Union Cabinet of India, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), United Kingdom (UK).

The Union Cabinet is the supreme decision-making body in India. Only the prime minister and ministers of the rank of cabinet minister are members of the Union Cabinet.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered into by the two institutes would provide advanced mutual entry to the Institutes’ Members through exemptions from appearing in most papers for acquiring the Qualification of the other Professional Body. In addition, the institutes would undertake joint research and professional development activities.

The MoU focuses on exchanging knowledge and discussing research and publications. Such interaction would strengthen good governance in both jurisdictions. In addition, both parties will initiate a joint study relevant to the Cost Accountancy profession, involving collaborative research in technical areas.

The MoU will facilitate the movement of professionals in both jurisdictions and enhance the employability of Cost Accountants in India and abroad. Further, it would provide a pathway to enable members of one Institute to seek full membership status of other Institute by successfully passing the minimum number of subjects of professional level.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India was first established in 1944 as a registered company under the Companies Act to promote, regulate, and develop the profession of cost accountancy.

On May 28, 1959, a particular act of Parliament, namely, the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959, established the Institute as a statutory professional body to regulate the profession of cost and works accountancy.

The Institute is the only recognized statutory professional organization and licensing body in India specializing exclusively in cost and works accountancy.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), founded in 1904 and incorporated by the Royal Charter in 1947 under the laws of England and Wales, is the global body for professional accountants. It has more than 2,27,000 fully qualified members and 5,44,000 future members worldwide. ACCA’s headquarters are in London. ACCA works through a network of over 104 offices and centers in 52 countries.

Source: The Cabinet Secretariat, New Delhi

|GlobalGiants.Com|

— The editor is an alumnus of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. He was a delegate to the 18th All India Cost Conference, New Delhi, inaugurated by the President of India.

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 7:37 AM | View the original post

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June 18, 2021

Rating Agency QS I-Gauge hosts Redefining Institutional Strategy for Excellence (RISE) Conference Punjab Edition in India.

• The City of Mohali has emerged as the education hub of North India, says Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Punjab.

• Punjab has emerged on the International Map as a destination for International Students for undergoing their Higher Education, says Dr. Ashwin Fernandes, CEO QS I-Gauge.

CHANDIGARH, India, June 18, 2021 — The emergence of world-class Higher Education institutions like Chandigarh University and Chitkara University has made Mohali the education hub of North India, Tejveer Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Punjab, said. He was speaking during the inaugural session of the QS I-Gauge Virtual RISE Conference, Punjab Edition. It is the first state-level conference organized by QS I-Gauge in association with Chandigarh University and Chitkara University on the theme “Redefining Institutional Strategy for Excellence” (RISE-2021).

The virtual conference involved education leaders and renowned academicians from all over Punjab, India. International speakers were from 3 countries — Germany, U.K, and Australia. Prominent discussants included Dr. Ashwin Fernandes, CEO, QS I-Gauge; Satnam Singh Sandhu Chancellor, Chandigarh University; Dr. Heike Schinnenburg, University of Applied Sciences, Osnabrück, Germany; Prof Paul Stapley, University of Wollongong, Australia; Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi, President, EPSI; Prof. Rajeev Ahuja, Director IIT Ropar; and Dr. Madhu Chitkara, Pro-Chancellor, Chitkara University.

Delivering the inaugural address, Tejveer Singh, Secretary to Chief Minister Punjab, said, “In India, we still have a long way to go as far as improving access to higher education is concerned. While the gross enrolment ratio for higher education in India is 27.1 percent, Punjab has a better GER of 30 percent. The National Education Policy announced by the Government of India provides a road map for steps to improve the current situation.” Tejveer Singh added, “We need to focus on the ability to attract quality faculty, create a liberal campus environment where young minds bloom, and concentrate on content & pedagogy.”

Giving the keynote address, Dr. Ashwin Fernandes, CEO, QS I-Gauge, said, “Punjab has emerged as the next education hub of India, which currently accounts for ten lakh students pursuing Higher Education. Moreover, Punjab has also appeared on the International map as it has successfully attracted a reasonable number of international students from more than 50 countries, which are currently 4500 in number.”

Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor, Chandigarh University, said, “With an emphasis on meeting the aspirations of today’s youth, the higher education institutions of Punjab have been able to attract quality students from all over the world to choose Punjab as their preferred destination for education. Ranking and rating agency QS I-Gauge has helped the institutions to understand the framework of global ranking parameters which are necessary to implement for upgrading the level of education imparted.”

Dr. Madhu Chitkara, Pro-Chancellor, Chitkara University, said, “RISE Conference is a positive initiative considering the demand for strategic transformation of the institutions. The education sector has emerged as a beacon of hope. The pandemic has allowed us to learn, re-learn, evolve ourselves, and redefine the new education paradigm for the generation to come and follow. This pandemic enables us to redefine our strategy for new possibilities.”

Sources: Chandigarh University, Chitkara University

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 1:02 PM | View the original post

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June 9, 2021

QS ranks MIT the World's No. 1 University for 2021-22

• QS announces World University Rankings 2022.

• MIT celebrates a decade as the world’s best university.

Photo: Stata Center, MIT campus, Cambridge, MA. Image credit: Nicole Cho.

Photo: Stanford University. Knight Management Center (Stanford Graduate School of Business, Palo Alto, California). Image Credit: Corey Seeman.

LONDON, June 8, 2021 — QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analysts, have released the eighteenth edition of the QS World University Rankings. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) celebrates an unprecedented, unbroken decade as the world’s best university.

L. Rafael Reif, President of MIT, said: “We deeply appreciate the recognition of our institution and the faculty, staff, alumni, and students that make MIT what it is - and we also tremendously admire the achievements of academic institutions around the globe. The world benefits from a strong higher education network that delivers countless benefits for humanity, from fundamental discoveries to novel solutions to pressing challenges in climate and health to the education of the next generation of talent. We are proud and grateful to belong to this great human community of scholars, researchers, and educators, striving together to make a better world.”

• The top five universities experience their most significant reconfiguration for half a decade: Harvard University (5th) falls out of the top three - its lowest-ever rank - to be replaced by the University of Oxford (2nd, up from 5th) and the University of Cambridge (joint-3rd, shared with Stanford University).

• Caltech (6th) drops out of the top five for the first time since 2015.

• ETH Zurich remains continental Europe’s best university for a fourteenth consecutive year.

• In a significant milestone, Mainland China is home to two of the world’s top twenty universities for the first time.

• Asia’s two top universities are the National University of Singapore (11th) and Nanyang Technological University (12th).

• Australia’s four top universities rise, with Australian National University re-entering the top 30.

• The progress of Malaysia and Russia slows after years of improvement, but both are home to one of the world’s top 100 universities each.

• 48% of Japan’s universities decline.

• Latin America’s best university is Universidad de Buenos Aires (69th). Hampered by low research impact scores, more of the continent’s universities have fallen.

• Saudi Arabia’s top university - King Abdulaziz University, 109th - reaches a record high.

• QS World University Rankings 2022: Global Top 60

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, United States
2. The University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
3. Stanford University, Stanford, United States
4. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
5. Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
6. California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, United States
7. Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
8. ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Switzerland
9. UCL, London, United Kingdom
10. University of Chicago, Chicago, United States
11. National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, Singapore
12. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU), Singapore, Singapore
13. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, United States
14. EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
15. Yale University, New Haven, United States
16. The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
17. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (Mainland)
18. Peking University, Beijing, China (Mainland)
19. Columbia University, New York City, United States
20. Princeton University, Princeton, United States
21. Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
22. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
23. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
24. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States
25. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States
26. The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
27. McGill University, Montreal, Canada
28. The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
29. The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
30. Northwestern University, Evanston, United States
31. Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Mainland)
32. The University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, United States
33. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
34. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
35. King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
36. Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
37. The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
38. The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
39. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
40. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, United States
41. KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
42. New York University (NYU), New York City, United States
43. The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia
44. Université PSL, France
45. Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (Mainland)
46. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
47. The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
48. The University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, United States
49. Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Palaiseau Cedex, France
50. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
51. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London, United Kingdom
52. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China (Mainland)
53. The Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
54. Duke University, Durham, United States
55. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, United States
56. City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR5
57. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
58. Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Tokyo, Japan
59. Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
60. Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
61. Brown University, Providence, United States

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds

|GlobalGiants.Com|

— The editor holds a certificate in Design Thinking for Leading and Learning from the MIT Teaching Systems Lab.

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 7:41 AM | View the original post

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June 5, 2021

World's leading film school, New York Film Academy, inks MoU with Chandigarh University.

• Due to the increase in Digital Entertainment, Content has become a commodity today, says Prof. Michael Young, President of New York Film Academy.

Photo: Learning Cinematography. New York, NY. Image Credit: Gwenael Piaser.

CHANDIGARH, India, June 5, 2021 — World’s leading and distinguished film school, New York Film Academy (NYFA), today signed an academic MoU with Chandigarh University. As a part of the agreement, Indian students can now pursue globally recognized Under-Graduate 3 years degree in Film Making from New York Film Academy by studying the first year of the program at Chandigarh University while studying the remaining two years at the New York Academy, USA.

The official MoU signing ceremony took place virtually today, where Mr. David Klein, Senior Executive, New York Film Academy, and the Pro-Chancellor, Chandigarh University, and other university officials exchanged the Memorandum of Understanding.

“NYFA is known for imparting hands-on practical learning to the students where they learn every minute aspect of film making. The students will undergo thousands of hours working and creating their content and projects under the guidance of renowned filmmakers, technicians, and experts from Hollywood,” said Prof. Michael Young, President of New York Film Academy. “We introduce the students to various career options in Filmmaking such as Direction, Script Writing, Sound Engineering, Visual Effects, Animation, Camera Handling, Lights and Camera Set-up. They are required to work as a team on small projects,” Prof. Young added.

Prof. Michael Young further said, “Eminent Hollywood directors like Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Mira Nair, Doung Liman are some of the prominent guest faculty that the students who are joining the program would be interacting. The students would have the chance to work with them during their academic learning.” Professor Young explained that the students would learn and work on the latest technology and tools in the International film industry to become experienced and ready when they move out of university and start their careers. He further said, “With digital platforms such as OTT, Social Media taking the lead, the content has become a commodity, and the students have to understand the art of developing quality content which is recognized and appreciated by the global audience.”

The Pro-Chancellor, Chandigarh University, said, “This year, most Indian students might not be able to travel abroad to study due to the prevalent COVID-19 pandemic situation. We at Chandigarh University offer a unique opportunity to the students in India through our International Articulation programs. The students get the global academic learning experience by studying for one or two years in India and then moving to respective Universities in the USA, Australia, and the UK to complete their degree programs. By then the situation will improve for traveling. The other important aspects of the International Articulation Programs are that the students save precious academic years and education costs. During the initial years of the academic program, the student would pay fees per Indian fee structure and also in Indian Currency which saves at least 33% cost incurred in comparison if you pursue the full degree abroad.”

Source: Chandigarh Educational Trust

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 2:10 PM | View the original post

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June 3, 2021

India's Union Cabinet approves the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAl) with Foreign Professional Accountancy Bodies/Organisations.

Photos: Covers of two recent issues of “The Management Accountant,” the monthly journal of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

New Delhi — The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has granted ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAl) with various Foreign Countries/Organisations.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAl) has signed MoUs with several foreign organizations, such as the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), Australia, Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, UK (CISI), Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA), UK, and the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka.

The various memoranda seek to facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications and a range of collaborative activities for exchanging knowledge, experience sharing, and technical cooperation through participation in annual conferences/training programs/workshops, seminars, and joint research projects relevant to their jurisdiction.

• Impact:

The signed MoUs would help advance equity, public accountability, and innovation among the beneficiaries countries.

• Background:

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAl) was established by a Special Act of Parliament, namely, the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959, as a statutory professional body for regulating the profession of Cost Accountancy. The Institute is the only recognized statutory professional organization and licensing body in India specializing exclusively in Cost Accountancy. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, governs the Institute.

The Institute is the 2nd most significant Cost & Management Accounting Body in the World and the largest in Asia, having qualified CMAs either in practice or in employment all over the globe. The Institute is a founder member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA), and the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA).

Sources: The Union Cabinet Secretariat, ICAI

|GlobalGiants.Com|

— The editor is an alumnus of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. He was a delegate to the 18th All India Cost Conference, New Delhi, organized by the Institute and inaugurated by the President of India.

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 2:01 AM | View the original post

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May 31, 2021

Chandigarh University introduces Industry-driven Futuristic Programs in Emerging Fields of Blockchain Technology, Electric Vehicles, Digital Marketing, and Data Sciences for the Academic Session 2021-22.

• Pandemic has resulted in a paradigm shift in new talent hunt by the multinationals; They are looking for professionals with specialized skill-set in emerging technologies.

Photo: A building at the campus of Chandigarh University at Mohali, Punjab, India.

CHANDIGARH, India, May 28, 2021 — While multinational companies have adopted or shifted to new technologies due to change in the working environment during the pandemic, universities and institutions have started redesigning their academic syllabuses to make their students industry-ready professionals. Chandigarh University has taken the lead in this field by introducing 20 new Industry-driven futuristic educational programs, which it would offer from the academic session 2021-22. The newly introduced programs are in the areas of Engineering, Management, Sciences, Para-Medical, Humanities, and Computer Applications.

While giving details about the newly introduced programs, the Registrar, Chandigarh University, said, “Out of the 20 new programs, 10 are Under-Graduate programs, and 10 are Post-Graduate programs. In the Engineering area, we are introducing the Bachelor of Engineering program in Computer Science Engineering with the specialization in the emerging field of Blockchain Technology and Development & Operations (DevOps). In contrast, we are introducing Master’s Programs in the areas of Civil Engineering and Electrical Engineering with the specializations in the emerging fields of Health Safety & Environment Engineering and Electrical Vehicles respectively.” Both Blockchain and DevOps are emerging technologies in the IT sector. They are widely used to develop IT solutions used by Finance & Banking, Healthcare, Energy, Insurance, Supply Chain, Travel, and Real Estate sectors. New technologies are estimated to create more than 97 million jobs by 2025.

“In the field of management, CU has introduced BBA programs in Business Analytics and Digital Marketing. Both are emerging fields and offer lucrative job options in the industry. We have also introduced an MBA program in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, which is a fast-growing industry due to thriving e-commerce,” added the Registrar. Other courses in the field of IT introduced from this year include M.Sc. Data Sciences, BCA with specialization in Augmented Reality & Virtual Release, and MCA programs, specializing in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, and Cloud Computing & Development Operations.

The Registrar of the University further stated that “Government of India has taken the initiative known as INSPIRE to encourage the students to take up Science & Technology as their career choice. Being a partner of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for INSPIRE program, Chandigarh University has introduced nine programs in the field of Basic and Applied Sciences.” The newly launched programs include B.Sc. Microbiology, B.Sc. (Hons) Maths, B.Sc. Forensic Sciences, M.Sc. Bioinformatics, M.Pharma in Industrial Pharmacy, M.Sc. Industrial Chemistry and M.Sc. Nutrition & Dietetics.

“Chandigarh University has been a pioneer in offering job-oriented programs which meet the industry requirements. The industry dynamics are changing fast, and jobs with new skill-set are replacing the existing job profiles. Both students and academia have to upgrade their knowledge about the changing workforce environment in the industry and plan their future course of action accordingly,” said the Chancellor of Chandigarh University.

Chandigarh University (CU) is a private educational institution in the Punjab State with its campus near Chandigarh, a city in India, about 250 kilometers north of Delhi and 200 kilometers southeast of Amritsar. CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and other disciplines.

Source: Chandigarh University

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:33 AM | View the original post

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May 20, 2021

United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) asks Companies Worldwide to Tackle Road Safety Crisis.

Photo: Participants at a UNITAR International Training Program in Geneva. Image Credit: UNITAR.

Photo: Traffic Lights. Image Credit: Víctor Villamarín.

NEW YORK, May 19, 2021 — The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) collaborates with Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) in a joint effort to curb road traffic fatalities in recognition of the United Nations Road Safety Week (May 17-23, 2021).

UNITAR has asked companies and public entities worldwide to download and implement its “Management Practices for Safer Roads Toolkit.” The Toolkit provides government officials, road engineers, and urban planners with a proven methodology and evidence-based solutions to address road safety issues in their communities.

The Toolkit is accessible via desktop on UNITAR’s website or as a Learning App in the Play Store and App Store for Android and iOS devices. UNITAR is also providing dedicated training workshops to assist governments in utilizing the Toolkit and designing their action plans to support road safety.

The Toolkit and its app provide practical solutions to improve existing road infrastructure to benefit all road users. Among its features, the app provides a checklist to support users in monitoring their Road Safety management progress throughout the different stages of the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” Toolkit’s methodology. This week, the partnership hosted a virtual workshop with public officials in South Africa to exhibit how to best apply the Toolkit to existing faults in the country’s roads.

“We hope that this Toolkit and Learning App serve as a substantive contribution to advance our shared goal of making cities safe, resilient, and sustainable,” said Dr. Deisi Kuztra, member of the Board of Trustees for UNITAR. “The Agenda 2030 reminds us of the urgency to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, thus improving road safety with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, including women, children, persons with disabilities, and older persons,” she emphasized.

For Road Safety Week 2021, celebrated on May 17-23, the United Nations has called on policymakers globally to take action in favor of low-speed streets worldwide, limiting speeds to 30 km/h (20mph) in residential areas. The knowledge and materials available in the Toolkit provide governments with a clear framework for practical speed limitations and black spot management, among others.

“As part of our tremendous efforts to expand the accessibility of this Toolkit, we have now made it available in 6 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Portuguese, and most recently in Italian. We hope it will greatly benefit the organizations and governments working to make a positive impact toward improving road safety,” said Catalina Garcia, Global Director of Corporate Affairs at AB InBev. “The app’s methodology has been continuously tested and improved upon through several local projects in countries like Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, India, Mexico, and South Africa. We are certain that its adoption will continue to lead to positive results and save more lives, and especially now that it’s readily available on any mobile device.”

Road traffic-related deaths and injuries have unparalleled health and socioeconomic implications for society, particularly in areas with high death and injury rates. According to the latest report by the World Health Organization (WHO), about 1.35 million people die on the world’s roads every year, and up to 50 million more are left injured or disabled, a majority of whom are young breadwinners between the ages of 15 and 29. Because of this, the United Nations has set the ambitious goal of reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by 50 percent by the year 2030 as part of its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UNITAR and AB InBev’s new app draws from AB InBev’s methodology, collecting data on the number and location of deaths by road user type. It relies on management routines, identifying hazardous and critical road locations where excessive numbers or severity of crashes occur, outlining corrective measures, and implementing and monitoring the appropriate interventions.

The “Management Practices for Safer Roads” mobile app in English is available for free from the App Store for iOS users and the Play Store for all Android devices.

The alliance between UNITAR and AB InBev, through the Partnership for Action on Road Safety, seeks to educate and inform on the importance of road safety. It also facilitates the exchange of experiences and best practices resulting in a long-term collaboration within different factors in society to generate concrete measures that improve mobility and road safety globally and ultimately save lives.

• The partnership’s key objectives are:

• Contribute to the advancement of Global Road Safety Performance Targets
• Mobilize stakeholders in support of road safety initiatives
• Facilitate knowledge and experience sharing
• Conduct innovative road safety intervention in cities with high road traffic death rates
• Support and advise governments and other partners with knowledge-related services, as well as practical tools and solutions

The alliance also seeks to develop projects on road safety that incentivize taking measures that reduce the various risk factors, such as exceeding the speed limit and irresponsible driving, and the vehicle and road infrastructure design. The initiative intends to socialize this methodology of road safety with governments worldwide and support them in designing and implementing local solutions.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) provides innovative learning solutions to individuals, organizations, and institutions to enhance global decision-making and support country-level action for shaping a better future. UNITAR was created in 1963 to train and equip young diplomats from newly independent UN Member States with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate through the diplomatic environment. Over the years, UNITAR has acquired unique expertise and experience in designing and delivering various training activities. It has become a leading institute in providing customized and creative learning solutions to institutions and individuals from both the public and private sectors. With a strategy fully focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNITAR supports Governments to implement the 2030 Agenda.

Source: United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 4:38 AM | View the original post

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May 17, 2021

Oxford University and Oracle Partner to Speed Identification of COVID-19 Variants

• The partnership will enable global genomic sequencing and examination through a specialist platform developed on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to help mitigate the impact of potentially dangerous COVID-19 variants.

Photo: Oracle Cloud Manages COVID-19 Vaccination Program in the United States. Image provided by & copyright © ORACLE.

OXFORD, England and AUSTIN, Texas, May 16, 2021 — The emergence of more infectious variants of the COVID-19 virus is threatening to slow the global recovery and potentially thwart current vaccine immunity. To help governments and medical communities identify and act on these variants faster, Oxford University and Oracle have created a Global Pathogen Analysis System (GPAS) combining Oxford’s Scalable Pathogen Pipeline Platform (SP3) with the power of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). This initiative builds on a Wellcome Trust-funded consortium including Public Health Wales, the University of Cardiff, and Public Health England.

“This powerful new tool will assist public health scientists in research establishments, public health agencies, healthcare services, and diagnostic companies around the world. It would help them in further understanding of infectious diseases, starting with the coronavirus,” said Derrick Crook, Professor of Microbiology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford.

“The Global Pathogen Analysis System will help to establish a global common standard for assembling and analyzing this new virus, as well as other microbial threats to public health. It adds a new dimension to our ability to process pathogen data. We are excited to partner with Oracle to further our research using this cutting-edge technology platform,” added Crook.

First used for tuberculosis, SP3 has been repurposed to unify, standardize, analyze, and compare sequence data of SARS-CoV-2, yielding annotated genomic sequences and identifying new variants and those of concern. SP3’s processing capability has been enhanced with extensive new development work from Oracle, enabling high performance and security plus 7/24 worldwide availability of the SP3 system in the Oracle Cloud. The SP3 system will now deliver comprehensive and standardized COVID-19 analyses within minutes of submission on an international scale. GPAS would share the results with countries around the globe in a secure environment.

“The opportunity of applying systematic examination for genetic variants in a range of pathogens will have major benefits for global public health. This program, with Oracle as a partner, takes us a step closer to this goal,” said Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford.

Coupled with the extensive machine learning capabilities in the Oracle Cloud, collaborating scientists, researchers, and governments worldwide can process, analyze, visualize, and act on a vast collection of COVID-19 pathogen data for the first time. It includes identifying variants of interest and their potential impact on vaccine and treatment effectiveness. For example, analytics dashboards in the system will show which specific strains spread more quickly than others and whether genetic features contribute to increased transmissibility and vaccine escape. Already, Oxford has processed half the world’s SARS-CoV-2 sequences, more than 500,000 in total.

“There is a critical need for global cooperation on genomic sequencing and examination of COVID-19 and other pathogens,” said Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison. “The enhanced SP3 system will establish a global standard for pathogen data gathering and analysis, thus enabling medical researchers to understand better the COVID-19 virus and other microbial threats to public health.”

The next step will be to extend this service to all pathogens while simultaneously collaborating with scientists from research establishments, public health agencies, and private companies to ensure this work can support decision-making on pandemic response strategies worldwide.

The platform will be free for researchers and non-profits to use worldwide.

Oxford is world-famous for research excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Its work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a vast network of partnerships and collaborations. Its research’s breadth and interdisciplinary nature sparks creative and inventive insights and solutions.

Sources: Oracle & Oxford University

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 11:59 AM | View the original post

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May 6, 2021

QS announces USA University Rankings 2021 — The top colleges driving Diversity and Employability.

Photo: Sather Tower, University of California, Berkeley. Image Credit: Daniel Parks.

Photo: A building at UCLA campus. Image Credit: Yoshi Huang.

LONDON, May 6, 2021 — Offering unique insight into diversity drives, research excellence, and employability enhancement, QS Quacquarelli Symonds - recognized internationally for their QS World University Rankings portfolio - released their second annual list of America’s top universities. Harvard University remains the national number-one.

The focus on Diversity provides students with information about which universities are doing most to reduce sectoral gender and racial inequities. The University of California Davis and New York University jointly lead in the Diversity indicator.

• Only six of the top-20 universities also achieve a top-20 score for Diversity & Internationalization.

• Among the Top-100, the highest student ethnic diversity institutions are UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

• All bar one of the top-10 for Student Ethnicity Mix is a public university, indicating that public universities are meeting their social obligations to increase Diversity.

• Among the Top-100, the institutions with the highest proportion of female staff are liberal arts colleges - Barnard College and Wellesley College, with over 60% female academic staff.

• Some of America’s top research institutions perform less strongly in gender diversity. MIT, scoring third for Research, has only 28% female staff, and Stanford (second for Research) only records 35% of its staff as female.

• QS’s data shows that tech-focused institutions still lag behind their peers in terms of widening female workforce participation. Among the ranking’s top 100, the institutions with the lowest ratio of female to male staff are Caltech, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Institute of Technology, and MIT.

The QS USA University Rankings also prioritizes employability and teaching quality as crucial lenses to assess institutional performance.

Jack Moran, a QS Spokesperson, said: “While the overall QS World University Rankings continue to command record levels of interest, we know that the American higher education sector is wrestling with questions that do not fall within the scope of our global rankings - questions of equity, access, representation, and social justice. The QS USA University Rankings shine some independent light on those institutions that are doing most to foster the important relationship between education and social change.”

Containing more than 350 universities, this year’s QS USA Rankings is the largest yet. New York state leads as the most represented state, with 74 universities. California is the next best-performing with 38.

Public universities continue to perform strongly, with two places in this year’s top five and seven in the top 30. If you’re looking to take advantage of the benefits of studying at a public university, any of these institutions would be worth considering.

QS USA University Rankings 2021

• Top 100

1. Harvard University — Cambridge
2. Stanford University — Stanford
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — Cambridge
4. University of California, Berkeley (UCB) — Berkeley
5. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) — Los Angeles
6. Yale University — New Haven
7. Columbia University — New York City
8. Princeton University — Princeton
9. New York University (NYU) — New York City
10. University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia
11. University of Chicago — Chicago
12. Cornell University — Ithaca
13. Duke University — Durham
14. Johns Hopkins University — Baltimore
15. University of Southern California — Los Angeles
16. Northwestern University — Evanston
17. Carnegie Mellon University — Pittsburgh
18. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor — Ann Arbor
19. Brown University — Providence
20. Boston University — Boston
21. California Institute of Technology (Caltech) — Pasadena
22. Emory University — Atlanta
23. Rice University — Houston
24. University of Washington — Seattle
25. Washington University in St. Louis — St. Louis
26. Georgetown University — Washington DC.
27. University of California, San Diego (UCSD) — San Diego
28. Vanderbilt University — Nashville
29. The University of Texas at Austin — Austin
30. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — Champaign
31. University of Rochester — Rochester
32. Dartmouth College — Hanover
33. University of North — Carolina
34. University of California, Davis — Davis
35. University of Florida — Gainesville
36. Tufts University — Medford
37. The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) — Chicago
38. Georgia Institute of Technology — Atlanta
39. Stony Brook University, State University of New York — Stony Brook
40. University of Virginia — Charlottesville
41. Case Western Reserve University — Cleveland
42. Rutgers University-New Brunswick — New Brunswick
43. University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) — Santa Barbara
44. Pennsylvania State University — University Park
45. George Washington University — Ashburn
46. University of California, Irvine — Irvine
47. University of Notre Dame — Notre Dame
48. University of Miami — Miami
49. Northeastern University — Boston
50. The Ohio State University — Columbus
51. University at Buffalo SUNY — Buffalo
52. University of Maryland, College Park — College Park
53. Purdue University — West Lafayette
54. University of Minnesota Twin Cities — Minneapolis
55. Boston College — Newton
56. Michigan State University — East Lansing
57. University of Massachusetts Amherst — Amherst
58. University of Wisconsin-Madison — Madison
59. Syracuse University — Syracuse
60. Lehigh University — Bethlehem
61. University of Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh
62. Arizona State University — Phoenix
63. Brandeis University — Waltham
64. Temple University — Philadelphia
65. Texas A&M University — College Station
66. The University of Arizona — Tucson
67. The University of Houston — Houston
68. Binghamton University SUNY — Binghamton
69. Drexel University — Philadelphia
70. North Carolina State University — Raleigh
71. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute — Troy
72. University of Connecticut — Storrs
73. The University of Georgia — Athens
74. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University — Blacksburg
75. University of New Mexico — Albuquerque
76. Indiana University Bloomington — Bloomington
77. Tulane University — New Orleans
78. University of Colorado Boulder — Boulder
79. Florida State University — Tallahassee
80. University of South Florida — Tampa
81. Illinois Institute of Technology — Chicago
82. University of California, Riverside — Riverside
83. University of California, Santa Cruz — Santa Cruz
84. Howard University — Washington DC.
85. University of Texas Dallas — Richardson
86. Santa Clara University — Santa Clara
87. Wake Forest University — Winston-Salem
88. University of Maryland, Baltimore County — Baltimore
89. University of Utah — Salt Lake City
90. George Mason University — Fairfax
91. New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) — Newark
92. University of Massachusetts Boston — Boston
93. University of Kansas — Lawrence
94. University at Albany SUNY — Albany
95. Oregon State University — Corvallis
96. University of Delaware — Newark
97. University of the Pacific — Stockton
98. Rutgers University-Newark — Newark
99. The University of Hawaii at Mānoa — Honolulu
100. San Diego State University — San Diego

• 101-110

• University of Iowa — Iowa City
• The University of Oklahoma — Norman
• Baylor University — Waco
• College of William and Mary — Williamsburg
• Stevens Institute of Technology — Hoboken
• University of Central Florida — Orlando
• University of Cincinnati — Cincinnati
• University of Kentucky — Lexington
• The University of Tennessee, Knoxville — Knoxville
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute — Worcester

• 111-120

• DePaul University — Chicago
• Florida International University — Miami
• Georgia State University — Atlanta
• Portland State University — Portland
• Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) — Rochester
• University of Louisville — Louisville
• University of Nebraska - Lincoln — Lincoln
• University of New Hampshire — Durham
• University of North Texas — Denton
• University of Oregon — Eugene
• University of San Francisco — San Francisco
• University of South Carolina — Columbia

• 121-130

• Fordham University — New York City
• Loyola University Chicago — Chicago
• San Francisco State University — San Francisco
• Seattle University — Seattle
• Southern Methodist University — Dallas
• University of Missouri, Columbia — Columbia
• University of Vermont — Burlington
• Wayne State University — Detroit

• 131-140

• American University — Washington DC.
• Bentley University — Waltham
• Clemson University — Clemson
• Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• Loyola Marymount University — Los Angeles
• Pepperdine University — Malibu
• The University of Alabama — Tuscaloosa
• University of Denver — Denver
• University of Rhode Island Kingston
• Virginia Commonwealth University — Richmond
• West Virginia University — Morgantown

• 141-150

• Clark University — Worcester
• Clarkson University — Potsdam
• Michigan Technological University — Houghton
• Rowan University — Glassboro
• San Jose State University — San Jose
• Saint Louis University
• The University of Alabama at Birmingham — Birmingham
• University of Colorado, Denver — Denver
• University of Nevada - Reno — Reno

• 151-160

• CUNY Baruch College — New York City
• CUNY Hunter College — New York City
• Hofstra University — New York City
• Kansas State University — Manhattan
• Missouri University of Science and Technology — Rolla
• Oklahoma State University — Stillwater
• Suffolk University — Boston
• The University of Missouri, Kansas City — Kansas City
• The University of North Carolina at Charlotte — Charlotte
• Villanova University — Villanova

• 161-170

• Andrews University — Berrien Springs
• Auburn University — Auburn
• Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis — Indianapolis
• Ohio University — Athens
• Pace University-New York — New York City
• Rutgers University-Camden — Camden
• Simmons University — Boston
• St. John’s University: New York City — New York City
• University of San Diego — San Diego
• Yeshiva University — New York City

• 171-180

• Chapman University — Orange
• Dominican University of California — San Rafael
• Elon University — Elon
• Loyola University Maryland — Baltimore
• Northern Arizona University — Flagstaff
• Nova Southeastern University — Fort Lauderdale
• University of Memphis — Memphis
• The University of North Carolina at Greensboro — Greensboro
• Valparaiso University — Valparaiso
• Washington State University — Pullman

• 181-190

• Georgia Southern University — Statesboro
• James Madison University — Harrisonburg
• Miami University, Oxford
• Rollins College — Winter Park
• Texas Christian University — Fort Worth
• Texas Tech University — Lubbock
• The College of New Jersey — Ewing Township
• University of Dayton — Dayton
• University of Hartford — West Hartford
• University of Idaho — Moscow

• 191-200

• Brigham Young University — Provo
• CUNY Queens College — New York City
• California Lutheran University — Thousand Oaks
• California State University - Fullerton — Fullerton
• Iowa State University — Ames
• Kent State University — Kent
• New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology — Socorro
• New York Institute of Technology — New York City
• Stetson University — United States
• The University of Massachusetts Lowell — Lowell
• University of Mississippi — Oxford
• University of Scranton — Scranton
• The University of Texas at San Antonio — San Antonio
• University of Wisconsin Milwaukee — Milwaukee

• 201-250

• Ball State University — Muncie
• Boise State University — Boise
• Butler University — Indianapolis
• CUNY The City College of New York — New York City
• California State Polytechnic University - Pomona — Pomona
• California State University - Los Angeles — Los Angeles
• The Catholic University of America — Washington DC.
• Chaminade University of Honolulu — Honolulu
• CUNY College of Staten Island — Staten Island
• Creighton University — Omaha
• Dominican University — River Forest
• East Carolina University — Greenville
• Fairfield University — Fairfield
• Florida Atlantic University - Boca Raton — Boca Raton
• Hawaii Pacific University — Honolulu
• Immaculata University — Immaculata
• Ithaca College — Ithaca
• La Salle University — Philadelphia
• Louisiana State University — Baton Rouge
• Marquette University — Milwaukee
• Marymount University — Arlington
• Mississippi State University — Starkville
• Montana State University — Bozeman
• North Dakota State University — Fargo
• Northern Illinois University — DeKalb
• Old Dominion University — Norfolk
• Rider University — Lawrenceville
• Roosevelt University
• The State University of New York at Geneseo — Geneseo
• SUNY New Paltz
• Seattle Pacific University — Seattle
• Sonoma State University — Rohnert Park
• SUNY Oswego — Oswego
• Texas State University, — San Marcos
• University of Alaska Anchorage — Anchorage
• University of Alaska Fairbanks — Fairbanks
• University of Bridgeport — Bridgeport
• The University of Maine — Orono
• University of Michigan-Dearborn — Dearborn
• University of Missouri Saint Louis — St. Louis
• The University of Nevada - Las Vegas — Las Vegas
• University of Redlands — Redlands
• University of St Thomas — St Paul
• The University of St. Thomas - Houston — Houston
• University of Toledo — Toledo
• University of Tulsa — Tulsa
• University of Wyoming — Laramie
• Western Illinois University — Macomb
• Western Washington University — Bellingham
• William Paterson University of New Jersey — Wayne

• 251-300

• Adelphi University — Garden City
• Alfred University
• Appalachian State University (ASU) — Boone
• Augsburg University
• Bryant University — Smithfield
• CUNY Lehman College — New York City
• California State University, San Marcos College
• California State University Northridge Los Angeles
• California State University Sacramento
• California State University - Long Beach
• California State University - San Bernardino
• Campbell University
• College of Charleston
• Gonzaga University — Spokane
• Illinois State University Normal
• Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana
• Manhattan College — New York City
• Morgan State University — Baltimore
• Northeastern Illinois University
• Notre Dame of Maryland University — Baltimore
• Oakland University — Rochester
• Pacific Lutheran University — Tahoma
• Providence College — Providence
• Regis University — Denver
• SUNY Brockport Brockport
• The State University of New York at Fredonia — Fredonia
• SUNY Oneonta — Oneonta
• Saint Mary’s College of California — Moraga
• Saint Peter’s University
• South Dakota State University — Brookings
• St. Edward’s University — Austin
• University of Arkansas Fayetteville — Fayetteville
• University of Evansville — Evansville
• University of Illinois, Springfield (UIS) — Springfield
• University of La Verne — La Verne
• University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
• University of New Haven — New Haven
• University of North Florida — Jacksonville
• University of North Georgia
• University of Portland Portland
• University of South Alabama (USA) — Mobile
• University of South Dakota — Vermillion
• University of Texas Arlington — Arlington
• The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire — Eau Claire
• Western Connecticut State University
• Western Michigan University — Kalamazoo
• Wilkes University

• 301-350

• Buffalo State College (SUNY)
• California Polytechnic State University-San Luis — Obispo
• California State University - Stanislaus
• California State University Dominguez Hills — Carson
• Carthage College
• Central Michigan University — Mount Pleasant
• Chestnut Hill College — Philadelphia
• Christian Brothers University
• Delaware State University
• Duquesne University — Pittsburgh
• Eastern University
• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University — Tallahassee
• Florida Institute of Technology
• Frostburg State University
• Hamline University — Saint Paul
• Hampton University — Hampton
• Jacksonville University
• John Carroll University — University Heights
• King’s College — Wilkes-Barre
• Lamar University
• Lawrence Technological University — Southfield
• Lynn University
• Madonna University — Livonia
• Manhattanville College — Purchase
• Marist College — Poughkeepsie
• Mercer University — Macon
• Mount St Mary’s College — New York City
• Nazareth College — Rochester
• Niagara University
• Our Lady of the Lake University, — San Antonio
• Radford University
• SUNY Cortland Cortland
• SUNY Plattsburgh
• SUNY Potsdam
• Salisbury University
• Sam Houston State University
• Shenandoah University — Winchester
• Towson University — Towson
• Truman State University — Kirksville
• University of Guam
• University of Michigan-Flint — Flint
• University of Montana Missoula — Missoula
• University of Nebraska - Omaha
• University of North Carolina Wilmington — Wilmington
• University of North Dakota — Grand Forks
• The University of Tampa — Tampa
• University of the Incarnate Word
• Utah State University — Logan
• Waynesburg University — Waynesburg
• Wichita State University — Wichita
• Xavier University of Louisiana — New Orleans

— METHODOLOGY —

QS evaluated the US universities according to the following 17 metrics. They fall into four broad groupings (Employability, Diversity & Internationalisation, Learning Experience, and Research).

• Employability (24.5%)

• This category looks at the employment prospects of students graduating from US higher education institutions through metrics that include the results of the Employer Reputation Survey, Alumni outcomes, and salary post-graduation.

• Employer reputation (10%)

• QS Employer Reputation metric is based on almost 45,000 responses to the QS Employer Survey and asks employers to identify those institutions from which they source the most competent, innovative, effective graduates. The QS Employer Survey is also the world’s largest of its kind.

• Alumni outcomes (10%)

• QS has been recording the educational background of over 30,000 highly influential employers, sector leaders, and award-winning professionals, as well as individuals.

• Salary after ten years (4.5%)

• This indicator looks at the average salary of graduates (who received federal financial aid) ten years after first entering university.

• Diversity & Internationalisation (25%)

• This broad category attempts to understand to what extent a higher education institution is striving towards being as inclusive as possible while promoting an environment that seeks to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality and Goal 10: Reduced Inequality.

• Gender pay gap (2.5%)

• One of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to achieve Gender Equality through female equality in the workplace and eradicating unfair practices targeting women.

• Faculty gender diversity (2.5%)

• This indicator is also used against the backdrop of the UN’s SDG to achieve Gender Equality. It aims to capture whether there is equal representation of both male and female employees within the faculty of a higher education institution. Institutions that are moving towards an equivalent model are demonstrating their commitment to progress towards achieving Gender Equality.

• The ratio of undergraduate students receiving Pell grants (5%)

• This indicator focuses on the percentage of enrolled undergraduate students that got a Pell Grant. The Pell Grant program provides grant assistance to eligible undergraduate postsecondary students with demonstrated financial needs to help meet higher education expenses.

• Students’ ethnicity mix (5%)

• The student fabric of a higher education institution is an important indicator that reflects its openness and attention to nurture a diverse, culturally sensitive, and tolerant student cohort. An institution with a diverse student ethnic mix demonstrates that it cultivates inclusiveness and promotes social mobility while offering its students a diverse student learning experience crucial in today’s global world.

• Number of Fulbright recipients per institution (5%)

• This indicator looks at which US institutions are top producers of US Fulbright students over a combined period of 3 years. The Fulbright Programme is the US government’s flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State. Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Programme has provided more than 390,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

• The proportion of international students (5%)

• A highly international university acquires and confers several advantages. It demonstrates an ability to attract students from across the world, suggesting that it possesses a solid global brand.

• Learning experience (22%)

• This category aims to reflect the overall learning environment provided by a higher education institution to its students through the level of support it offers all its students regardless of background.

• Average instructional expenditure per FTE (full-time equivalency) student (10%)

• Average teaching spending per FTE (full-time equivalency) student demonstrates how many financial resources a higher education institution spends on average teaching per student. This indicator is used as a proxy to determine how strongly an institution is committed to offering the most effective learning environment possible.

• Retention rate (5%)

• It is a measure of the rate at which students persist in their educational program at an institution, expressed as a percentage. That is the percentage of the first-time bachelor (or equivalent) degree-seeking undergraduates from the previous fall who are again enrolled in the current fall for four-year institutions. For all other institutions, this is the percentage of first-time degree/certificate-seeking students from the previous fall who either re-enrolled or completed their program by the current fall.

• Pell grant student graduation rates compared with other students (3.5%)

• This indicator focuses on how well an institution supports students in financial need awarded a Pell grant. The number of grant recipients graduating within 150% of standard time to program completion, compared to the average graduation rate for students that did not receive a Pell grant or Stafford loan.

• Student-faculty ratio (3.5%)

• Students’ teaching quality is typically cited as the highest importance metric when comparing institutions. It isn’t easy to measure, but QS says it has determined that measuring student/faculty ratios is the most effective proxy metric currently available. This indicator assesses the extent to which institutions can provide undergraduate students with meaningful access to faculty members and recognizes that a high number of faculty members per undergraduate student will reduce the teaching burden on each academic.

• Research (28.5%)

• This category demonstrates how the Research of a higher education institution is having an impact. It focuses on the quality of the Research, regardless of the size of an institution. How much open and internationally collaborative its research outputs are, whether within academia or with industry.

• Academic Reputation (13.5%)

• Academic reputation is measured using a global survey. Scholars identify the institutions where they believe the best work is currently taking place within their field of expertise. The survey collates the expert opinions of over 94,000 individuals in the higher education space. It has grown to become the world’s largest survey of academic thought in terms of size and scope and is an unparalleled means of measuring sentiment in the academic community.

• Citations per paper (7%)

• Citations per paper focus on the performance of the documents an institution produces that get indexed in Scopus. It assesses the number of citations per Research Paper published, aiming to explain the impact each institution’s research has within the research community.

• International Research Network (IRN) (5%)

• This indicator assesses the degree of international Diversity in research collaboration for each evaluated institution. The Margalef Index, widely used in environmental sciences, has been adapted to estimate the richness of the selected international research partners for a given institution.

• Partnerships with Employers per Faculty (3%)

• This indicator uses Elsevier’s Scopus database to establish which universities collaborate successfully with global companies to produce citable, transformative research. This year’s ranking accounts for university collaborations with 2,000 top global companies listed by Fortune and Forbes. The figure is adjusted to account for the number of faculty at each university.

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:48 PM | View the original post

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May 1, 2021

United Way Worldwide Announces Launch of India COVID-19 Relief Fund

Give. Advocate. Volunteer. LIVE UNITED.

Photo: Brian Gallagher, President and CEO of United Way Worldwide (center) with Student United Way Award Winners (L-R): Alicia Meyer, Campus Adviser of the Year, Montana State University; Krystal Draper, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor; Hoa Bui, President of Student United Way at the University of California Riverside; Caasi Algazi, Founder of Student United Way at the University of California Riverside; and Elizabeth Collins, Student Leader of the Year, Montana State University. United Way Community Leaders Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. May 2, 2012.

Students on more than 60 campuses across the United States are improving their local communities. This powerful force is known as Student United Way, the student voice of the worldwide United Way movement. Image Credit: Neil Parekh. [File Photo]

ALEXANDRIA, VA., May 01, 2021 — United Way Worldwide today announced that it had established a relief fund for United Way India to provide immediate assistance in containing the coronavirus and responding to the unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The India COVID-19 Relief Fund will provide immediate help in medical equipment for hospitals, including oxygen supplies, ventilators, beds, Bipap Machines, and more. The Fund will also supply hygiene and food kits for communities to prevent further spread of the virus.

As India experiences the world’s worst outbreak, United Way India will distribute donations from the Fund to support the most acutely impacted in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi NCR, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, and Bihar.

Just this week, India reported the most significant single-day spike of new COVID-19 cases at 379,000 and more than 200,000 deaths, 3,000 occurring in the past 24 hours alone. These numbers have overwhelmed the healthcare system, particularly in highly populated cities, devastating the most vulnerable population.

“The resurgence of the COVID-19 virus and the devastating impact on India’s healthcare system highlights that the fight against the pandemic is far from over and shows how vulnerable communities are still at risk,” said Neeraj Mehta, Interim President and CEO, United Way Worldwide. “I am heartened by the work of the United Way India network and am confident that we can provide much-needed critical support to alleviate the suffering of marginalized populations.”

Over the past year, the United Way India network of seven local United Ways has supported more than five million people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and provided infrastructure enhancement to more than 100 hospitals. The United Way India network has raised and distributed $60 million in relief funds to more than 60 cities throughout India.

Through the work of 100,000 volunteers, United Way has distributed over 291,951 food kits and served more than 555,886 hot meals. Additionally, the United Way India network has provided 146 hospitals with infrastructure reinforcements, including additional beds, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, and medical supplies. It has also distributed 804,154 N-95 & 3-Ply masks and 346,104 personal protection equipment (PPE) kits.

Response efforts are led locally by United Ways in the cities of Baroda, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata.

United Way said it fights for every person’s health, education, and financial stability in every community.”With global reach and local impact, we’re making life better for 48 million people annually. United Way is the world’s largest privately-funded nonprofit, working in 95% of U.S. communities and 40 countries and territories. That’s why we’re the mission of choice for 2.5 million volunteers, 7.7 million donors, and 45,000 corporate partners. In the wake of COVID-19, we’re helping people stay in their homes, stock their pantries, and protect their lives and livelihoods. And we’re working to build resilient, equitable communities,” United Way elaborated.

Source: United Way Worldwide

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:04 PM | View the original post

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April 30, 2021

World Intellectual Property Day 2021 - "IP and SMEs: Taking Your Ideas to Market"

Geneva, April 29, 2021 — Small and medium-sized enterprises take center stage at this year’s celebration of World Intellectual Property Day. WIPO Director General Daren Tang described them as the “unsung heroes” of the global economy and an engine for growth in a post-pandemic world.

In a video message celebrating World IP Day, which occurs each April 26, Mr. Tang said that SMEs account for 90% of all companies worldwide and 70% of global employment. That’s why World IP Day 2021 is carrying the theme “IP and SMEs: Taking your ideas to market.”

“SMEs are the engines, the unsung heroes of our economy. And yet for many of them, there is still a lack of knowledge about how IP can help them translate their ideas into products, and how IP can be a powerful tool for them not just to survive, but also to compete and grow,” he said.

“SMEs face different challenges in different parts of the world, and how we help them will need to be customized to the needs of your part of the world. But it will be a powerful message for us to send the signal that together we will be supporting them,” said Mr. Tang.

Mr. Tang, who took office as WIPO’s Director-General in October 2020, has made supporting smaller enterprises a priority. In one of his first actions as Director-General, he established the “IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector” as one of the Organization’s eight sectors, with a remit to support SMEs, entrepreneurs, and researchers in commercializing IP and using it for business growth.

“Whatever help we can render to our SMEs will help that we render to the bedrock of your economy and the backbone of the global economy. Ultimately, it will help our world to build back better,” after the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

WIPO is coordinating a global campaign to highlight the importance of intangible assets to SMEs and the value of IP in supporting SMEs to grow. The Organization has published a series of case studies worldwide telling stories of SMEs that are using IP rights to turn ideas into business opportunities and generate value. WIPO has also provided a wealth of practical information on the best ways for SMEs to protect their intangible assets.

In 2000, WIPO’s member states designated April 26 - the day on which the WIPO Convention came into force in 1970 - as World Intellectual Property Day to increase general understanding of intellectual property (IP). Since then, World IP Day has offered a unique opportunity each year to join with others worldwide to consider how IP contributes to the flourishing of music and the arts and to driving the technological innovation that helps shape our world.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information, and cooperation. A specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 193 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society’s evolving needs. It provides business services for obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and resolving disputes. It delivers capacity-building programs to help developing countries benefit from using IP. And it offers free access to unique knowledge banks of IP information.

Source: WIPO, Geneva

|GlobalGiants.Com|

(The Editor is an Alumnus of the World Intellectual Property Organization Academy (WIPO Academy), Geneva, Switzerland.)

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 2:49 PM | View the original post

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April 29, 2021

Carnegie Corporation of New York Announces 26 Andrew Carnegie Fellows.

• $5.2 million in philanthropic support for significant scholarly research in the social sciences and humanities

New York, NY, April 28, 2021 — To apply scholarly perspectives to some of society’s most important issues, Carnegie Corporation of New York today announced the 2021 class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows. The philanthropic foundation will grant each fellow $200,000 to fund significant research and writing in the social sciences and humanities that address critical and enduring issues confronting our society.

The Corporation launched the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program in 2015 as an initiative conceived by the late Vartan Gregorian, who was president of the foundation since 1997. Gregorian, a former professor of history and past president of Brown University, aimed to advance and elevate the fellows’ work to reinforce the importance of the social sciences and humanities in academia and American life.

The most generous stipend of its kind, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program has funded a total of 216 scholars, journalists, and authors, representing an investment of $43.2 million. It focuses on subjects such as U.S. democracy, the environment, technological and cultural evolution, and international relations. The criteria prioritize the originality and promise of the research, its potential impact on the field, and the scholar’s plans for communicating the findings to a broad audience.

Among this year’s winning research topics:

• Law enforcement: developing tools to analyze policing data, including large volumes of body-worn camera video, to monitor racial bias and suggest evidence-based reforms.

• Pandemic recovery: studying the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable families and women in the workforce to identify policies that will help rebuild a more just society.

• Voting access: analyzing strategies to modernize the U.S. electoral system, including mail voting, same-day registration, and calls for a National Accessible Election law.

• Racial justice: telling the story of mid-19th-century Black New Yorkers who campaigned to desegregate public transit with pioneering civil disobedience strategies.

• Rural opportunity: exploring the history of agricultural property law and the views of American farmers to develop a more inclusive and sustainable land ownership system.

• “Me Too” movement: documenting the cultural history of the campaign and social media’s ability to expose offenders and hold them accountable.

• Immigration: exploring the immigration detention system and its multiple, unseen sites within and outside U.S. borders to understand policies and their impact on migrants.

• Climate-change: developing inclusive approaches to climate policy by gathering indigenous knowledge.

Georgetown’s DeGioia, who has been a member of the jury since the start of the program, replaced the founding chair, Susan Hockfield, professor of neuroscience and president emerita of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition, Alondra Nelson, president of the Social Science Research Council, stepped down after three years of service on the fellows’ jury when she joined the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as deputy director for science and society. Today, the jury comprises 14 distinguished scholars and academic and intellectual leaders from some of the USA’s most prominent educational institutions, foundations, and scholarly societies.

Carnegie Corporation selected this year’s class of 26 fellows from 311 nominations. The group comprises 18 women and eight men. The program seeks to include emerging and established scholars from across the country and represents public institutions of higher education and private colleges or universities.

As part of the nomination process, 700 individuals — including heads of independent research institutes, societies, and think tanks; university presidents; directors of major university presses; and editors of leading newspapers and magazines — were invited to recommend up to two individuals. All proposals undergo a preliminary, anonymous evaluation by leading authorities in the relevant fields. The top recommendations are then forwarded to the jury for a final review and selection.

The award is for up to two years, and its expected result is a book or major study.

• Class of 2021

• Elizabeth Oltmans Ananat: Barnard College, Columbia University
• Beth Bailey: University of Kansas
• Richard Bell: University of Maryland, College Park
• Deborah A. Boehm: University of Nevada, Reno
• Kristina Maria Guild Douglass: The Pennsylvania State University
• Tanisha M. Fazal: University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Christine Folch: Duke University
• Shana Kushner Gadarian: Syracuse University
• Kali Nicole Gross: Emory University
• Françoise N. Hamlin: Brown University
• Adria L. Imada: University of California, Irvine
• Jeanne-Marie Jackson: Johns Hopkins University
• Dean Knox: University of Pennsylvania
• Daniel Laurison: Swarthmore College
• Sonali Shukla McDermid: New York University
• Léonce Ndikumana: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Jessica A. Shoemaker: University of Nebraska College of Law
• Stefanie Stantcheva: Harvard University
• Susan C. Stokes: University of Chicago
• Neel U. Sukhatme: Georgetown University Law Center
• Kevin J. A. Thomas: The University of Texas at Austin
• Salamishah Tillet: Rutgers University-Newark
• Caroline Tolbert: University of Iowa
• Jessica Wilkerson: West Virginia University
• Gillen D’Arcy Wood: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Gabriel Zucman: University of California, Berkeley

• Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program Jurors

• John J. DeGioia: President, Georgetown University (Chair)
• Joseph E. Aoun: President, Northeastern University
• Jared L. Cohon: President Emeritus and University Professor of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
• Robbert Dijkgraaf: Director and Leon Levy Professor, Institute for Advanced Study
• Jonathan F. Fanton: President Emeritus, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Amy Gutmann: President, University of Pennsylvania
• Rush D. Holt: CEO Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Alberto Ibargüen: President and CEO, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
• Ira Katznelson: Interim Provost and Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University
• Arthur Levine: President Emeritus, The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
• Earl Lewis: Founding Director, Center for Social Solutions, University of Michigan; Former President, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• Marcia McNutt: President, National Academy of Sciences
• Louise Richardson: Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford
• Pauline Yu: President Emerita, American Council of Learned Societies

Carnegie Corporation of New York was established in 1911 by Andrew Carnegie to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. In keeping with this mandate, the Corporation’s work focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered to be of paramount importance: education, international peace, and a strong democracy.

Source: Carnegie Corporation of New York

|GlobalGiants.Com|

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 5:28 AM | View the original post

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April 28, 2021

International Leadership Association Announces Its 2021-2022 Fellows

Photo: Responsive and Responsible Leadership. Brian T. Moynihan, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America Corporation, USA, speaking during the session: Responsive and Responsible Leadership at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017. Image provided by & Copyright © World Economic Forum / Greg Beadle. [File Photo]

SILVER SPRING, Md., April 27, 2021 — The International Leadership Association (ILA) work is made possible by the power of its members’ curiosity, creativity, and desire to make an impact. Each year, it recognizes a select group of expert members who desire to give back to the field of leadership as ILA Fellows.

Fellows engage with ILA’s mission across sectors and disciplines to do worthy work at the intersection of leadership research and practice. They contribute to special initiatives that help drive the ILA’s mission to advance leadership knowledge and practice for a better world.

This year’s Fellows include the new Fellow roles of Executive in Residence and Scholar in Residence

ILA Executive in Residence

• John Heiser is a transformational, global, and relational executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience in multimillion-dollar pharmaceutical, technology, and manufacturing organizations.

ILA Scholar in Residence

• Gill Robinson Hickman is Professor Emerita of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, one of the first institutions with a multidisciplinary faculty devoted to the study of leadership.

ILA Fellows

ILA’s 2021-2022 Fellows include thought leaders from around the world. Together they will share their knowledge and expertise, explore today’s challenges in dialogue with other leaders, and apply their practical wisdom to inform and inspire. They are:

• Scott J. Allen, Standard Products—Dr. James S. Reid Chair in Management, John Carroll University
• Keith Grint, Professor Emeritus, Warwick University
• Maureen Metcalf, Founder, CEO, & Board Chair, Innovative Leadership Institute
• Stella Nkomo, Professor of Human Resource Management, University of Pretoria
• Erwin Schwella, Dean, School of Social Innovation, Hugenote Kollege
• Katherine Tyler Scott, Principle, Ki ThoughtBridge

Maureen Metcalf, returning for another term as an ILA Fellow, will continue her partnership with ILA to produce a series of 12+ podcasts on global leadership, part of her weekly Innovating Leadership show. The ILA adds another podcaster to its Fellows group with Scott Allen, the host of Phronesis: Practical Wisdom for Leadership. Scott will work with ILA to produce weekly episodes of Phronesis under the banner of “ILA’s official podcast.” Scott shared his excitement for the partnership, writing: “ILA has played a central role in my growth and development as a leadership educator and scholar. I have moderated the listserv, chaired a member community, and served on the board. As an ILA Fellow, I’ll have the opportunity to engage in a new and exciting way! I am thrilled to partner with ILA to bring inspirational and thought-provoking content to people all over the globe.”

ILA Fellows, Keith Grint, Stella Nkomo, Erwin Schwella, and Katherine Tyler Scott will share their insights via blogs looking at the challenges of today through a leadership lens. Grint, Schwella, and Tyler Scott are experienced bloggers, having contributed several pieces to ILA’s blog in 2020 including, “Leadership in Times of Crisis,” “The Fire Next Time,” and “The Global Pandemic: A Trigger for Deeply Systemic Disruptive Social Innovation? Or an Inevitable Global Apocalypse?” Echoing other fellows, Katherine affirmed that “ILA has been instrumental in my professional development, leadership, and service as a scholar-practitioner. I have been privileged to serve as Chair of Leadership Development, Conference Weaver, Vice-Chair and Chair of the ILA Board.” She added, “The honor of being selected as an ILA Fellow is another opportunity to contribute to this special community of learners.”

“We are thrilled to be working with this year’s group of outstanding Fellows,” noted Cynthia Cherrey, CEO & President of the ILA. “Their commitment to ILA and contributions to the field of leadership are unparalleled and will be appreciated for years to come.”

The International Leadership Association is a worldwide professional association committed to advancing leadership knowledge and practice for a better world. It accomplishes its mission by creating trusted leadership resources. The synergy that occurs by bringing people together in the charged space of its conferences and events produces a multiplier impact on leadership and change. For more than twenty years, the ILA has convened extraordinary talent across sectors, cultures, disciplines, and generations.

Source: International Leadership Association

|GlobalGiants.Com|

— The Editor is a Member of the International Leadership Association.

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 1:27 PM | View the original post

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