DeansTalk - business management education

EU researchers develop gadget that can sniff out explosives at 20 metres

EU researchers develop gadget that can sniff out explosives at 20 metres: EU scientists have come up with a pr... silrep.com/11UPU1h

— SiliconRepublic (@siliconrepublic) April 25, 2013

RedEmprendia.org is a network of universities promoting responsible innovation and entrepreneurship.

www.redemprendia.org/eng/who-are-we/what-is-redemprendia

• Instituto Politécnico Nacional
• Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
• Sistema Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
• Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• Universidad de Antioquia
• Universidad de Buenos Aires
• Universidad de Cantabria
• Universidad de São Paulo
• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
• Universidade de Coimbra
• Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
• Universidade do Porto
• Universidade Estadual de Campinas
• Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
• Universitat de Barcelona
• Universitat de València
• Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
• Universitat Politècnica de València
• Banco Santander
• Universia

 

INCOOP (Inter-institutional Cooperation in the EU) + The role of social media in research and career building

www.in-coop.eu

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January 31, 2013, albertoalemanno.eu

Social media & research from Alberto Alemanno

I will give a talk titled ‘The role of social media in research and career building’ at the forthcoming Seminar on Theories & Concepts and Skills Training organised by the University of Luxembourg in the framework of INCOOP.

This multi-disciplinary Initial Training Network (ITN) on Inter-institutional Cooperation in the EU (INCOOP) brings together Universities, professional organisations and high-level officials that all share a long-term interest in a better understanding of the functioning of institutions in the European system of multi-level governance.

A copy of the provisional program is available here

"Wise Leadership" - Professors Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka

Ikujiro Nonaka (Wikipedia) Hitotsubashi University, Hirotaka Takeuchi (Wikipedia) Harvard Business School
"The Big Idea: The Wise Leader", Harvard Business Review, May 2011

June 23, 2011 - Harvard Business Review recently sat down with Hitotsubashi ICS Professor Emeritus Ikujiro Nonaka and former Hitotsubashi ICS dean Hirotaka Takeuchi (now professor at HBS) to talk about what it means to be a leader who does what is right not only for his or her company, but also for the society. They recently wrote a Harvard Business Review article entitled The Wise Leader.

University of Hawaii to save up to $2.3 million over 20-years with solar

campustechnology.com, "Spotlight on Green Schools"

campustechnology.com, 6/8/2012, "Power Purchase Agreement Brings Solar Energy to UH Manoa Facility"

The university made no upfront payment for the project and has secured a below-market electricity rate. The university expects to save up to $2.3 million over the 20-year contract.

Joi Ito, Director of the MIT Media Lab, and the Innovators Guild

@Joi

Joi_Ito (Wikipedia)  www.media.mit.edu

My foreword to "Writing My Wrongs" by Shaka Senghor, Feb 7, 2013

...On July 1, 2012, the MIT Media Lab announced that we would be creating an Innovators Guild-a team of scholars, executives, and designers that would go to communities around the world using the power of innovation to help people. Our first focus for this was Detroit...

Knewton

www.knewton.com
Jose Ferreira (Wikpedia), Founder and CEO, MBA Harvard Business School 1997

Knewton COO, David Liu, @dliu8, (Columbia, MBA) at Georgetown's inaugural Innovation Summit, April 2012

U-Multirank is launched by the EU, 500 universities expected to sign up

01 February 2013, World University News.

A new university ranking system, U-Multirank, was officially launched by the European Union (EU) in Dublin on Wednesday, bringing a new and broader approach to the assessment of universities throughout the world. 

Some 500 universities worldwide are expected to sign up to U-Multirank, and the first results will be published in early 2014. 

U-Multirank will rate universities in five separate areas: reputation for research, quality of teaching and learning, international orientation, success in knowledge transfer – such as partnerships with businesses, and start-ups – and contribution to regional growth.

The aim, said Androulla Vassiliou, the European commissioner for education, is to give students and institutions a clear picture of their performance across a range of important areas.

Until now university rankings have placed “disproportionate” weight on research excellence, she said.

Brussels has proposed a funding allocation of €2 million (US$2.7 million) from the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme in 2013-14, with the possibility of a further two years of seed funding in 2015-16

Professor Brian Lucey, Trinity (Irish Examiner): "Future of education in this country lies online"

@brianmlucey

Brian Lucey (faculty page) is professor of finance at Trinity College Dublin, brianmlucey.wordpress.com

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January 26, 2013, The Irish Examiner

...In Ireland we see the success of Hibernia (YouTube), which operates a blended approach with mostly online lectures and some on the ground practical instruction in required areas...

...Despite the doom that is poured out that we have no university in the top 100, every single Irish university is in the top 5% of the THES rankings. Every one is world class. We have a world-class industry here. Within disciplines we have world-class researchers and teachers, in pretty much ever-single discipline.

A MOOC or 10 would demonstrate that to the public and to the wider world. Every international student is an export — lets place ourselves in the world shop window

Death toll in Aleppo University bombing set to rise

World University News, January 16, 2012

At least 87 people – most of them students – have been reported killed in two explosions at the Aleppo University campus in northern Syria and the death toll is expected to rise. ("are more than 150 people injured by the explosions, many of them severely")

A government-run university, it is Syria’s second-largest higher education institution after Damascus University.

According to the state news agency SANA, the blasts caused casualties both among students taking their first day of exams...

...

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement: “Such heinous attacks are unacceptable and must stop immediately. All combating parties in Syria must abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law.

Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO, said: “It is truly shocking and distressing to see so many young people dedicated to pursuing their education in the midst of strife lose their life to senseless violence.” She called on all those involved in the fighting to respect the right to education.

...

On 3 May, Syrian forces raided student dormitories during anti-government protests, firing teargas and live rounds of ammunition, killing four students, wounding 28 and leaving part of the campus in flames. Around 50 students were arrested.

Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter video: "How Twitter Builds New Foreign Policy Communities"

@SlaughterAM

www.princeton.edu/~slaughtr/

Brown University Inaguration of Christina H. Paxson as 19th president (video) + IeBrown.com

Inauguration  (+ www.IEBrown.com)

The local, Rhode Island and global Brown community gathered on October 27, 2012 to inaugurate Christina H. Paxson as 19th president. The ceremony included an academic procession; greetings from campus representatives; engagement of the office and presentation of presidential symbols; remarks by Mayor Angel Taveras, Gov. Lincoln Chafee '75, Sen. Jack Reed, Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman and others; and an Inaugural Address by President Paxson.

Prof Javier Andrés (Universidad de Valencia), Economics - Papers

www.uv.es/jandres/

Blog (www.nadaesgratis.es)

PDFs:

Banking Competition, Housing Prices and Macroeconomic Stability (with Oscar Arce). The Economic Journal, (forthcoming, 2012)

Job Creation in Spain: Productivity Growth, Labour Market Reforms or both? (with J. Boscá, R. Doménech and J. Ferri). Chapter 3 in The Spanish Economy: A General Equilibrium Perspective. Boscá, J. E., Doménech, R., Ferri, J., y J. Varela (Eds.). Palgrave MacMillan (Londres, 2011).

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Working Papers

Household Leverage and Fiscal Multipliers (with J. Boscá and J. Ferri) Banco de España, Documento de Trabajo 1215. 2012

Price Rigidity and the Volatility of Vacancies and Unemployment (with R. Doménech and J. Ferri). New draft, 2011.

Prof James Hansen (Columbia U) - "greenwashing" and "You're on your own baby"

"Why I must speak out about climate change", TedTalks, 7 March, 2012

Wikipedia: James_E._Hansen

@ Goddard_Institute_for_Space_Studies

@The_Earth_Institute_at_Columbia_University

“The Current Health and Future Well-Being of the American University” - Research Universities Futures Consortium

Download the report, June 2012, (PDF, 65 pages) of ResearchUniversitiesFutures.org

From AACSB's Biz Ed magazine Nov/Dec 2012 issue "Where Technology meets Business":

Earlier this year, Research Universities Futures Consortium, a group of 25 U.S. public and private research universities, released “The Current Health and Future Well-Being of the American University.” Funded by Elsevier, a global provider of science and health information, the report argues that U.S. research universities must adopt greater collaboration, communication, and productivity if they are to remain globally competitive...

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From the report (Page 11, Executive Summary) 

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The unique process by which this study was conducted provides a rich collection of challenges and barriers to success, some that are institution specific and some that are cross cutting and more foundational. What is clear is that many of these are closely connected and co-dependent. At the highest level, the current fragmented approach and the absence of a coherent national plan or rational strategy to support university-based research creates uncertainty that casts a long and darkening shadow over the future of the American research university.

The key findings of this collective effort can be reduced to six overarching themes that provide a framework of understanding and appreciation of the current conditions and an outlook on the future. These also serve to focus our future efforts toward finding sustainable solutions.

1. Scarcity of resources (relative to the demand for them) has engendered a hypercompetitive “winner take all” environment and increased the difficulty of managing academic research activities. Growing regulatory requirements have increased the challenge. To enable impact-oriented research that addresses significant social challenges, universities and research sponsors must work together in providing flexible and adaptive strategies, tactics, and operational structures.
2. The gradual, ever-increasing growth of government regulation and reporting requirements have exacerbated institutional financial stress and diverted faculty time from research. At the same time, the cost of doing research is not fully recoverable from sponsors.
3. Innovation requires diversity of high quality research and development of standardized performance metrics that reliably reflect the complexity and societal expectations of today’s research. This should be initiated by the academic research community, in partnership with key stakeholders.
4. Enabling the highest impact research requires current and predictive data to assess programs and evaluate key opportunities in a resource- constrained environment. Strategic decision-making at local, state, and national levels requires data that reflects a local, national and international scope.
5. Translating the value of the research university in serving society, contributing to local and regional economies as well as promoting national innovation and security, needs to be a story well told. University faculty, students, staff, and administrators as well as external supporters need to provide clear, consistent, and focused messages to local and national opinion leaders and decision makers. Highly credible accountability and performance-based data from neutral sources need to drive the conversations.
6. The fragility of research administration and leadership is not fully understood nor appreciated within the university community or by sponsors and stakeholders. The staffing requirements, competencies, and professionalization of research administrative and program support staff to reliably enable the efficient and effective conduct of research needs to be understood. 

Prof. Peter Wadhams, University of Cambridge. Arctic expert predicts final collapse of (summer) sea ice within four years

Professor Peter Wadhams

Professor of Ocean Physics, and Head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge.

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The Guardian, 17 September 2012

Prof Peter Wadhams calls for “urgent” consideration of new ideas to reduce global temperatures.

As sea ice shrinks to record lows, Prof Peter Wadhams warns a 'global disaster' is now unfolding in northern latitudes

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The Arctic ice cap is melting - and with it goes our future - The Irish Times, September 12, 2012

Winston Churchill: "The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is"

“The extra radiation that’s absorbed is, from our calculations, the equivalent of about 20 years of additional CO2 being added by man,” Prof Wadhams said.

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"We don't have time to reduce CO2 emissions"..."other solutions"

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IE - Master in Environmental Management

Blue Planet Prize - The Laureates. "A Better Future for the Planet Earth"

Blue_Planet_Prize_Wikipedia

The Blue Planet Prize recognises outstanding efforts in scientific research or applications of science that contribute to solving global environmental problems. The prize was created by the Asahi Glass Foundation in 1992, the year of the Rio Earth Summit, and since then the foundation has awarded the prize to two winners every year. In 2012, twenty of the Blue Planet Prize winners collaborated on a joint paper that was launched at the UN Environment Programme's Governing Council meeting in Nairobi on 20 February

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Blue Planet Prize - The Laureates

2012 (20th)

	Professor William E. Rees (Canada) Professor, University of British Columbia, FRSC (Royal Society of Canada) Dr. Mathis Wackernagel (Switzerland) (right) President, Global Footprint Network
	Developing and advancing the Ecological Footprint, a comprehensive accounting system for comparing human demand on ecosystems to ecosystems' capacity to self-renew. Their approach measures human carrying capacity and helps assess the risks of overconsumption to planetary stability. > For More Details (440KB)
	Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy (USA) Professor, Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University
	Becoming the first person to clarify human caused habitat fragmentation damaged biodiversity and gave rise to environmental crisis. Since then, he has been influencing the world for environmental conservation. > For More Details (440KB)

 

The Most Entrepreneurial (U.S.) Colleges - Forbes

8/01/2012, Forbes

Mining its database of 20 million college grads, LinkedIn identified alumni of these schools as founders of the most companies with 10 or more employees.

1. Stanford University

Richard Fairbank (B.A. ’72, M.B.A. ’81) is the founder and CEO of Capital One Financial. (2011 revenue: $18.5 billion).

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

According to a 2011 report from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, as of 2006 there were 25,600 active companies founded by MIT alumni, employing approximately 3.3 million people.

3. Harvard University

Harvard has produced 10 self-made billionaires, more than any other school on this list.

2012 IB World Student Conference held at IE University in Segovia - How today's youth will make a difference!

YouTube July 9 2012

During the 2012 IB World Student Conference held at IE University in Segovia, we asked students what they think are the main challenges that are facing their generation and how they want to make a change. 

Student Townhall, MD of the IMF Christine Lagarde at Keio University, Tokyo

IMF videos, July 7, 2012

Via @Lagarde    (Wikipedia)

Terrific event w @keio_university students. 3Cs to help you change the world: communication, competition, collaboration http://bit.ly/Ly6wu0 

 

Professor Paul Krugman, Princeton, Book "End This Depression Now!", 7pm live streaming from Madrid, Fundación Rafael del Pino

Fundación Rafael del Pino, 3 July 2012.

Wikipedia - Paul Krugman

Amazon, "End This Depression Now!"

www.frdelpino.es/video/en-directo/

Streaming Live by Ustream

WEF - What will the university of the future look like? - NYC conference

June 28, 2012, World Economic Forum blog

In New York City on 12 June, the World Economic Forum brought together senior university administrators, faculty staff and entrepreneurs in online education and university ventures to discuss online learning. Everyone is talking about this “tsunami”, which could have the same impact on higher education as the Internet has had on printed newspapers.

The debate centred on what future universities will look like as a whole, not just their online components. The participants strongly agreed that education is broader than content. There is still some concern that the physical intimacy and intellectual proximity found on a real-world campus would be lost in the virtual space. But the conclusion is that some blend of offline and online education is inevitable.

It is already happening
There are several reasons these conversations are happening now, and we face an inflection point for institutions that have otherwise been thriving for many decades – centuries, in some cases. These reasons are being debated at length in academic circles and mainstream media.

Online is already an accepted norm

All agreed that students’ expectations are changing now that the digital world has become a reality. For this generation, teaching and interaction within the online space is as natural as offline. Evidence suggests that rates of placement, retention and academic performance are just as good online as offline. Online degrees are now well-tested and proven....

The student at centre stage

The EU needs to embrace behavioural insights in the design of its policies - London School of Economics & Political Science

June 26, 2012. London School of Economics & Political Science, European and Policy blog.

In recent years, the United States and the United Kingdom have been developing policies that ‘nudge’ citizens into making decisions that are better for their own health and welfare. However, the European Commission is yet to systematically embrace behavioural insights in the design of its policies. Alberto Alemanno argues that it is now time for policy-makers around the world to take account of this new approach to policy-making which is both cost-efficient and preserves the individual’s right to choose.

...After having relied on the assumption that it can only change people’s behaviour through rules, regulations and incentives, it is time that the EU begun designing policies that better reflect how people really behave, not how they are assumed to behave...

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Alberto Alemanno – HEC Paris
Alberto Alemanno is Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law and Risk Regulation at École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC Paris) and Adjunct Professor of Global Risk Regulation at Georgetown University Law Center. He is also Managing Editor of the European Journal of Risk Regulation (EJRR)

Research Universities and the Future of America, Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation's Prosperity and Security

"Research Universities and the Future of America: Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation's Prosperity and Security", The National Academies Press, June 2012.

Authors:
Committee on Research Universities; Board on Higher Education and Workforce; Policy and Global Affairs; National Research Council
Authoring Organizations

Description:

Research Universities and the Future of America presents critically important strategies for ensuring that our nation's research universities contribute strongly to America's prosperity, security, and national goals. Widely considered the best in the world, our nation's research universities today confront ...
Read More

Download the PDF Summary here. (45 pages)

...In response, the National Research Council (NRC) convened a committee of individuals who are leaders in academia, industry, government, and national laboratories. In selecting the committee, the NRC sought not only balance across sectors, but also diversity among academic institutions, balance across fields, and wide geographic distribution, including individuals with significant international experience. This report is the committee’s response to its charge...

"Europe's new normal - It’s Here, It’s Unclear, Get Used to It" - IE University school of arts and humanities

International Relations blog, May 18, 2012

By R. Daniel Kelemen in www.foreignaffairs.com

Professor of Political Science, Jean Monnet Chair and Director of the Center for European Studies at Rutgers University.  His research interests include the politics of the European Union, law and politics, comparative political economy, and comparative public policy. He is the author of two books - Eurolegalism: The Transformation of Law and Regulation in the European Union (Harvard University Press, 2011) and The Rules of Federalism: Institutions and Regulatory Politics in the EU and Beyond (Harvard University Press, 2004), as well as numerous book chapters and articles in journals including World Politics, International Organization, Comparative Political Studies, West European Politics, Journal of Public Policy and Journal of European Public Policy. He is also co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics (Oxford University Press, 2008). He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of European Public Policy and West European Politics and is a former member of the Executive Committee of the European Union Studies Association.

The eurozone’s troubles no longer qualify as a crisis, an unstable situation that could either quickly improve or take a dramatic turn for the worse. They are, instead, a new normal — a painful situation, to be sure, but one that will last for years to come. Citizens, investors, and policymakers should let go of the idea that there is some magic bullet that could quickly kill off Europe’s ailments. By the same token, despite the real possibility of Greek exit, the eurozone is not on the brink of collapse. The European Union and its common currency will hold together, but the road to recovery will be long...continue reading in IE's International Relations blog, May 18, 2012

Times Higher Education Top 100 Under age of 50 university rankings: results

THE 31st May, 2012

New league table aims to identify the rising stars of the global academy. John Morgan reports

The Republic of Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology has topped the first Times Higher Education ranking of the 100 best universities under the age of 50, leading a strong showing for East Asian universities.

The THE 100 Under 50 (PDF) aims to show which nations are challenging the US and the UK as higher education powerhouses - and offers insights into which institutions may be future world leaders.

The list uses the same 13 performance indicators as the THE World University Rankings, but with a reduced weighting for subjective indicators of academic reputation.

100 Under 50: Top 10

1. Pohang University of Science and Technology

2. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

3. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

4. University of California, Irvine

5. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

6. Université Pierre et Marie Curie

7. University of California, Santa Cruz

8. University of York

9. Lancaster University

10. University of East Anglia

 

Professor Xavier Sala i Martín, Economics (Columbia): 25 Proposals to end the Crisis (the English Version is below the Spanish one)

@XSalaimartin

25 May 2012, www.salaimartin.com/randomthoughts/item/304-25-propuestas.html

• Columbia University, Department of Economics, Professor of Economics, 1996-present
• World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, Chief Economic Advisor 2006-present, author of the Global Competitiveness Index (used by the WEF in its Global Competitiveness Report since 2004), Co-editor of the Global Competitiveness Report, 2003-2008, and member of the Advisory Board and the Global Agenda Council on Competitiveness. Annual Meetings Davos-Klosters participant since 2001.
• Futbol Club Barcelona, Treasurer and member of the board 2009-2010, President of the Economic Commission, 2004-2009, President of the Club, Summer 2006.

Universities need to serve regional economy, society – OECD

University World News, 20 May 2012.

Many large universities conduct research and teaching as if they are isolated from the society and region around them. But even the desire to become world-class can be achieved by better serving their locality, a conference on higher education-industry-community engagement in Asia heard.

...

Although institutions are reaching for research excellence, the OECD has found in a series of studies on “Higher Education in Regional and City Development” that universities need to build on existing strengths and competitive advantages in their region.

...

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“Higher Education in Regional and City Development”

Bookmark this page: www.oecd.org/edu/imhe/regionaldevelopment 

Universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) can play a key role in human capital development and innovation systems. In the time of globalisation, growth and development continue to cluster around specific regions that have a high concentration of skilled and creative workforce and infrastructure for innovation. HEIs can help their cities and regions become more innovative and globally competitive.

Reviews of Higher Education in Regional and City Development are the OECD’s vehicle to mobilise higher education for economic, social and cultural development of cities and regions. They analyse how the higher education system impacts upon regional and local development. In addition, they facilitate stronger collaborative work and capacity building

...

Four regions have confirmed their participation (Reviews 2010-2012):

• Chile (Valparaiso)
• South Africa (Free State)
• Colombia (Antoquia)
• Poland (Wrocław)
• Mexico (Sonora)
• Spain (Basque Country) 

"The Future of Globalisation" - Professor Ian Goldin (Economist), UCL's Global Development Initatives & Economics & Finance Society

Webcasts: including "The Future of Globalisation" February 2012, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford

European University Association, Annual Conference 2012 - Presentations

www.eua.be

Annual Conference, 22 March 2012

Opening Ceremony

• Welcome by Jean-Marc Rapp, former EUA President
• Welcome by Nigel Thrift, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick (welcome speech and presentation) 
• Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England

Plenary Session I

Dialogue

• Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Advisor to the European Commission
• Sir Richard Lambert, Chancellor of the University of Warwick

Plenary Session II

The different dimensions of sustainability

• Rt Hon David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science
• Lord Bhattacharyya, Chairman of the Warwick Manufacturing Group
• Maria Helena Nazaré, University of Aveiro and EUA President

 

Working Group Session (I)

TRACK 1: European funding

• Marcin Palys, University of Warsaw
• Thomas Estermann, European University Association  

TRACK 2: Innovative campus management

• Alexandra den Heijer and Hans Beunderman, Delft University of Technology

TRACK 3: Collaborative research

Best practice illustrated by case studies from the EUIMA-Collaborative Research project

• Enrico Macii, Politecnico di Torino
• John Goddard, Newcastle University, EUIMA Steering Committee member

TRACK 4: The impact of technological & social change on higher education learning

• Anette Kolmos and Milan Vestergaard, Aalborg University

 

Working Group Sessions (II)

TRACK 1: Tuition fees in higher education

• International panel moderated by Dirk Jan Van den Berg, Delft University of Technology
• Christoph Badelt, Vienna University of Economics and Business
• Hannu Seristö, Aalto University
• Steve Smith, University of Exeter

TRACK 2: Sustainable campuses

• Pam Fredman, University of Gothenburg
• Sylvie Faucheux, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

TRACK 3: Research tackling societal challenges

• Mary Ritter, Imperial College London
• Torbjørn Digernes, Norwegian University of Science and Technology  

TRACK 4: Universities engaging in shared learning initiatives with the community

• Maria Slowey, Dublin City University  
• Andrée Sursock, Senior Adviser, European University Association  
• Sabine Remdisch, Leuphana University of Lüneburg  (unable to participate) 

 

Final Plenary Session

Report

• Jon Baldwin, Murdoch University, Australia

Reflections

• Tony Chan, President of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Allan Päll, Chairperson of the European Students’ Union

EUA’s activities for sustainable universities

• EUA President Maria Helena Nazaré

Harvard Humanitarian Initiative - The Satellite Sentinel Project

hhi.harvard.edu,  @HHI

Launched in 2007, HHI's Program on Crisis Mapping and Early Warning examines the use of information communications technologies in conflict and disaster settings. Research focuses on identifying patterns in humanitarian emergencies to improve response. HHI examines the impact of crisis mapping, geospatial and crowd sourcing technologies to prepare, mitigate, and respond to emergencies.

www.satsentinel.org,  @sudansentinel

The Satellite Sentinel Project is a game-changing collaboration, combining commercial satellite imagery, academic analysis, and advocacy to promote human rights in Sudan and South Sudan and serve as an early warning system for impending crisis.

(The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative manages the day-to-day operations of SSP, developed SSP's methodology, leads the analysis of all satellite imagery and information from the field, and writes and produces SSP's reports. HHI is a university-wide center with a mission to relieve human suffering in war and disaster by advancing the science and practice of humanitarian response worldwide.)

Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs (Columbia University) - A World Bank for a New World + CEPR

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a professor at Columbia University, Director of its Earth Institute, and a special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. His work focuses on economic development and international aid, was he was Director of the UN Millennium Project from 2002 to 2006. His books include The End of Poverty and Common Wealth.

(Previously on DeansTalk: February 2009, August 2011)

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Project Syndicate, A World Bank for a New World, 24 February, 2012

NEW YORK – The world is at a crossroads. Either the global community will join together to fight poverty, resource depletion, and climate change, or it will face a generation of resource wars, political instability, and environmental ruin.

The World Bank, if properly led, can play a key role in averting these threats and the risks that they imply. The global stakes are thus very high this spring as the Bank’s 187 member countries choose a new president to succeed Robert Zoellick, whose term ends in July...

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CEPR (Wikipedia) is the leading European research network in economics, and brings together 700 economists who produce applied theory and empirical work on a wide ...

CEPR Co-Director Welcomes Jeffrey Sachs' Reform Candidacy for World Bank President, March 1, 2012

Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education: Liberal Learning for the Profession - Carnegie Foundation

From Carnegie Foundation studies of Higher Education, carnegiehighered.org

Book

• Anne Colby, Thomas Ehrlich, William M. Sullivan, Jonathan R. Dolle, Foreword by Lee S. Shulman
• Jossey Bass, January 2011

“The authors have provided the most thoughtful and systematic study of undergraduate business education since the famous Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation reports of the 1950s. It is difficult to imagine a more bold and timely study that also offers a path for revitalizing America’s undergraduate business schools and, in turn, our nation’s business leadership.”
–Rakesh Khurana, Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Harvard Business School; author of From Higher Aims to Hired Hands (Princeton, 2007)

University of North Carolina as job laboratory

Reuters, February 9, 2012

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA — At the age of 17, Holden Thorp (@chanthorp) placed fifth in a nationally televised Rubik’s cube competition on the ABC show That’s Incredible! At 24, he received a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology after studying for three years instead of five. And at 43, he was named chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, becoming one of the country’s youngest university presidents.

Today, Thorp is trying to turn this 29,000-student public university into an engine of economic innovation. A business owner who has twice launched $25 million pharmaceutical startups, Thorp has streamlined the process for faculty members to turn their discoveries into private companies. He has made “entrepreneurship” a minor for all undergraduate students.

And Thorp has co-written a book, Engines of Innovation: The Entrepreneurial University in the 21st Century, with the university’s “entrepreneur in residence” — a former venture capital banker. It calls for the top 125 U.S. research universities to revitalize the American economy. (www.revupinnovation.com)

“The jobs of the near and distant future,” he told me, “are going to be for those who create them for themselves.”

...

Thorp and Goldstein insist they are not backing the commercialization of academia. Their definition of entrepreneurship is a broad one, they say, that includes social entrepreneurship.

“It’s not Donald Trump,” Goldstein said.

Former Harvard University President Derek Bok, whose book “Universities in the Marketplace: the Commercialization of Higher Education,” looked at the phenomenon...

Professor Thomas J. Sargent, of Economics, New York University - "United States then, Europe now"

Thomas J. Sargent delivered his Nobel Prize Lecture on 8 December 2011 at Aula Magna, Stockholm University. He was introduced by Professor Per Krusell, Chairman of the Economic Sciences Prize Committee. slides PDF.

 

YouTube, at 16mins30

"In Defense of Globalization", book by professor Jagdish Bhagwati (Columbia University)

On Amazon

Jagdish Bhagwati Wikipedia

Reviews (PDF, 7 pages)

In Defense of Globalization is an important contribution to an often incoherent debate. As we expect from Mr.Bhagwati, it is cogently argued and well written. It sets out a persuasive case in favour of globalization. And because of Mr. Bhagwati’s impeccable credentials, there is a better chance his book will be given a fair hearing than might be the case with some other authors. Put simply, Mr. Bhagwati has “street cred.”
Anne Krueger, The Financial Times

 

Why globalisation works—and how to make it work better, The Economist, Apr 29th 2004

"An outstandingly effective book.... Until further notice In Defense of Globalization becomes the standard general-interest reference, the intelligent layman's handbook, on global economic integration."

...As you might expect, given the thrust of the author's previous academic and policy work, Mr Bhagwati regards liberal trade—the principal driver of globalisation—as essential to raising the incomes and improving the longer-term development prospects of the world's poor.

GlobalTradeAlert.org

globaltradealert.org

globaltradealert.org/about

• Independent: GTA is co-ordinated by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, an independent academic and policy research think-tank based in London, UK. GTA draws upon expertise and analysis from 7 independent research institutions around the world.

•  Comprehensive: GTA complements and goes beyond the WTO and World Bank's monitoring initiatives by identifying those trading partners likely to be harmed by state measures.

•  Accessible: The GTA website allows policy-makers, exporters, the media, and analysts to search the posted government measures by implementing country, by trading partners harmed, and by sector...

The Centre for Economic Policy Research, founded in 1983, is a network of over 750 researchers based mainly in universities throughout Europe, who collaborate through the Centre in research and its dissemination. The Centre's goal is to promote research excellence and policy relevance in European economics. CEPR Research Fellows and Affiliates are based in over 237 different institutions in 28 countries (90% in the EU). Because it draws on such a large network of researchers, CEPR is able to produce a wide range of research which not only addresses key European policy issues, but also reflects a broad spectrum of individual viewpoints and perspectives. CEPR has made key contributions to a wide range of European and global policy issues for over two decades.

France looks to the big league - to spend €7.7 billion for world-class universities

The Economist, Nov 4th 2011

PLANS to create a French Ivy League are part of the biggest shake-up in French higher education since students threw cobbled stones in les évènements of 1968. Championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, the idea is to spend €7.7 billion ($10.6 billion) to produce a handful of world-class universities which can compete with the best...

...After all, business schools the world over have already come to understand the value of collaboration with other academic disciplines to create wealth and jobs. The collaboration between Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s management, engineering and science faculties, for example has created over 130 companies in the past 20 years with a market capitalisation of over $15 billion.

Top 150 universities of Global Employability Ranking - NYT

Ranking of top 150

October 20, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune with the headline: Gauging the Value of Your M.B.A.

...Emerging, a French consulting firm, surveyed employers on which schools they tended to rely on, and on what qualities made job candidates most employable.

Carried out in collaboration with Trendence, a German consulting firm, the survey included hundreds of employers from 10 countries.

Emerging boiled down the results to 150 universities that it called the Emerging/Trendence Global Employability Ranking — a list that includes the traditional top elite schools in North America as well as relative newcomers in Asia and Europe.

The study is meant to give “universities, recruiters and students the most valuable of tools: a road-tested blueprint of where it’s best to study in order to get a job,” Emerging said as it released its findings...

Social Sciences Still Young - Professor Edward L. Glaeser (Harvard)

"Social Sciences Still Young, Better data, the rise of real experiments, and interdisciplinary advances in the social sciences" (Harvard Magazine) (via @Beerkens)  

("Social Science" Wikipedia)

Edward L. Glaeser is Glimp professor of economics and director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government.        

Social scientists seeking an ancient intellectual lineage can find antecedents for economics, sociology, and political science in the work of Plato and Aristotle, but truthfully, the social sciences are parvenu fields...

...Yet these pioneering steps seem slow relative to the current onrush of new data that is now transforming the social sciences...

Professor Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia) - FT - "Tripped up by globalisation"

August 18, 2011 Jeffrey Sachs, Financial Times.   

..The path to recovery now lies not in a new housing bubble, but in upgraded skills, increased exports and public investments in infrastructure and low-carbon energy. Instead, the US and Europe have veered between dead-end, consumption-oriented stimulus packages and austerity without a vision for investment...

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On Wikipedia

Huffington Post posts

Jeffrey D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon...

Professor Jean Pisani-Ferry (Uni. Paris) - Series: Reuniting Europe - Project Syndicate

Jean Pisani-Ferry Series: Reuniting Europe

Jean Pisani-Ferry is Director of Bruegel, an international economics think tank, Professor of Economics at Université Paris-Dauphine, and a member of the French Prime Minister’s Council of Economic Analysis.

voxeu.org - professor Daniel Gros - "August 2011: The euro crisis reaches the core"

VOX

Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists

"Editors' choice" tab

Daniel Gros
11 August 2011

The euro crisis reaches the core

Investors are anticipating the unravelling of the 21 July 2011 “solution” and a breakdown of the interbank-market that would throw the economy into an “immediate recession” like the one experienced after the Lehman bankruptcy. This column argues that this will happen without quick and bold action...

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What needs to be done

At this point the Eurozone needs a massive infusion of liquidity. Given that the cascade structure of the EFSF is part of the problem, the solution cannot be a massive increase in its size. However, the EFSF could simply be registered as a bank and could then have access to unlimited re-financing by the ECB, which is the only institution which can provide the required liquidity quickly and in convincing quantity.

This solution would have the advantage that it leaves the management of public debt problems in the hand of the finance ministries, but it provides them with the liquidity backstop that is needed when there is a generalised breakdown of confidence and liquidity. This is exactly when a lender of last resort is most needed.

It would of course be much better if the ECB did not have to ‘bail out’ the European rescue mechanism, but in this case one has to choose between two evils. Even a massive increase in the ECB’s balance sheet (which if the US experience is any guide will not lead to inflation) constitutes a lesser evil compared to a breakdown of the Eurozone financial system.

Editor’s Note: Daniel Gros expands on his thoughts in a companion audio piece, the Vox Talks The Eurozone crisis: only the unlimited firepower of the ECB will stop market panic

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Daniel Gros is the Director of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels. Originally from Germany, he attended university in Italy, where he obtained a Laurea in Economia e Commercio. He also studied in the United States, where he earned his M.A. and PhD (University of Chicago, 1984). He worked at the International Monetary Fund, in the European and Research Departments (1983-1986), then as an Economic Advisor to the Directorate General II of the European Commission (1988-1990). He has taught at the European College (Natolin) as well as at various universities across Europe, including the Catholic University of Leuven, the University of Frankfurt, the University of Basel, Bocconi University, the Kiel Institute of World Studies and the Central European University in Prague.

Professor Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia U.) - Europe's Travails and Our Collective Fate - NYT

Article of The New York Times, July 19, 2011.

ATHENS — An emergency meeting of European leaders in Brussels on Thursday to discuss another Greek bailout will decide the future of the euro. If they do what they have done so often since the crisis first began in Greece some 18 months ago, they will simply have kicked the can down the road. Contagion is almost inevitable. A problem that began in the periphery has now moved to the center, and while Spain and Italy have been the most shaken, other nations will almost surely be affected in coming months.

What needs to be done is by now well-known: Issue European bonds, using the collective borrowing power of the European Union, and pass the low interest rates onto the countries in need, combined with a growth strategy that will engender needed revenues...

U-Multirank

University World News site, 12 June 2011

The Europe-driven global benchmarking system U-Multirank, which allows universities to create personalised rankings using an array of indicators, was unveiled in Brussels last week. It is "a new user-driven, multi-dimensional and multi-level ranking tool in higher education and research," said its creators.

Because of these characteristics, U-Multirank differs substantially from existing rankings and meets the needs of various higher education stakeholders, said its designers Frans van Vught and Frank Ziegele in a presentation on Thursday.

"The Innovative University" - book of Clayton M. Christensen & Henry J. Eyring

www.theinnovativeuniversity.com

Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (July 26, 2011)

"The language of crisis is nothing new in higher education—for years critics have raised alarms about rising tuition, compromised access, out of control costs, and a host of other issues. Yet, though those issues are still part of the current crisis, it is not the same as past ones. For the first time, disruptive technologies are at work in higher education. For most of their histories, traditional universities and colleges have had no serious competition except from institutions with similar operating models. Now, though, there are disruptive competitors offering online degrees. Many of these institutions operate as for-profit entities, emphasizing marketable degrees for working adults. Traditional colleges and universities have valuable qualities and capacities that can offset those disruptors' advantages—but not for everyone who aspires to higher education, and not without real innovation. How can institutions of higher education think constructively and creatively about their response to impending disruption?"

Professor Lars Peter Hansen (U. Chicago) wins one of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards (400K euros)

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards seek to recognize and encourage world-class research and artistic creation, prizing contributions of lasting impact for their originality, theoretical significance and ability to push back the frontiers of the known world

The award in the Economics, Finance and Management category goes to Professor Lars Peter Hansen of the University of Chicago “for making fundamental contributions to our understanding of how economic actors cope with risky and changing environments”, according to the jury’s citation. 

President Amy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania, interview with The New York Times

New York Times, June 18, 2011

...those two things are really important about leadership, to have courage and to be farsighted in your vision, not to be just reacting to the next small challenge...

Dean Santiago Iniguez (IE) presents 2nd conference "Reinventing Higher Education"

 "Reinventing Higher Education: The Role of the University in a Global Society"

IE University, Madrid (Segovia), October 18, 2011

Following the success of the first event held in Segovia on May 4, 2010, IE University, in collaboration with the Chronicle of Higher Education is organizing the second edition of the Conference on ‘Reinventing Higher Education: The role of the University in a Global Society’, which will take place in Madrid at IE campus, October 18th, 2011. The aim of the conference is to gather university administrators, policy makers, business entrepreneurs, academics, student representatives and media experts to discuss the current status and future evolution of Higher Education (HE), and to debate the direction in which research, learning, governance and management of universities should now go. The conference is organized in partnership with The Chronicle of Higher Education, No. 1 source of news, information, and jobs for university faculty members and administrators.

 

Daniel H Pink: employees are faster and more creative when solving other people's problems

Article of The Telegraph, 22 May 2011

Recent research reveals that people are more capable of mental novelty when thinking on behalf of others than for themselves. This has far-reaching practical implications at every level of business.

...Evan Polman of New York University and Kyle Emich of Cornell University...

Over the years, social scientists have found that abstract thinking leads to greater creativity. That means that if we care about innovation we need to be more abstract and therefore more distant. But in our businesses and our lives, we often do the opposite. We intensify our focus rather than widen our view. We draw closer rather than step back.

That's a mistake, Polman and Emich suggest..