University West’s Post

Cultivating cognitive and metacognitive skills for the information age and AI era is essential, and how universities facilitate this is a crucial question.

It is great to see the launch of the digital transformation library lens which aims to highlight the role of library and archive services in university wide digital transformation activities. This provides a new focus on the Jisc framework for digital transformation in HE and it adds a really useful element to the toolkit. https://lnkd.in/ezNMxp-3 It is one of my favourite pieces of recent consultancy work as it took me back to my past life as an academic librarian and fulfilled a long held desire to emphasise the wide ranging expertise that librarians have. I am really looking forward to seeing how the pilot university libraries use it over the coming months.

Over more than 20 years, a core legacy of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education has been its investment in rigorous research - building evidence through evaluations and supporting the development of innovative solutions to improve teaching and learning. Many IES-funded projects by academic researchers have generated proven insights into what works in education. Yet fewer have been scaled and sustained in real-world practice. In a new "Blueprint in Action" brief on the Alliance for Learning Innovation (ALI) website, Eric Tucker and I describe #EDIESSBIR as one model that successfully translated evidence-based research into #edtech products used at scale. We also outline concrete steps to strengthen the next chapter of the IES R&D pipeline through SBIR or other complementary models to address this "last mile problem" so that more evidence reaches the hands of students and educators. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eFjzZ-MJ Sara Schapiro

Nature’s latest analysis shows that funding success rates in some major European programs have dropped to single digits. Applications have nearly doubled, but budgets remain the same. This brings in some tough questions for all of us in academia and research. For example: -If almost everyone writes a strong proposal (think about MSCA cutoff scores), how do we decide what truly deserves to be funded? -Should funding agencies prioritize fewer, larger grants, or more, smaller ones? -Are we rewarding the best innovative ideas or the best-written proposals? ... and the list goes on... https://lnkd.in/gc7d2Jgi #ResearchFunding #Academia #SciencePolicy #AIinScience #HigherEducation #Innovation #AcademicLife #MSCA #ERCgrant

🌾 Building confident, connected researchers Over the past month, WAARC Postgraduate Program participants took part in two Cohort-Connect workshops with CSIRO National Innovation Facilitator Maren Strachan - exploring how to engage industry with purpose and communicate research with impact. With more than 20 years’ experience leading strategy and design initiatives across purpose-driven organisations, Ms Strachan brings deep expertise in helping teams translate complex ideas into actionable strategies. In her current role at CSIRO, she works with cross-disciplinary teams to design and deliver innovation that supports national priorities. The first session, Industry Engagement Ready, focused on the practical side of collaboration helping researchers understand the “why” and “how” of networking, engage in problem-centred conversations, and plan discussions using the 5 Es framework. The follow-up session, Impact Thinking, encouraged participants to explore the why behind their science and communicate their personal and professional impact with clarity and confidence. The University of Western Australia PhD student Huyen Pham said the sessions offered valuable insight into real-world communication. “I learned a lot about demonstrating industry impact and refined my impact story map based on Maren’s suggestions,” Ms Pham said. Together, the sessions helped WAARC postgraduates strengthen the skills that bridge research and real-world application - connecting science, industry, and community. #WAARC #AgResearch #PhDProgram #ResearchImpact #CSIRO #Agriculture #Collaboration

🌍 Empowering Innovation in Higher Education  We are excited to share the first newsletter of the PIONEER+ project, part of the EIT Higher Education Institutions (HEI) Initiative. The newsletter presents the project’s goals, impact areas, and the outcomes of the first consortium meeting hosted by Ionian University. It also highlights how PIONEER+ supports students, researchers, and staff in developing future-ready skills that strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity. ⚙️ #iED leads the Dissemination and Communication activities of the project, including the development of its official website, and contributes across all implementation areas. Read the full newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dBHPXSrQ #PIONEERplus #iEDprojects #iEDeurope #EITHEI

The Dutch Research Council (NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) has awarded Professor Julia Wittmayer, of the Erasmus School of Philosophy (ESPhil) and the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions, a Vidi grant. With this support, she will investigate how the academic system itself is changing – and must change – to better contribute to addressing urgent societal challenges such as climate change, inequality, and polarisation. Her research project, “Academia in Transition,” explores the ethical, epistemological, and institutional conditions for a university that acts responsibly within society. As Professor Wittmayer states: “With the NWO Vidi grant and the recognition it represents for my research avenue, I feel encouraged to combine a critical perspective with the social entrepreneurship and pragmatism of transition makers – and to bring that spirit into the university itself.” This project is part of Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam broader ambition to link reflection with action, in line with Strategy 2030. https://lnkd.in/ePFUMVF4

Pleased to share this blog by Róisín Ellison and Yuchen Zong, PhD, FHEA in Department of Evaluation and Observational Research at NIoT. This highlights the importance of methodological diversity in educational research - and how qualitative and conceptual research can add to cumulative knowledge. https://lnkd.in/eFFPb7MS

🌍 Empowering Innovation in Higher Education We are excited to share the first newsletter of the PIONEER+ project, part of the EIT Higher Education Institutions (HEI) Initiative. The newsletter presents the project’s goals, impact areas, and the outcomes of the first consortium meeting hosted by Ionian University. It also highlights how PIONEER+ supports students, researchers, and staff in developing future-ready skills that strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity. ⚙️ #iED leads the Dissemination and Communication activities of the project, including the development of its official website, and contributes across all implementation areas. Read the full newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dSDBvv5f #PIONEERplus #iEDprojects #iEDeurope #EITHEI

Expanding Open Access: Vanderbilt University Joins MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP) MDPI is thrilled to welcome Vanderbilt University as the latest member of our Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP), which offers affiliated authors discounts on Article Processing Charges (APCs) across our range of academic journals, along with a multitude of other publishing support services, including direct assistance and a dedicated institutional dashboard. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to advancing scholarly communication, empowering researchers to share their work globally, and expanding open access to academic knowledge. Vanderbilt-affiliated authors will gain enhanced publishing support and new opportunities to amplify their research, ensuring it reaches the widest possible audience. Together, we’re advancing open access, strengthening scholarship, and helping institutions showcase research that can drive knowledge and innovation worldwide. We look forward to collaborating with Vanderbilt scholars and celebrating the vital contributions they make to the greater academic community! 🌐 Find out how our IOAP can benefit you and your institution: https://www.mdpi.com/ioap #MDPI #OpenAccess #AcademicPublishing #VanderbiltUniversity #IOAP