Latest news with #RussellGroup
The Star
26-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Over 20 research projects at UK universities halted after U.S. funding withdrawal
LONDON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- More than 20 projects at Russell Group institutions, an association of 24 leading universities in Britain, have been halted following the withdrawal of U.S. funding, local media reported Wednesday. At least nine research projects at Russell Group universities have received formal stop notices from the U.S. government, according to Research Professional News (RPN), a London-based outlet. These notices, requiring a halt to work due to funding suspension, have resulted in either grant cancellations or suspensions at five Russell Group institutions. Information requests submitted by RPN to all Russell Group institutions revealed that a further 14 projects lost funding after receiving similar notices from their U.S. collaborators. One researcher whose project was delayed told RPN that they "felt like their funding had been used as a pawn." In some instances, British universities were notified by U.S.-based lead researchers who had awarded funding to their British collaborators, only to later inform them that the grants had been terminated.
Times
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Times
Trump issues ‘stop notices' to defund UK university research projects
More than 20 research projects at leading UK universities have been cancelled or suspended because of sweeping funding cuts imposed by President Trump. Days after taking office on January 20, Trump signed a flurry of executive orders that froze or cancelled billions of dollars in US research grants. Since then he has proposed slashing the annual $47 billion budget of the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest funder of biomedical research, by 40 per cent. Nature, a leading journal, has accused his administration of an ideologically driven 'assault on science' marked by 'Orwellian restrictions' on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, and the US National Academies has warned that the nation's scientific enterprise is being 'decimated'. • We are Harvard researchers. Trump's cuts are endangering lives At least nine UK-based teams have been issued stop notices — formal notifications that work should cease because funding is being halted — by US federal agencies as a result of the policy shifts. A further 14 have lost funding that had been flowing through American collaborators, according to freedom of information responses from the 24 Russell Group universities, obtained by Research Professional News. Five universities — Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham and Southampton — confirmed that projects had been directly affected. One cancelled initiative at the University of Liverpool focused on helping smallholders in Ethiopia raise chickens to improve child nutrition. The project had completed a successful pilot, but when USAid, the US government's overseas aid agency, was dismantled by the Trump administration in the spring, funding was cut. At the University of Nottingham, a project tied to the US Institute of Peace was stopped after Trump ordered the institute's closure in February, which is now being challenged in the US courts. A separate Nottingham study on forced child begging in Niger was halted earlier in the year, though it has since resumed. • Trump brain drain starts global tug-of-war for the best science minds The University of Southampton confirmed the suspension of a project under its WorldPop programme, which produces global population datasets used in health and development planning. The University of Leeds acknowledged receiving a stop notice but did not provide further details. Durham University reported four grants being suspended or cancelled, including one tied to the British Association for American Studies (BAAS). That grant, which came through the US embassy, was withdrawn after the BAAS refused to strip DEI considerations from its funding decisions. The money would, in part, have helped introduce Durham schoolchildren to the history of the global black diaspora via talks, films and artworks. Michael Collins, chair of the BAAS and a reader in American studies at King's College London, described the US embassy's demand for it to drop DEI criteria as an effort 'to bully and silence' academics whose views on history and politics differed from those of the president. The restrictions were part of a strategy to 'provide a lever to allow the removal of funding and the frightening of people who are in certain kinds of positions doing certain kinds of work', Collins said. Several institutions reported indirect terminations of research, where US-based collaborators informed their UK partners that joint projects were being defunded. Cambridge University said that ten of its projects had been affected and Queen Mary University of London identified four cancelled collaborations in health and medicine. Although 13 of the 24 Russell Group universities said they had not received formal stop notices, others, including Oxford, UCL, and King's College London, did not respond to the freedom of information requests.
Spectator
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Jarvis Cocker still has the voice
For bands of a certain vintage, the art of keeping the show on the road involves a tightly choreographed dance between past and present, old and new, then and now. It's not a one-way transaction: there should be some recognition that the people you are playing to have also evolved since the glory years of the indie disco and student union. Halfway through the first date of Pulp's UK tour following the release of More, their first album in 24 years, I started thinking about Withnail & I. Watching the film repeatedly as a young man, the booze-soaked antics of the dissipated 'resting actor' and his addled supporting cast seemed like great larks, albeit in extremis. The last time I watched it, approaching 50, sober as a judge, it played as the bleak tragedy it had surely always been. To steal the title of a Pulp song: something changed. The music of Pulp has always been scored through with melancholy and painful longing, but its emotional heft and essentially good heart is more evident these days. Singer Jarvis Cocker no longer hides behind so many layers of ironic distance. As he half-joked before 'Help The Aged', at 61 he now requires audience assistance to reach the high notes. More is Cocker's delayed, reluctant reckoning with adulthood. As he put it on 'Grown Ups', 'We're hoping that we don't get shown up/ 'Cos everybody's got to grow up.' Love was once a source of shame and embarrassment, he told us, but he has finally reached a gentlemanly accommodation with it. The shift was evident on new songs such as 'Slow Jam', 'Got To Have Love' and 'Farmer's Market' – a terrific orchestral ballad – but also in the low-key sense of gratitude that emanated from the stage. Cocker came across as a warmer, less wary figure, tossing out grapes and sweeties to the front rows. There were more obvious signs that we weren't in 1995 anymore. The group's core four – Cocker, Nick Banks, Candida Doyle and Mark Webber – nowadays resemble members of the history department of a Russell Group university who have decided to enliven the pre-retirement years by forming a band. They were joined by a string ensemble, a percussionist and several superb multi-instrumentalists, enabling Pulp2025 to shift seamlessly from the vast, corrupted Bond theme drama of 'This Is Hardcore' to a pared-down acoustic version of 'Something Changed'. In the midst of all that evolution, the trick was that it was all still very recognisably Pulp. Framed by purple velvet drapes, the set was a Sheffield bingo hall transported to an aircraft hangar, while an air of slightly shambolic indie-ism survived the transition to a slick arena show. Cocker still has the voice and, perhaps more importantly, the moves. His hands pirouetted like a good actor playing a bad magician. He corkscrewed into the air when excitement got the better of him, such as the moment when 'Common People' exploded into life. The song, which should by now feel glossy with overfamiliarity, was instead a juggernaut of propulsive energy. By then, they had played most of More. 'Tina' might be a classic Pulp title destined to be for ever waiting in vain to become a classic Pulp song, but much of the new material held its own among the gold-standard highlights: 'Sorted For E's & Whizz', an exhilarating 'Disco 2000', 'Mis-Shapes', 'Do You Remember The First Time?' and 'Babies', as well as outliers such as 'The Fear' and 'O.U. (Gone, Gone)'. Nothing on More could possibly have the impact of those songs, a point the audience instinctively understood. That was then, this is now. Both band and fans simply seemed appreciative of the opportunity for 'one last sunset, one final blaze of glory.' The Waterboys are also touring a new album, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper, a gonzo, genre-hopping 25-track sprawl that maps the life of the maverick US actor to the shifting currents of the postwar counterculture. They played around half of it in Edinburgh, in a single suite that unspooled against a Hopper-heavy backdrop of black and white stills and saturated Super-8 video footage. It felt fresh, colourful, eccentric and ultimately celebratory. On either side, they crunched out setlist staples such as 'Be My Enemy' and 'A Girl Called Johnny', which delivered power and punch without much in the way of surprises. The gig was at its best when the interplay between the musicians had space to stretch out. A reworked 'This Is The Sea' gathered an elemental power, and there was a nod to the recently departed Sly Stone during the still effervescent 'The Whole Of The Moon'. Like Pulp, the Waterboys have seen over 40 years' of active service, yet they are still evolving.
The Independent
04-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Top universities pledge more support for care leavers to widen access to courses
Top universities have pledged more support for care leavers – including contextual admissions and bursaries – to get more disadvantaged young people into higher education. The Russell Group, which represents many of the most selective universities in the UK, has also set out a plan to improve the transparency and consistency of policies for contextual offers. In a report, the group of 24 research-intensive universities made a series of commitments to improve access for under-represented students. It comes after Universities UK (UUK), which represents 141 universities, recently called for evidence to better understand how universities use contextual admissions – which take into account a student's circumstances and background to recognise the barriers they have faced. Practices already used by universities to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds progress into higher education include reducing offer requirements and guaranteeing interviews. Russell Group universities will now launch a taskforce to develop practical methods to 'bring consistency to the language used' for contextual admissions policies across their institutions. The paper said: 'Clear and consistent language on contextual admissions practices means that future learners exploring their options for applying to higher education better understand policies across institutions, ensuring they can make better-informed decisions.' All Russell Group universities have said they will provide a tailored support package for all care leaver students – including accommodation support, bursaries and contextual admissions. Care leavers are a 'disproportionately under-represented' group across higher education (HE), with just 14% of care leavers in higher education by the age of 19 in 2021/22 compared to 47% of the wider population, the report from the group said. A lack of a stable family network to fall back on for financial help or emotional support means they may require greater pastoral care, and they may need year-round accommodation. Once in place, the Russell Group universities have said they will extend this support package to care-experienced and estranged students to help them gain access to university and deal with the additional challenges they face during their studies. It comes after Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson called on universities in January to 'play a stronger role' in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students. In November, Ms Phillipson announced that undergraduate tuition fees in England, which had been frozen at £9,250 since 2017, would rise to £9,535 from 2025/26. She also announced that maintenance loans would increase in line with inflation in the 2025-26 academic year to help students with their living costs. The Russell Group has repeated its calls for the Government to reintroduce maintenance grants for the poorest students in England, and review the parental income thresholds that determine how much students can borrow to help ease 'the growing financial pressures on students'. The Government is due to set out its plan for higher education reform in the summer. Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group, said: 'As educational inequalities have grown at school level since the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, it's more important than ever that universities are ambitious in their attempts to close these gaps and remove barriers for students with the potential to thrive at university. 'Care-experienced students remain one of the most under-represented groups in higher education, with specific challenges particularly around finances and independent living. 'That's why we've made this commitment to make sure all our universities are offering a tailored package of support, so these students get the assistance they need not just to gain a place, but to thrive at university with the right resources.' In April, UUK announced a joint project with Ucas and the Sutton Trust to review the criteria used for contextual admissions to encourage greater consistency across universities. The current admissions system is 'hard to navigate and a barrier' which is potentially putting off young people from reaching university, UUK said. A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: 'Through our ambitious Plan for Change we will restore universities as engines of opportunity, aspiration and growth. 'We know there are baked-in inequalities and regional disparities that remain in our education system, which is why we are demanding that providers play a stronger role in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students. We welcome this commitment from Russell Group universities. 'We aim to publish our plans for HE reform as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy White Paper in the summer, as we fix the foundations of higher education to deliver change for students.' Katharine Sacks-Jones, chief executive of Become, the national charity for children in care and young care leavers, said: 'Care-experienced young people tell us how tough it is to get into and stay in higher education. 'So the Russell Group's expanded help is very welcome and could be a game changer.' She added: 'This is exactly the kind of step we need other universities to follow.' Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children's Commissioner for England, said: 'I hope this move from the Russell Group inspires other institutions to widen access to care experienced young people, improving their offer so they can navigate higher education with confidence.'
New Indian Express
28-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
University of Liverpool's first international campus to come up in Bengaluru
BENGALURU: In a major development for India's higher education, the University of Liverpool—one of the UK's most prestigious institutions and a member of the elite Russell Group—announced on Tuesday its plans to establish its first international campus in Bengaluru. The university aims to begin operations by 2026. The proposed campus marks the first time a Russell Group university will set up a physical presence in India. The Bengaluru campus will initially offer undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Business Management, Accounting and Finance, Computer Science, Biomedical Sciences and Game Design — the first time a UK university will offer these courses from an Indian campus. More disciplines are expected to be introduced in the coming years. Speaking at the event, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah described the move as a 'landmark moment' in Karnataka's educational journey. 'For many years, our best students went abroad to study. Today, a top global university is choosing to come here. This is not just an expansion — it is a recognition of Karnataka's emergence as a knowledge capital,' he said. The CM added that the state government would ensure that the university is provided with all necessary support, including world-class infrastructure and an enabling policy environment. 'Our government doesn't just offer land or policy — we offer a shared vision. Like the University of Liverpool, we believe education should change lives, and research should solve real-world problems,' Siddaramaiah added. To strengthen industry-academic collaboration, the University of Liverpool also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bengaluru-based IT giant Wipro. The MoU aims to foster joint research initiatives, build innovation platforms and develop skill-building programmes.
