The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 30 April 2013.
Singapore: 70% of students and professionals using LinkedIn
LinkedIn says it now has a million users in Singapore – 20% of the total population, and 70% of professional workers and students, The Next Web reports. LinkedIn opened its headquarters for Southeast Asia in Singapore in 2011, and says the country is “increasingly becoming a regional hub for key industry sectors such as financial services, infocomm and media”. The region’s biggest LinkedIn market is currently India, with 19 million users.
More global trends in social media usage >
Russia: PricewaterhouseCoopers to audit the country’s science
International consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been hired by Russia’s Ministry of Education to complete an audit of the country’s scientists and scientific institutions, RSC reports. A government spokesperson said the aim is to create a ‘map’ of the current status of science in Russia. This will include identifying leading scientists and assessing criteria such as publications in journals, citations and patents. PwC is more usually known for work in the financial sector.
UK: Queen’s University to display replica of Large Hadron Collider
Northern Ireland’s Queen’s University is to host a to-scale replica of part of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – the world’s most powerful ‘atom smasher’, U.TV reports. Visitors will be able to walk inside the replica, which will recreate a section of the 27km-long LHC. Operated by the Council for European Nuclear Research (CERN), the LHC aims to recreate conditions just after the Big Bang. CERN’s Dr Steve Myers, himself a Queen’s graduate, said, “For many people it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the real life application of physics and science in such a setting.”
New Zealand: Employment support for international students
International students in Auckland will be able to benefit from a seven-week program to help them prepare for and find work after graduating, Scoop reports. The scheme is being run by Auckland Regional Migrant Services, and will include a major focus on communication skills. International students who have completed a course of at least two years in New Zealand can apply for a graduate job search visa.
China: Report says libraries becoming ‘internet cafes’
A new report from the National Library of China says libraries in many parts of the country are being misused, including those at universities. Researchers found that at some Chinese universities, students pay by the hour to use computers connected to the internet – supposedly in order to read digital copies of journals, but often actually to play video games. This is one part of a wider problem of libraries being used as ‘internet cafes’, Kotaku reports.