Shared challenges and responsibilities from a global perspective

Professor Stuart Croft Vice-Chancellor and PresidentUniversity of Warwick

Humboldt

Wilhelm von Humboldt and a select group of contemporaries were the first to call for the independence of academia, to envision the integration of the natural, social sciences and humanities and to demand the unity of research and teaching.

Newman“If then a practical end must be assigned to a University course, I say it is that of training good members of society... It is the education which gives a man a clear, conscious view of their own opinions and judgements, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them. It teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of thought to detect what is sophisticaland to discard what is irrelevant.”

John Henry Newman (1801 – 1890)

The Idea of a University

Robbins

1963, UK report of the Robbins committee on higher education proclaimed the 'Robbins principle', that university places should be available to all who were qualified for them by ability and attainment.

The nature of higher education: four 'objectives essential to any properly balanced system'.

1. Instruction in skills suitable to play a part in the general division of labour.

2. what is taught should be taught in such a way as to promote the general powers of the mind. The aim should be to produce not mere specialists but rather cultivated men and women.

3. Teaching should not be separated from the advancement of learning and the search for truth, since the process of education is itself most vital when it partakes of the nature of discovery.

4. The transmission of a common culture and common standards of citizenship.

http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/robbins/robbins1963.html

Warwick’s values

Widening participation

CARTA

Warwick in Africa

What is the Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (URSS)?

A bursary fund & skills training programme to support undergraduate students carrying out a 6 to 10 week research project in summer term &/or vacation in a research field of their choice (UK or abroad).

The project cannot contribute to their degree, but may influence final dissertation direction.

The project does not have to be in the student’s home department.

What are the benefits to Participants?Get to sample real research;

Develop skills to transfer to further study/career;

Additional support through reflective portfolio, workshops and a PhD mentor;

National/international opportunities to present /publish in own right, or as part of established research group - unusual at UG level;

Receive official Warwick certificate/HEAR;

Stand out from the crowd - tangible experience for applications/interview

Receive bursary up to £1000 for living costs/travel;