Articles

EPC welcomes capital funding for science and engineering

We welcome the announcement by David Willetts on 30 September that £400 million will be invested in higher education science and engineering teaching facilities, including £200 million by HEFCE in...

Should "engineer" be a protected title?

...this seems to be a question that's come up a lot recently. During 2011 the Board of the Engineering Council established a working group to consider issues relating to the status...

20th Anniversary Awards 2014

In 2014, the Engineering Professors' Council (EPC) will be celebrating 20 years since the joining together of the Engineering Professors’ Conference and the Committee for Engineering in Polytechnics in 1994....

The AQA A level science HE Expert Panel

Just a quick update on the work of one of our new Committee members, Mike Bramhall, on behalf of the Engineering Professors' Council.... The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) has...

Government review of the balance of competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union: call for evidence – research and development

The Foreign Secretary launched the Balance of Competences Review in Parliament on 12 July 2012. This follows the Coalition’s commitment to examine the balance of competences between the UK and...

Feedback to members of our input to CaSE meeting with Science Minister

The Campaign for Science and Engineering, of which EPC is a subscribing member, met recently with David Willetts, having collated input from its members.  Here is their summary of the...

BIS announces "investment in postgraduate study"

£75 million investment in removing barriers to postgraduate study Students from disadvantaged backgrounds will be supported in postgraduate study with up to £125 million of extra funding, Universities and Science...

Universities UK International Conference: report from EPC Chair of EES working group

Our "roving reporter" Professor Clive Neal-Sturgess reports from the International Conference held at UUK last week. Well, the headline was that Europe is "back on the agenda" with the UK  so heavily...

HOUSE OF LORDS SELECT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Inquiry into scientific infrastructure

Department for Education: Reform of vocational qualifications for 16-19 year olds

Letter to Director General for Knowledge and Innovation re priorities for the Science Budget

Funded young researchers refused entry to UK, professional body warns

Jack Grove, Times Higher Education, reports on EPC's concerns about the impact of the visa regulations on research capacity "Funded young researchers refused entry to UK, professional body warns" (30...

New Committee members 2013/14

We are delighted to welcome three new faces to the EPC Committee for 2013/14.   Professors Mike Bramhall and Colin Turner join us as elected members and Professor Peter Excell...

Letter on student number controls for 2014-15

HEFCE has received a letter from the Minister for Universities and Science, requesting that it considers increasing the flexibility of recruitment in 2014-15 for institutions that show strong recruitment patterns....

Department for Education: Reform of the National Curriculum in England

Gove launches technology focused Tech-bacc as vocational equivalent to A levels

Michael Gove has announced the technical baccalaureate qualification “providing an alternative to the A level study route for post-16 education”. It will be introduced for courses beginning in September 2014,...

Report on Government spending on science...

While we all welcome the additional funding announced for science and engineering when other Government departments are seeing cuts, CaSE have published an interim analysis of Government spending on science since...

David Willetts' speech to HEFCE Conference

David Willetts: Higher Education Funding Council for England 2013 HEFCE 18 April 2013 Speech Originally given at Imperial College London. You don’t need me to tell you that this year...

New report published: The Dual Funding Structure for Research in the UK: Research Council and Funding Council Allocation Methods and the Pathways to Impact of UK Academics

Commissioned by the DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION AND SKILLS (BIS) and carried out by THE CENTRE FOR BUSINESS RESEARCH (CBR) AND THE UK INNOVATION RESEARCH CENTRE (UK~IRC), this report analyses...

Why we MUST change the new Design and Technology programme of study...

The Government's proposed draft Design and Technology programme of study would be a huge backward step for a subject that develops vital skills that young people need for the future....

David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, announces £47 million worth of funding for engineering projects

Announced at the Global Grand Challenges Summit (GGCS), organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering and its American and Chinese counterparts, in London on 12/13 March,  five Frontier Engineering projects...

BIS Report on Progression of Apprentices to Higher Education February 2013

BIS Research paper number 107 In New Challenges, New Chances (BIS, Dec 2011) the Government clearly laid out its intention to provide a “ladder of opportunity” through apprenticeships to “clear...

Engineering Council guidance for KIS statements

The Engineering Council, with the support of the EPC, has been undertaking work to help universities make the most of the advantages afforded by promoting the accredited status of their...

HEFCE support for very high cost subjects

Since 2007 HEFCE has provided funding to help secure the provision of four very high-cost STEM subjects: chemistry, physics, chemical engineering and mineral, metallurgy and materials engineering.  In the new funding method from...

Immigration policy

More on the immigration policy debate The OBHE's January newsletter highlights its new report: The Global Race for STEM skills.   It reminds us that the sector often appears to lobby for change...

"Cameron visit (to India) did not tackle key higher education issues"

From University World News: Issue 260 published 20 February, 2013 The visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron to India this week has left Indian students disappointed that he did...

Election of SEFI President

We are delighted to announce that EPC Committee member, Professor Kamel Hawwash (University of Birmingham) has been elected Vice President and President Elect of the European Society of Engineering Education (SEFI). SEFI...

REF 2014

UK higher education institutions (HEIs) plan to submit the work of a slightly increased number of their staff for assessment in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), compared with the...

HEFCE Grant Letter 2013/14

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Minister for Universities and Science have has now confirmed funding allocations and the Government’s priorities for higher education...

IMechE scholarships and studentships

Institution of Mechanical Engineers Each year, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) supports the educational and development needs of students and graduates with scholarships and awards totalling £400,000.  This includes...

Engineering UK: the state of engineering 2013

Engineering UK Engineering UK's annual flagship report Engineering UK: the state of engineering 2013 was launched on 3rd December. It projects that engineering companies will have 2.74 million job openings from 2010...

End of term reports

End of term reports... UCAS has published its end of cycle report for 2012, the year which its Chief Executive Mary Curnock Cook called "one of the most complex and challenging years...

Ideas for student projects

Check out Bespoken from the Blackwood Foundation for details of how to get involved in its Design Challenge.  Brunel, Coventry and Loughborough Universities are already involved and it's a good source of...

HESA to make REF-eligible staff statistics available...

Times Higher Education 9 January, 2013 The proportion of staff submitted by each unit of assessment to the 2014 research excellence framework will become clear for the first time after...

Chancellor's Autumn Statement

While we welcome the additional funding announced for science and engineering in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, CaSE have published an interim analysis of Government spending on science since the 2010 Spending...

Improving the employment chances of our graduates

With Engineering UK's forecast that we need to nearly double the number of engineering graduates to meet demand from employers in the near term (more of which below), do take...

Fred Maillardet - Times Higher Education

EPC former President and committee member Professor Fred Maillardet responds to reports of the "abolition" of examinations in HE - not so for engineering. Made to Measure. Times Higher Education 3rd...

Welcome boost for science and engineering... but some concerns

Chancellor George Osborne has announced a £600M injection into the UK's scientific research infrastructure in his Autumn Statement. The money is directed at eight strands of research outlined by the...

Funding opportunities

For HEIs/academic staff 30 November, 2012 Higher education’s contribution to economic growth: Invitation to submit expressions of interest for funding through the Catalyst Fund.  Deadline 24 January 2013.  See http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2012/cl312012/....

Dik Morling in The Sunday Times

An EPC 2012/13 early enrolments poll and quote from Professor Dik Morling, Chair of EPC's Admissions Working Group was included in an article in The Sunday Times of 18 November,...

"Spanner in the industrial works as engineering degrees lose traction" - Times Higher Education

EPC 2012/13 early enrolments poll indicating faltering demand from overseas students and the financial implications for engineering departments was reported by Jack Grove in the article "Spanner in the industrial...

Impact acceleration accounts

15 November, 2012 Business Secretary Vince Cable today announced a £60m investment in UK universities to help our most pioneering scientists and engineers create successful businesses from their research, improve...

House of Lords Science and Technology Committee: Higher Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects Report mentioned in The Telegraph

In December 2011, The House of Lords Science and Technology Sub-Committee, under the chairmanship of Lord Willis of Knaresborough, opened an inquiry into higher education in STEM subjects (science, technology,...

A level reform

The Engineering Professors' Council response was one of the almost 1,000 submissions to this consultation which ran for 3 months over the summer of this year. The outcome was announced...

The Future of Postgraduate Education

Westminster Higher Education Forum 17 October 2012: The Future for Postgraduate Education There is clearly widespread concern about the lack of progress on funding for postgraduate education.   On 17th October,...

Osborne support for new vocational qualifications

Published: 12:10am, 2nd November 2012 Updated: 11:07am, 2nd November 2012 New vocational qualifications in engineering will help Britain thrive in the global economy, Chancellor George Osborne has said. The Royal...

House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee - oral evidence on engineering skills

On 24th October 2012, the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee heard oral evidence on the inquiry into engineering skills. "We compete in a high labour cost economy;...

Improving social mobility...

The Milburn Report: University Challenge:  How Higher Education Can  Advance Social Mobility was published earlier this month.  In it, the importance of foundation degrees in supporting those from disadvantaged social...

...but a somewhat different situation in university recruitment of engineering professors in the US compared with the UK...

Purdue University plans to hire more than 100 new engineering professors and boost engineering enrolment by 10 percent over the next five years to help move the school to the...

Messages about maths education and the contribution of engineering to the economy are the same over the pond...

One of the aerospace industry's most respected leaders said Wednesday that government and industry badly need to take steps to reform the U.S. education system to dramatically boost teaching of...

US study shows that people who majored in engineering had the highest earnings of any bachelor’s degree field

The field of bachelor’s degree makes a considerable difference in a college graduate’s annual earnings, according to 2011 American Community Survey (ACS) data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Built in Britain: has Britain finally rediscovered its great tradition of epic engineering?

Victorian Britain was famous for its magnificent feats of engineering, but over a century later our once groundbreaking systems are aged and creaking. In this two part series, Evan Davis...

Royal Academy of Engineering publishes report...

...on the importance of engineering skills to the economy.  Read it here: Jobs and growth: the importance of engineering skills to the UK.

IPPR call for evidence on “The Future of Higher Education in England”

Online engineering courses?

The American Society for Engineering Education reports that Columbia University is to offer engineering courses through Coursera.

OfQual consultation on A level reform

Mathematics for Engineering: Entry to Engineering Advisory Panel

Entry to Engineering Advisory Panel Mathematics is a subject of enormous importance to the education of engineers in all disciplines. This importance is illustrated by the fact the Engineering Professors'...

Output standards

In response to concerns expressed by Government, employers and the Engineering Council over the lack of a common format for the articulation of the output standards of engineering graduates, the...

Open access issues...

Two complementary reports were published in June addressing the issue of Open Access from different perspectives.  Firstly the Finch Report “Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications”...

House of Lords Report: Higher Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects: published 24 July 2012

“The Government in their Plan for Growth attach great importance to education and hi-tech industry in order to create jobs and prosperity. The jobs of the future will increasingly require...

House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee: Engineering Skills Enquiry

Preparing for the Comprehensive Spending Review

Event: CaSE Roundtable Discussion: Spending Review 2013 Date: 25th May, 2012 Speakers: Dr Graeme Reid, Head of Research Funding, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills   Professor Alan Hughes, Director...

HE STEM Programme: Designing the Future - Engineering Education Colloquia series (End of project case study)

A key objective of The Designing the Future project was to improve Engineering capability in the UK. The project sought to achieve this by presenting a concise and practical agenda...

Holly Else - "Learning to live with the reforms"

Holly Else has recently interviewed our President Professor Helen Atkinson, and her resulting published article entitled "Learning to live with the reforms" can be found here.  

Response to HEFCE funding consultation

UCAS admissions process review

House of Lords Science and Technology Sub-Committee: HE in STEM subjects

HE White Paper consultation - EPC response

BIS Regulatory Framework consultation

REF consultation

Paul Jump in Times Higher Education

Paul Jump has written an article in the 18th August 2011 issue of  Times Higher Education entitled ‘Engineering a solution to turbulence’.

Helen Atkinson in the Public Service Review

An article entitled “Something’s not adding up” was written by EPC President, Professor Helen Atkinson and recently published in the Public Service Review: UK Science & Technology 03.

Helen Atkinson in Ingenia magazine

EPC President, Professor Helen Atkinson, has had an article - "The Wolf Review On Vocational Education" - published in the June 2011 edition of Ingenia magazine.

Consultation on: Green Paper - Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU research and innovation funding

This public consultation was launched on the basis of a Green Paper entitled ‘From Challenges to Opportunities: Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU research and innovation funding’. Over 2.000...

Tony Unsworth’s letter to The Times

Read former President Tony Unsworth’s letter to The Times on the contribution of engineering degrees to widening career choices.