Evidence-informed Quality Improvement Programme (EQUIP)

EQUIP is a new programme from the Higher Education Academy that will help individual higher education institutions to identify, understand and resolve key issues affecting the quality and effectiveness of the student learning experience.

UK HEIs are invited to submit project proposals for EQUIP by Wednesday 30 June 2010.

The full guidance notes and proposal form can be downloaded from:
http://tinyurl.com/EQUIP-details.

Research Excellence Framework – consultation outcomes

The four UK higher education funding bodies have announced the outcomes of the recent consultation on the new Research Excellence Framework:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/HEFCE/2010/ref.htm

New CLA Guidance for HE

http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=243&id=1334

The CLA Higher Education Copyright Licence Operation Working Group has issued a Good Practice Guide for higher education in the creation of course packs. The guidance includes illustrations of good and questionable practice. There is an explanation of the aims of the licence and information on what to do when in doubt.

Full pdf document at: http://www.cla.co.uk/data/pdfs/he/he_good_practice_guide.pdf.

YouTube - speech recognition software

Every single YouTube video with English language audio can now support captioning created by speech recognition software thus improving the sites accessibility for videos. More details from the Out-Law website at:
http://www.out-law.com/page-10815.

YouTube item
Googleblog item


User generated content online
http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=243&id=1298

Amendment to clause 17 of the Digital Economy Bill could lead to entire sites being forced offline if it becomes law. The Bill is designed to combat digital copyright infringement and is planned to be hastily pushed through the legislative process before an April election...potentially, entire sites like YouTube could be forced offline reports the Guardian. This could lead to further legal challenges for institutions providing internet services and using user generated content sites. For the full article, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/05/digital-economy-bill-pushed-through

Fifth Joint Sheffield Conference on Chemoinformatics

13th-15th July 2010
University of Sheffield

http://cisrg.shef.ac.uk/shef2010/

Early bird registration ends April 9th.

The conference is organised on behalf of the Molecular Graphics and Modelling Society and the Chemical Structure Association Trust.

US environment agency (EPA) - public database on risk assessments

Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO) database.

http://www.epa.gov/hero

Access to the scientific studies used in making key regulatory decisions, including EPA's periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six major pollutants.

HERO includes peer-reviewed literature used by EPA to develop its Integrated Science Assessments (ISA) that feed into the NAAQS review. It also includes references and data from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), a database that supports critical agency policymaking for chemical regulation.

ASCUS: Art Science Collaborative - monthly talk

Thursday 1st April 2010, 6-7 pm
Wee Red Lounge, Edinburgh College of Art (above the Wee Red Bar)

Hamer Dodds will discuss his experience as a scientist and artist and introduce some of his recent work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh and the Wolfson College, Oxford. In his work he examines flows and relationships in the organic world, how science is visualised and what rules pertain to these visualisations.

Hamer Dodds - http://www.hamerdodds.com/

Snacks and drinks (including alcohol) will be for sale!

Website: http://www.ascus.org.uk
Ning site: http://enlightened-ideas.ning.com/group/theartcollective
Plus, group on Facebook where details of future events advertised.