Girls out perform boys in British Universities

According to a Higher Education Policy Institute report, "women are more likely to get places in the top universities and go on to get better grades".

The reports also debunks beliefs that Men dominate in top Universities or high status subjects such as medicine.

Read the BBC report Men 'out-performed at university'.

Festival of Social Sciences at Warwick

The Faculty of Social Sciences is organising the Festival of Social Sciences, which takes place from Monday 15th to Friday 19th June 2009.

There are a number of events lined up. Highlights include keynote lectures from the Vice-Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift and Lord Professor Anthony Giddens who will discuss his latest work.

Check out the Festival of Social Sciences site for more information.

there will be regular updates as well on Twitter @socscifestival.

Pending changes to the immigration rules

As issue of concern if you are an non-EU student in the UK and you need need to extend your current student visa.

The new Points Based System for student visas (Tier 4) will be implemented from the 31st of March 2009.

For visa extensions of nine months or less, you will need to provide evidence of any remaining course fees to be paid plus £600pm (up to a maximum of £1200) living costs.

If more than nine months you will need to provide evidence of your first year’s fees plus £1200 living costs.

In addition, if you have any dependants. you will need to show evidence of funds to support such dependants. The amount has not been fixed yet but is tentatively £533 (per month) for each dependant (including children) for applications made to other PBS tiers so we anticipate that it will be similar if not the same for Tier 4 applications although a limit of 2 months may also be set here.

Moreover, these funds must have been in your bank account for 28 days prior to the date of your visa application and the balance of your account cannot drop below the amounts specified above even for one day or your application will not be valid.

Read the policy guidance for Tier 4 applications.

All supporting documents must be dated no more than one calendar month before you make your application.

One World Week at Warwick

The World's Largest Student-run International Event "One World Week" is now going on at the University of Warwick and will go on till the to 31st January 2009. The event is run by some 240 volunteer students from across the University. This is the 14th annual One World Week.

Really love the design of their site. Cool.

WBS MBA rankings going up

Warwick Business School (WBS) has been ranked 23rd in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Which MBA? Guide for the Full-time MBA. This is a upward movement of 4 positions from last year. It is also in the Top Ten schools in Europe.
Read here.

The school has also been ranked third in the UK for its Executive MBA programme in the 2008 Financial Times global ranking of Executive MBAs. Read the news here.

Fingerprinting of overseas students in the UK

In case you are not aware, overseas students will need to give their finger prints beginning this month including those who are already in the UK when they get their visa extended (from 25 November). They will also need to carry biometric identity cards.

This is part of the new measures initiated by the Government to tackle bogus students in the UK.

According to a recent BBC report,

"international students contribute £2.5bn to the UK economy in tuition fees alone" - and the Home Office notes another estimate that overseas students are worth £8.5bn to the wider economy.

IDB Merit Scholarship Programme for High Technology

Ainee sent me this announcement:


For Academic Year 1430H/ 2009-10

1. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is pleased to announce the availability of Scholarships under "The IDB Merit Scholarship Programme for High Technology."

2. Under the Scholarship, selected scholars may pursue full-time 3-year Ph. D study or 6-12 months of Post-Doctoral research in any of the approved fields in science and high technology at renowned institutions of higher learning in the world. The scholarship covers:
1. Tuition/bench fee
2. Monthly living allowance
3. Monthly family allowance (for Ph.D study only)
4. Clothing/books allowance (for Ph.D study only)
5. Installation allowance (for Ph.D study only)
6. Computer Allowance (for Ph.D study only)
7. Conference/Thesis preparation allowance
8. Medical coverage
9. Return air tickets


3. Prospective applicants must be from a member country of the IDB, attached to a scientific, academic and/or research institution in their respective countries and meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. Aged up to 35 years for Ph.D and up to 40 years for Post-Doctoral research
2. Possess M.Sc (for Ph.D study) and Ph.D (for Post-Doctoral research) in science/ technology fields.
3. Possess above average academic standing or ‘Very Good’ overall grades
4. Having minimum of 2 years experience for Ph.D . study (post Master degree period) and 5 years for Post-Doctoral research (2 years must be at post-Ph.D. period)
5. Having proven publications and/or research in science and technology (for Post-Doc)
6. Having research proposal in a specific field of study under the Programme directly relevant to country’s development needs.
7. Proven proficiency in the language of study/research (medium of instruction)

Completed Application Form with relevant required documents should be submitted to the respective member country’s Office of the IDB Governor or its designated office (and not directly to the IDB Headquarters in Jeddah), by December 31, 2008.

Application Form and detailed brochure can be obtained from member country’s Office of the IDB Governor, from the IDB Headquarters or from IDB web site.

When inquiring, please indicate your age and nationality.

Hezerul Abdul Karim
University of Surrey,
UK