London’s business schools top the FT rankings

London Business School

The 2009 FT ranking of Executive-MBA programmes (EMBAs) lists more courses taught in London in the top 10 than any other city in the world.

The Trium programme, a joint degree between the London School of Economics, HEC Paris and New York University’s Stern School of Business, has climbed one place to second best in the world.

Two programmes from London Business School are in the top 10. Its Executive MBA with Columbia Business School in New York is at number three while its stand alone EMBA is at number eight.

Joining them in the top 10 at number four is University of Chicago Booth’s EMBA which is taught on its London campus as well as in Chicago and Singapore.

The FT’s EMBA ranking measures career progression and research undertaken within each business school as well as the salary increase that graduates report three years after graduation. The fact that more top programmes are based in London demonstrates London’s continued strength as a business education centre.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

University College London and Yale partnership

University College London

University College London (UCL) has recently announced a partnership with Yale University to improve the human condition through translational medicine.

Translational medicine aims to improve patient treatments using molecular and cellular discoveries. This research focussed approach aims to increase the speed at which discoveries made in the laboratory are turned into remedies that can be used to treat patients.

Initial research will focus on cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurosciences but will also expand into other areas of basic research, including cancer biology, neuroscience and women’s health.

UCL was recently ranked fourth in The Times Higher Education/QS World University Rankings, and Yale ranked third.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

Cherie Blair opens pioneering School of Education

Cherie Blair with students (source: UEL)

The University of East London’s (UEL) new Sir John Cass School of Education was recently opened by Cherie Blair QC, a leading barrister and campaigner for equality and human rights.

The School of Education is one of London’s foremost centres for teacher training and will become a unique community resource for children and schools around London.

Accommodating almost 2,500 students, the School’s range of impressive facilities include:

• Research and specially equipped teaching areas
• A music, dance and drama studio
• ICT and science laboratories
• An art, design & textiles studio

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

Rare meteorite found in Australian desert

Imperial College London

Researchers at Imperial College London have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered where in the Solar System it came from using a new camera network.

Meteorites are the only surviving physical record of the formation of our Solar System. By analysing meteorites, researchers can learn valuable information about the conditions that existed when the Solar System was being formed.

However, information about where individual meteorites originated, and how they were moving around the Solar System prior to falling to Earth, is available for only a dozen of around 1100 documented meteorite falls over the past two hundred years.

The new meteorite, which is about the size of cricket ball, is the first to be retrieved since researchers from Imperial set up their cameras to track meteorites falling in Australia. They hope that their new desert network could yield many more findings.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

African Leadership Centre

King’s College London

King’s College London has been awarded a grant of $1,680,500 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to fund Peace and Security Fellowships at the African Leadership Centre (ALC).

The ALC equips young Africans with the skills and knowledge to become leading analysts and policymakers on peace, security and development in Africa. It was first established in 2008 by King’s in partnership with Kenyatta University in Kenya.

The Carnegie grant will enable 21 young African scholars to complete Master’s courses in ‘Conflict, Security and Development’, or ‘International Peace and Security’ at King’s starting in 2010.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

London universities ranked best in the world

University College London

London has more universities in the top 100 universities than any other city in the world, according to the 2009 Times Higher Education – QS World University Rankings.

University College London was ranked 4th in the world, rising 3 places since last year and an incredible 30 places since 2004. The college is now ranked higher than Oxford University, which is ranked joint 5th together with another of London’s universities, Imperial College London.

Other notable entries in the top 100 include King’s College London at number 23 and the London School Economics (LSE) at number 67.

The Times Higher Education – QS World University Rankings measure universities using a number of criteria including academic peer review, employer review, the faculty staff to student ratio, citations per faculty and the proportion of international students and international staff at each university.

Simon – www.studylondon.ac.uk

LSE economic research prize

Professor John Van Reenen

Professor John Van Reenen from the London School of Economics (LSE) has been awarded the Yrjö Jahnsson Award in Economics 2009, Europe’s most prestigious prize for economic researchers.

Professor Reenen is the director of the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at LSE and he shares the award with LSE graduate Fabrizio Zilibotti who now works at the University of Zurich.

The award recognises the broad scope and impact of Professor Van Reenen’s business research and particularly his analysis of technological innovation and its link with economic growth.

Every two years, the prize is awarded a European economist under the age of 45 who has made a contribution in theoretical and applied research that is significant to economics in Europe.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

UK’s first Urban dance studios opened

Urban dancers at UEL

The University of East London (UEL) has opened two new state-of-the-art dance studios for their Institute of Performing Arts and Dance (IPAD).

The two large dance studios are in the heart of one of the largest artistic and cultural sites in East London and the studios will be used to train students studying the UEL’s BA Dance: Urban Practice.

The studios are the UK’s first teaching space devoted to Urban Dance Forms and East London is fast becoming a hub for urban dance innovation.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

New Darwin Centre

Outside the stunning new Dawin Centre

The new Darwin Centre, an inspirational new museum collection that will safeguard 17 million insect and three million plant specimens, has been opened at the Natural History Museum by Prince William.

A new state-of-the-art scientific research facility within the Centre will be used by over 200 scientists at a time. Visitors will be allowed to journey deep into the heart of the eight-storey cocoon.

Once inside, visitors can watch scientists at work in laboratories and question them about their cutting-edge research.

Natural history footage is available to visitors in the high-tech Attenborough Studio and curious visitors can interact with the 12-metre Climate Change Wall which opens up a hidden world at the Natural History Museum.

The Natural History Museum is also a world-leading science research centre and was selected by Time Out magazine as one of the Seven Wonders of London.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk

New law degree

Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor and President of HKU, and Professor Rick Trainor, Principal of King’s

King’s College London and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have signed collaboration agreements to establish a dual degree programme in law.

International legal practice is increasingly requiring lawyers to be qualified in more than one jurisdiction. Consequently, students trained through this joint programme will be highly valued by international law firms and multinational companies.

The new dual degree in Law is a 5-year programme leading to the award of two degrees: the HKU LLB and King’s LLB in English Law and Hong Kong Law. For the first time, students will be able to study for two concurrent qualifying law degrees, spending two years in London followed by three years in Hong Kong.

Kevin – www.studylondon.ac.uk