Music education programme at University of Canberra
Disadvantaged children could be in tune for a brighter future thanks to a music education programme led by a University of Canberra education researcher. Assistant professor in music and arts education, Dr. Anita Collins, leads a programme in which rural children in Goulburn are learning how to play the violin in order to become more confident at school and improve their reading, writing and maths skills.
Previously, the Goulburn Strings Project, a strings program at the Goulburn Public School in NSW, was able to provide half-hour lessons once a week to 25 children who shared five violins among themselves. But Dr. Collins and colleagues aim to raise funds to be able to purchase a violin for all 50 children at the school to learn the instrument and play every day. To donate visit https://www.justgiving.com/GoulburnStringsProject
Study on pollination biology at University of Vienna produces unusual results
Interactions between flowering plants and their pollinators include some of the most elaborate and intriguing relationships known to science. Agnes Dellinger from the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research of the University of Vienna and her co-authors have found a most unusual relationship with the birds that pollinate the flowers of these plants.
The genus Axinaea belongs to the large, mainly tropical flowering plant family Melastomataceae (Meadow Beauty Family). Most of the approx. 5000 species in the family rely on bees for their pollination. Only about 100 are known to be pollinated by other insects or vertebrates. The flowers of Axinaea appear in clusters of few to more than twenty flowers and the petals of the different species are pink, yellow, orange or red. The stamens (male reproductive organs) stand out based on the contrasting colours of their bulbous appendages.
Even more surprising was the finding that the birds do not feed on nectar as in most other bird-pollinated plants but consume the male reproductive organs (the stamens) while visiting the flowers. It turns out that the birds are attracted to the flowers by the conspicuous and sugar-rich stamen-appendages of Axinaea. As the birds seize a stamen, they are blasted with pollen by the stamen’s complex “bellows” organ. And as the birds forage on, they deposit some of the pollen on a female floral organ (the stigma) and thus pollinate the flower.
For more: http://bit.ly/1qyn218
Researcher at McMaster (Canada) asks: how much time do you spend online?
Michael Van Ameringen, director of McMaster’s Anxiety Research Centre, is collecting data from approximately 2,000 people via an online survey. The results will be pooled with responses from people in the United States and Europe to give researchers a clearer picture of how much time people spend online. It will also help them understand whether people who struggle with managing their time on the web are dealing with issues of obsession, addiction or impulsiveness.
Data collection will continue over the next year, after which researchers can begin their analysis. - See more at: http://bit.ly/1pBDqJ1
UNAI – Republic of Korea to host international conference on post-2015 MDGs
In conjunction with its Second UNAI Collegian Research Paper Contest, the UNAI Academic Impact Republic of Korea (the Korean Association in Support of UNAI), will host an international conference on 28 August 2014 in Seoul. Principal participants will be qualified teams composed of graduate and undergraduate university students from UNAI Hub and universities in Korea. High officials from academia, government, and the United Nations system will join as speakers and judges for the competition. Contact: Dr. Won Gon, Park, Ph.D., Email: wonpark@handong.edu
Conference on communications for development at Roskilde University
For the fourth year in a row, Ørecomm is organising a 4-day event focusing on Communication for Development, this year merged with Sunrise, the major conference that is held at Roskilde University every year. The conference will take place 17-20 September 2014 and will be based on both sides of the strait, at Roskilde University and at Malmö University. The University’s Department of Communication, Business and Information Technologies (CBIT) will act as host for the first two days.
This year’s theme is “Voice and Matter” and will attract participants from all over the world, who will bring new, exciting and current perspectives in the field of theory and practice. Panels and workshops include titles such as: The Role of Media and Communication in the Post 2015 Agenda; Media, Empowerment and Civic Agency; Participatory Video and Interactive Documentary; and Political Economy of the Development Industry.
The event is open for all, but remember to register no later than 31 September. For registration and more details at http://voiceandmatter.net/
South Asian University announces online admission process
Students applying for admission to New Delhi’s South Asian University can do so entirely online. The University has announced that admission to its various Masters as well as M.Phil/Ph.D. programmes and aspirants can complete the entire admission process online. Students, who do not have access to internet banking, credit card or a debit card, to pay the entrance test fee can still apply through the offline mode by downloading the application forms from the university website. To further facilitate free flow of information between the university and aspirants, SAU has opened an admission blog dedicated to the aspirants. The blog has, among other things, the detailed information about the courses, admission procedure, videos and the details of Admission Volunteers, to whom aspirants can ask questions and clarify their doubts. The aspirants can also communicate with the university through social networking pages. More at www.sau.ac.in
The University of Nairobi to introduce a human rights course
The University of Nairobi (UoN) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations to jointly develop the human rights course curriculum as well as develop staff capacity in human rights education.
According to Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UoN, Prof. Lucy Irungu, the University has several centres of excellence focusing on pertinent issues affecting Kenya including the Centre for Human Rights and Peace (CHRP) which will steer the provision of the Human Rights Education course in UoN as well as build a vibrant programme. Already through CHRP, the first cohort of Masters of Arts degree programme in Human Rights is set to graduate later this year.
The partnership will be coordinated by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) who will provide technical support as well as provide a forum for partnership and collaboration in identifying, highlighting and developing responses to human rights challenges.
For more: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/node/6055
KazNU professor publishes anthology of modern Kazakh literature
Dr. Rafis Abazov, a visiting professor at Al Farabi Kazakh university and an adjunct professor at Columbia University has edited “The Stories of the Great Steppe” (Cognella, 2013). Featuring first-time translations of numerous examples of modern Kazakh literature, this anthology provides excellent examples of literary life in both Soviet and post-Soviet Kazakhstan, and introduces readers to the rich literary traditions of of Kazakhstan, which is a part of the unique prose and poetry traditions of the Central Asia steppes and Eurasia.
KazNU hosts the UNAI hub on sustainability and
Dr. Abazov is its focal point.