In the Netherlands school-aged children in the age range 5 to 16 years no longer participating in any form of education is an increasingly frequent phenomenon. Children who are absent from school for a period of two months or more are referred to as long-term truants. On behalf of NWO, Theo van Batenburg and his colleagues investigated the number of long-term truants, their characteristics and the underlying causes of this absenteeism. The report has recently been published.
Each year
Four proposals have been honoured in the subsidy programme ’Medium Investments Social Sciences’. A total of 950,000 euros has been awarded. The projects are an international study into integration, a magnetic laboratory for brain research, a computer for genetic analyses and virtual reality as a trial area for psychological experiments.
The programme for medium-sized investments covers subsidies for the purchase of equipment and for the setting up of data collections, associat
The UK’s eight Research Councils have begun an initiative to assess the efficiency and value for money of their grant peer review process.
The UK peer review system provides an international benchmark of research quality and the project is based on a continuing commitment of the Research Councils and Government to the principle of the project-based peer review system. The initiative will provide evidence that will inform possible efficiency gains while maintaining the high quali
Building a self-reliant moon colony is no longer science fiction, or a gimmick to promote the new James Bond film. It is indeed near-term reality.
After the Apollo landings, the moon returned to its magnificent desolation, and has until recently received very little attention as a target of exploration, let alone settlement. Currently, the Swedish-made SMART-1 is the only spacecraft orbiting the moon. It is scheduled to impact in early 2007, but another Swedish effort is already
Major research is being carried out by academics at Sunderland and Cambridge universities into the experiences of working class students in higher education.
The work, which is part of a £30m research programme, could help universities better understand issues such as progression and retention, as well as create a greater awareness of how to improve provision and support for students from backgrounds where there is little tradition of higher education.
The research will
ESA has received an award for achievement in the public sector, for its Technology Transfer activities, announced at the first annual International Marketplace and Conference for Technology Transfer Professionals (IPTEC) in Cannes last month.
ESA can claim 200 successful examples of technology transfer in the past 16 years, leading to the set up of 30 companies being set up in Europe. The award, presented by the Mayor of Cannes, was received by Pierre Brisson, ESA Head of technolo
Despite their reputation as a cruel tool of teachers intent on striking fear into the hearts of unprepared students, quizzes — given early and often — may be a student’s best friend when it comes to understanding and retaining information for the long haul, suggests new psychology research from Washington University in St. Louis.
“Students who self-test frequently while studying on their own may be able to learn more, in much less time, than they might by simply study
Venus, as the goddess of beauty, has been celebrated in art and myth for millennia. Now, The Planetary Society and ESA celebrate the imagined rugged beauty of the planet’s natural landscape with the winning entries in the ’Postcards from Venus’ art contest in coordination with ESA’s Venus Express mission, en route toward a rendezvous with Venus on 11 April 2006.
Winners were selected in two age groups, youth and adult, with the Grand Prize winner being Tatianna Cwick, age
Learning becomes more and more important as one of the indispensable tools to ensure future prosperity and well-being. New learning paradigms and pedagogic principles, new learning environments and conditions, and new learning technologies are being tested in order to find the right combination of parameters that can optimize the outcome of the learning process in a given situation.
After a successful prelude with a number of publications on learning, including the book The Future of L
The IST project SENSATION is an ambitious project of 46 partners from 20 different countries, addressing sensing of physiological parameters, core computation, medical and industrial research. The aim is to take sleep research to a whole new level by developing a multipurpose sensing platform consisting of 17 micro sensors and two nano sensors, connected through a local area network.
“The sensors will allow you to sleep at home on, for instance, a mattress with sensors instead of going to
The University of Helsinki engages in international top-level research across a broad front. Nearly two-thirds of the 75 units engaged in research received the highest or second-highest grade on a scale of 1 to 7 when compared with other comparable European research institutions.
Peer reviews reveal the University of Helsinki’s research to be of even higher quality than in the first evaluation carried out in 1999. This was the conclusion of the international experts, who evaluat
Education and training are the linchpins that will give the nation’s Hispanic workers and their children important tools to contribute to and share in U.S. prosperity, says a new report from the National Academies’ National Research Council that examines the Hispanic experience in the United States. Targeted investments in these areas would benefit not only Hispanics, but also the country as a whole by enhancing U.S. productivity as baby boomers shift into retirement.
The childr
The University of Kent is launching a unique cross-disciplinary degree course that explores artificial intelligence (AI) from the combined perspectives of computer science, philosophy, psychology, biology and electronics.
Championed by technology experts and visionaries ranging from Bill Gates to film-maker George Lucas, AI is about making computers behave intelligently – for instance, by performing tasks requiring the ability to learn, to reason and to cope with unpredicted si
Romania has strengthened its relations with ESA by signing the European Cooperating State Agreement, becoming the third European country to join this status. Hungary was the first in April 2003 followed by the Czech Republic in November of the same year.
The ceremony took place in Bucharest with the participation of Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, Prime Minister of Romania, Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, Anton Anton, Romanian Secretary of State for Science and Technology, Marius-Ioa
In response to the European Commission’s launch of a Communication to the European Council on developing a knowledge flagship: the European Institute of Technology, MEPs Prof. Jerzy Buzek and Dr. Jorgo Chatzimarkakis called for stronger links between the innovation, research and business communities.
According to Dr. Chatzimarkakis the EIT is now foreseen as a network – linking the best departments of various EU Universities and industries/businesses to create “knowledge communitie
Manchester is set to become a major contributor to stem-cell research with the opening of one of the most hi-tech facilities in the UK.
The North West Embryonic Stem Cell Centre, based at St Mary’s Hospital and The University of Manchester, will develop new treatments for diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
The £2 million centre will produce embryonic stem cells of high enough quality for human transplantation – one of only a handful of laboratories in the UK able to do
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