We visited a range of international and local schools and met with college counsellors, career advisors and some of their students to demonstrate the i-studentgroup websites and resources. The response we received was fantastic, with many counsellors saying what great research tools our sites were.

“Thank you for visiting my school and meeting the students to introduce your resources. It was very valuable indeed”

“It was wonderful to meet you and I look forward to exploring these websites”

“Judging from the student feedback, I think it’s been a worthwhile experience and I would certainly encourage them to use the websites and will introduce it to our students each year”

“Thank you very much for your visit! Please email me anything that you feel is of relevance to our students and I shall let you know if there is anything that you could use to improve the already excellent service that the i-studentgroup provides”

Special thanks goes to:

• Simone Salier at the Island School, Hong Kong
• Martin Campion at the South Island School, Hong Kong
• Robert Mansueto at the Chinese International School, Hong Kong
• Bob Bate at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong
• Tim Gartz at the American International School
• Caroline Faris at the International School Singapore
• Sam Fleischmann at the International Community School Singapore
• Kevin Sim and Jasmine Seah at Raffles Institution (Junior College), Singapore
• Sheta Saha at the Chatsworth International School, Singapore
• Rita Kaur at ACS International, Singapore
• Alex Furstenberg at Mont’Kiara International School, Malaysia
• Sharleen Tam and Aananthi Seventhy at Taylor’s College, Malaysia
• Nick Marriot at the International School of Brunei
• Russell Mann at Jerudong International School, Brunei
• Sean McAuley and Michael Clancy at Bali International School
• John Milliss at the Australian International School – Bali campus
• Brenton Hall at the Australian International School – Jakarta campus
• Binky Iskander at the Binus International School, Simprug, Indonesia
• Robyn Combes at Sekolah Pelita Harapan, Indonesia
• Shruti Tewari at Sinarmas World Academy, Indonesia
• Novita Sasongko at the Global Jaya International School, Indonesia
• Laura Berggren at the Bandung Alliance International School, Indonesia
• Jan Russell at Bandung International School, Indonesia

If you are a college counsellor or careers advisor and would like any further information about the i-studentgroup websites, please email us at:
info@i-studentavdisor.com

Of the Top 50 institutions listed, the US holds 29 of the places, followed by the UK (6), Canada (3), Japan (3), China (2) and single positions for the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Russia.

The survey was part of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010-11 and was conducted in multiple languages with more than 13,000 higher education academics around the world; respondents were asked to highlight “what they believed to be the strongest universities for teaching and research in their own fields”.

The top six institutions which appear in the list – Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, University of California Berkely, Stanford University and the University of Oxford – scored far higher than the other institutions which made the Top 100, suggesting that these institutions are considered world-leaders by the majority of respondents.

The top institutions by country were:

• US – Harvard University
• UK – University of Cambridge
• Japan – University of Tokyo
• Canada – University of Toronto
• Australia – University of Melbourne
• Germany – Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
• The Netherlands – Delft University of Technology
• Switzerland – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
• Sweden – Karolinska Institute

You can download the full Top 50 Rankings, along with their individual research, teaching and overall reputation scores here.

Professor Maguire returns to Australia after more than three years in senior management and editorial roles with the English-language Shanghai Daily in China.

A former managing director of Perth’s The Sunday Times, he brings to Murdoch’s media school a wealth of experience gathered over more than 30 years in daily and Sunday newspapers and radio in Australia, Hong Kong and China.

Dean of Media, Communications and Culture at Murdoch, Associate Professor Chris Smyth said: “David’s experience running newspapers, including in the burgeoning Chinese industry, is a wonderful asset to the journalism programme.

“His appointment as the most senior media figure in any WA journalism school means we can offer courses in new areas like media management and carry out world-class research.

“More importantly for our students, he’s already made a great transition from the newsroom to the lecture theatre as a generous, approachable teacher.”

Professor Maguire said he looked forward to using his experience of the media in China and Hong Kong to further develop Murdoch’s extensive collaborations in the region, build its student base and initiate major research projects.

“The rapid development of all media in China reflects the incredible growth throughout the country and the suite of disciplines offered by Murdoch, from journalism basics to cutting-edge technology and media management, push all the right buttons,” he said.

A Doctor of Business Administration and an MBA, Professor Maguire is adding to his academic credentials with the completion of his PhD at Murdoch on the media’s challenges in covering the chaos of major crises.

To learn more about living and learning down under, why not read the i-studentadvisor Australia guide.

The rankings, which measure research quality, international commitment, graduate employability and teaching commitment have found the top 100 universities are spread across 22 countries; however, only British and American universities achieved a space in the coveted top 10. Fifteen Asian universities appear in the top 100, with the highest ranking institution being the University of Hong Kong at #23.

The top 10 from the QS Rankings were:

1. Cambridge
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. University College London
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6. Oxford
7. Imperial College London
8. The University of Chicago
9. California Institute of Technology
10. Princeton

The QS rankings are weighted:

• 40% to academic reputation
• 10% to employability
• 20% to citations
• 20% to the staff-student ratio
• 10% to how international the make-up of the faculty and student body is.

Ben Sowter, head of research at QS said: “Unlike other rankings systems which rely heavily on statistical indicators of university research, QS also takes into account the most up-to-date views of employers and academics, reflecting the broader interests of students and parents.

“QS rankings reflect the highly competitive environment of global higher education.

“Given the uncertain economic outlook, it is reassuring for students that the top 200 universities are also, by and large, the most popular universities with employers, suggesting that a world-class degree remains the best path to a great job.”

Prior to 2010, QS had worked in collaboration with the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine to compile their rankings. This year, however, THE are publishing their own rankings, having criticised QS for what they consider to be an over-reliance on the subjective experiences of academics and employers. THE have pledged to reduce the weighting behind reputation surveys for their rankings.

Vice-President of Marketing and Admissions for Emaar Education, Celia Her, told Emirates Business that the new institution would “provide higher education in business studies, information technology, science, art, hospitality and other subjects.”

Reports suggest that recruitment of staff and academics is progressing swiftly and that the new Raffles International University may be opening its doors as early as April 2010.

The new school will increase Emaar Education’s influence in Jaipur, as the company already operates the Raffles International School with over 1,000 pupils. Emaar acquired the Singapore-based Raffles in 2006, which has campuses in India, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China and Dubai.

Emaar are also the company behind the $1.5bn Burj Khalifa in Dubai, recognised as the tallest building in the world.

The report, produced by Ernst & Young with the Economist Intelligence Unit, placed Ireland behind Singapore and Hong Kong in a study of 60 countries.

The result was measured “by a country’s openness to trade, movement of capital, exchange of technology and ideas, labour movements, and cultural integration.”

The strength of Ireland’s technology industry has been highlighted in the report, stating:

“In recent years, Ireland has positioned itself as a hub in the global exchange of technology, as a result of its safe operating environment and educated workforce. It may not be the originator of all the innovation that passes through its doors, but the country’s role as a conduit for research and development – through manufacture, packaging and export – has been an important contributor to its high level of globalisation.”

Ernst & Young noted that the economic crisis has slowed Ireland’s growth in globalisation over the last two years but reported that, of the industry executives questioned for the survey, almost half of them expected their international activities to expand over the coming year. Universities and colleges are amongst the organisations seeking to expand their global reach; currently 1 in 12 undergraduates studying in Ireland comes from abroad, with educational groups keen to increase that figure.

For more information on studying in Ireland check out our brand new i-studentadvisor Ireland magazine online now.

The desired outcome of the overhaul is to increase international student figures and raise the profiles of institutions in the county. The scheme is part of a larger initiative to improve the entire education system in the country.

A report in The Australian stated that the overhaul has included millions of dollars worth of investment into research; and a planned changed from the British three-year undergraduate course model to the four-year US model in 2012. An aggressive recruitment scheme for new faculty has also been high on the agenda for the universities.

“We want to recruit aggressively right away,” says Way Kuo, President of the City University of Hong Kong, one of Hong Kong’s eight public universities. “We’d like to recruit a lot of people from America.” The University of Hong Kong has also hired around 100 professors in the past years, with plans for 100 more. Whilst the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong also have plans to recruit at least 100 new faculty members in the following years.

If you are currently working or considering working at a Hong Kong higher education institution, we would love to hear you thoughts on this topic. E-mail us at: editorial@i-studentadvisor.com