UK, Bolivia, US: University News

The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 30 August 2013.

UK: Almost 90% of graduates from 2009 are employed

Despite the recession, nine out of ten UK graduates from 2008-2009 were employed three and a half years later, reports The Guardian. The figures come from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), which surveyed more than 60,000 graduates. Only 3.2% were unemployed, compared with the general unemployment rate of 7.8%. The chief executive of the vice-chancellors group Universities UK, Nicola Dandridge, said: “Graduates from UK universities are in demand from employers, both here and overseas, and are more likely to be employed and earn more than non-graduates over a working lifetime.”

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Bolivia: Swiss researchers discover ancient human settlement

Swiss archeologists from the University of Bern have discovered 10,000 year old remnants of a community in the Bolivian Amazon, reports University Herald. The researchers found mounds of seashells that were left by people living about 10,400 years ago. The soil that formed the mounds contained human remains, pottery and tools. Study author Doctor Umberto Lombardo said: “We have discovered the oldest archaeological sites in western and southern Amazonia. These sites allow us to reconstruct 10,000 years of human-environment interactions in the Bolivian Amazon.”

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US: MIT and Chilean researchers enhance fog-harvesting system

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers, together with colleagues from the Pontifical Catholic University in Santiago, Chile, have published research about harvesting water out of air that could improve existing systems fivefold, reports MIT News. Existing systems consist of a vertical mesh that catches tiny airborne droplets. The researchers said that the system could be improved by making the mesh finer and the holes between the filaments smaller, which would then extract 10% water instead of the 2% that the system gets currently.

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Myanmar: Higher education survey will aim to improve standards

The University Teachers’ Association has begun a higher education survey with the aim of improving standards in the region, reports Mizzima. Teachers and students from 54 universities in Myanmar under the Department of Higher Education will be asked to give their opinions on questions about development initiatives, and these surveys will help inform that department’s decisions. The Central Committee member of the Dagon University Teachers’ Association, U Arkar Moe Thu, said: “Our primary aim is to understand the intentions and views of current teachers and students in universities.”

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