Latest UK news

Lecturers call for closure of education department
The Department for Education and Employment should be disbanded, according to the Association of University Teachers. This would allow a radical rethink for higher education, says the association in its pre-election manifesto this week.

Medical man to head technology programme
Alan McGregor, head of medicine at King’s College London, has been appointed chairman of the strategy advisory committee for the Basic Technology Research Programme. The £41 million programme aims to develop new technology needed to underpin future research.

Bid to raise endowment threshold for Scots defeated
A bid by opposition MSPs to raise the salary threshold at which Scottish students start paying a graduate endowment was defeated today. Members voted 61 to 43 against an amendment to the Education Scotland Bill which would have raised the threshold from £10,000 to £25,000.

Peers press for change in genetics rules
A shake-up in the rules of human genetic research is urged by an all-party committee of peers today. A report by the House of Lords science and technology committee says that special regulation of human genetic databases is neither necessary nor feasible. It proposes a medical data panel to maximise benefits from the databases.

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