University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is rich in history - its famous Colleges and University buildings attract visitors from all over the world. But the University's museums and collections also hold many treasures which give an exciting insight into some of the scholarly activities, both past and present, of the University's academics and students.
The University of Cambridge is one of the oldest universities in the world and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. Its reputation for outstanding academic achievement is known world-wide and reflects the intellectual achievement of its students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and the Colleges. Its reputation is endorsed by the Quality Assurance Agency and by other external reviewers of learning and teaching, such as External Examiners.
These high standards are the result of both the learning opportunities offered at Cambridge and by its extensive resources, including libraries, museums and other collections. Teaching consists not only of lectures, seminars and practical classes led by people who are world experts in their field, but also more personalised teaching arranged through the Colleges. Many opportunities exist for students to interact with scholars of all levels, both formally and informally.

There are 31 Colleges in Cambridge. Three are for women (New Hall, Newnham and Lucy Cavendish) and two admit only graduates (Clare Hall and Darwin). The remainder house and teach all students enrolled in courses of study or research at the University
Each College is an independent institution with its own property and income. The Colleges appoint their own staff and are responsible for selecting students, in accordance with University regulations. The teaching of students is shared between the Colleges and University departments. Degrees are awarded by the University.
Within each College, staff and students of all disciplines are brought together. This cross-fertilisation has encouraged the free exchange of ideas which has led to the creation of a number of new companies. Trinity and St John's have also established science parks, providing facilities for start-ups, and making a significant contribution to the identification of Cambridge as a centre of innovation and technology.
In addition to the collections on display in the University's libraries & museums, there is a wealth of sporting and cultural activity at the University of Cambridge, much of it organised by individual clubs and societies run by staff and students. Although the University does not offer courses in the creative arts or sport, there is a strong tradition of achievement in these fields, with many former students going on to gain international standing as artists, performers and athletes. Initiatives ensure that aspiring performers enrich their education with a high level of activity outside the lecture.

Universidades latinoamericanas “tendrían que desarrollar con más fuerza los estudios de posgrado”

El historiador argentino Fernando Devoto -de paso por Montevideo para presentar La Universidad de la República. Desde la crisis a la intervención. 1958-1973, libro póstumo de Blanca Paris de Oddone-, dijo a la diaria que tendrían que “defenderse con más fuerza mecanismos de cooperación y algún tipo de interacción entre las universidades de la región, incluso la creación de algún tipo de institución regional a nivel terciario”.*



El argentino Fernando Devoto y los desafíos de la historia y la universidad actuales.

Titular de teoría e historia de la historiografía en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Fernando Devoto (1949) tuvo cercana relación con Paris y con su esposo (y colega) Juan Oddone. "Creo que la Universidad de la República es un poco un estudio en sí, y es a la vez un lugar en el cual se puede pensar la historia del Uruguay. Tiene un interés específico vinculado a un ámbito importante para la formación de los grupos dirigentes, tanto de dirigentes establecidos como de outsiders, desde el poder y desde la oposición, en un sentido amplio. Esos ámbitos formativos son importantes, no sólo como conjunciones de ideas, sino más aun como constructores de ámbitos de sociabilidad, como ámbitos de interacción", opinó Devoto en relación a la obra de Paris.

-En la presentación se habló de la corriente reformista que refleja el libro, y de Blanca Paris como una historiadora comprometida con los tiempos que le tocó vivir y con los procesos de cambio en la universidad. ¿Cómo se puede relacionar estas ideas con los desafíos actuales de las universidades latinoamericanas ?

-La pregunta es compleja. Primero, haría una precisión. Creo que Blanca Paris fue una persona mucho más comprometida con la reforma de la universidad y con una idea de la universidad que una historiadora o una persona comprometida en la arena política. Eso también es parte del clima del reformismo. Era un compromiso intelectual. Un compromiso desde lo profesional y desde los ámbitos profesionales, más que una participación activa. Dicho esto, creo que una de las virtudes de Juan Oddone y Blanca Paris es que fueron muy imbricados con las dos orillas del Plata. Muchas experiencias de ellos en Buenos Aires reflejan un tiempo de unión entre dos historiografías. El clima cultural ahora es muy diferente. Los desafíos actuales tienen que ver ya no con problemas asociados, por ejemplo, con la explosión de la matrícula. La explosión vino, se instaló y se quedó. Hoy el desafío es pensar en una nueva universidad, en cómo mantener unidos un proceso de especialización con un espíritu global. Es evidente que lo que podríamos hablar sobre estudios terciarios ha cambiado de características. En Argentina hay muchos jóvenes, y también en Uruguay, que van a hacer sus posgrados al exterior. Las universidades latinoamericanas tendrían que desarrollar con más fuerza los estudios de posgrado, tendrían que defenderse con más fuerza mecanismos de cooperación y algún tipo de interacción entre las universidades de la región, incluso la creación de algún tipo de institución regional a nivel terciario. Éstos son problemas que el reformismo no pensaba. El reformismo pensaba “universidad-cambio social”. La universidad tiene en sí un papel en el proceso de cambio, pero ese proceso de cambio tiene que estar vinculado con el ofrecimiento de una enseñanza de calidad. Y además, hoy en día la universidad pública tiene la competencia de las universidades privadas. Lo que se debe conservar, entonces, y lo que planteaba el reformismo, es la idea de que el Estado tiene que garantizar no sólo los estudios gratuitos sino una educación de excelencia. Y esa educación de excelencia no siempre es posible con una educación masificada, por lo que el Estado tiene que tener distintas alternativas. Pero el Estado no puede perder mecanismos de controles que aseguren la formación de sus cuadros dirigentes.

-En eso jugaría un papel importante el intercambio académico, tanto en beneficio de las ciencias sociales como para los procesos de la universidad latinoamericana. Y también puede tener un papel muy importante para la historia, como lo fueron, por ejemplo, para el desarrollo inicial del Instituto de Investigaciones los aportes de historiadores argentinos como Emilio Ravignani y José Luis Romero.

-Yo diría que de todas maneras hoy no se plantea del mismo modo que a mediados de la década de 1940. Yo no iría por ahí. Eso respondía a problemas de aquel entonces. Yo creo que hoy en día es un problema de diálogo entre iguales, de intercambio. Pero sí insistiría mucho sobre el tema de un marco de circulación, un marco de intercambio. Profesores argentinos que enseñen en un período en las universidades uruguayas, profesores uruguayos que enseñen por períodos en las universidades argentinas o brasileñas. No te digo otros países porque tiene un sistema universitario muy diferente. Pero en estos tres países, Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay, hay compatibilidad ,¿por qué no hay un acuerdo que implique este intercambio de experiencias? Hay que abrir la universidad de algo que aparece poco en el libro de Blanca Paris, que son los intereses corporativos. Los grupos académicos son focos que se autoprotegen y se autoreproducen. Entonces eso limita las posibilidades de contar con una universidad de excelencia. ¿Cómo se combate eso? Yo creo que con una apertura. Apertura al mundo global, una apertura de aquellas universidades que tienen desafíos, que tienen intereses y que tienen perspectivas comunes en la región.

-¿Como podrían ayudar estos intercambios al estudio de la historia regional y de la historia comparada?

-El futuro de la historiografía está más allá de las historias nacionales. Entonces acá tenemos dos vías. Una es la historia regional. Una historia que se da por dimensiones que no son delimitadas por lo político sino por otras características, que pueden ser sociales, económicas, espaciales, que van más allá de las fronteras políticas. La otra idea es la historia comparada, que permite ciertas unidades de observación, que en este caso no necesariamente tienen por qué ser una historia comparada de Argentina y Uruguay, pero sí, por ejemplo, se puede hacer una historia comparada de Uruguay y el litoral argentino. Siempre debe haber comparación con unidades similares, y en el problema de la regionalización, lo importante es la delimitación de la región. O sea, lo que tiene que resolver el historiador es el objeto de estudio, cómo lo delimita, cuál es la escala en la que quiere operar y cuáles son las operaciones que quiere hacer a partir de ellos.

-Usted tiene una relación bastante cercana con historiadores uruguayos. ¿Cuál es su opinión acerca del estado de la historiografía uruguaya?

-Creo que está ante un desafío, y que es también el de la historiografía argentina, que es cómo se sustituye una generación de grandes historiadores a los que les pasó su tiempo, por su desaparición o su retiro. El problema se presenta no sólo para los que son los sustitutos naturales de la historia académica, sino para las nuevas generaciones (y, pensando en la pregunta, yo no sé si tengo los elemento suficientes para responder eso). O sea, no la generación inmediatamente sucesiva, sino la otra. En ese contexto, noto sí que hay una generación joven de muy buenos historiadores uruguayos, formados en el exterior, gran parte de ellos, y muy profesionales. Puedo citar el caso de Vania Markarian, quien estudió en Estado Unidos. Hay otros, como Laura Reali, que está en Francia, o Isabella Cosse, que está en Buenos Aires. Pienso que ahí está el futuro de la historiografía uruguaya.

-¿Cuál es su opinión sobre el papel que han jugado los historiadores argentinos en los festejos del Bicentenario?

-Primero, los historiadores juegan el papel que les dejan jugar. En ese sentido, yo diría que los historiadores en general han tenido un lugar bastante marginal. Y lo han tenido quizás no porque ellos lo hayan querido, sino porque también los historiadores tienen hoy un conjunto de desafíos, como los operadores y gestores mediáticos, que eran desafíos impensables hace 30, 40 años. Entonces, considero que lo que tenemos hoy son best sellers, tenemos medios de comunicación, etcétera. La industria editorial ha dicho lo suyo. Además, no te olvides de que los historiadores no tienen que construir mitos, tienen que criticarlos. En general, las conmemoraciones, como el Centenario, el Bicentenario, son concepciones siempre arbitrarias. Es más una celebración del presente con la excusa del pasado. Entonces, en ese punto el historiador debería ser más bien, lamentablemente, un aguafiestas. Y, ¿quién quiere un aguafiestas?

* La entrevista fue realizada por el periodista Santiago Delgado.

Should Diversity Be Added to Best Law Schools Rankings?

U.S. News recently received a letter from The State Bar of California asserting that our main Best Law Schools rankings would be improved by including numerous diversity-related measures.


This new diversity category would include indicators measuring the degree to which a law school's student body is ethnically diverse, possibly relative to state-wide demographic data. One indicator would be a determination of whether law schools had taken "concrete actions," via programs and activities committed to diversity that are aligned with the "ABA Accreditation Standards on Diversity" (Standard 212).


U.S. News was urged to poll diversity professionals at law schools on diversity reputation or include diversity as a category on our existing reputation surveys. Finally, the letter also recommends that these new diversity variables count for a total of 15 percent of a law school's overall score and that the weights of the existing peer surveys and student selectivity (admissions data) be reduced.


U.S. News doesn't incorporate our current diversity index or diversity into the Best Law Schools rankings, because measuring how successful law schools are at achieving diversity goals cannot be included easily in our rankings formula in a fair and meaningful way. The current U.S. News diversity index does not measure how successful law schools are at achieving diversity standards against a benchmark; rather, it measures to what extent a law school is diverse.


There are many key questions that need to be resolved. For example, U.S. News would need to determine what scale would be used to measure diversity success for each law school. How should law schools be compared in ethnically diverse states like California and Florida with those in far less diverse states like Vermont and Iowa? Should Stanford University and the University of Southern California, both private law schools, be measured against the same scale as public schools in California like UCLA?


How should diversity at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and North Carolina Central University law schools, which are part of the historically black colleges and universities, be measured? Should diversity just be based on ethnic diversity and not take into account economic diversity? How would law school economic diversity be measured? We also need to consider what the law schools themselves think about including diversity in the rankings.


Yet another important issue is to what degree diversity is linked to academic quality versus being an important social goal. There is also the key question of whether diversity should even be included in the rankings, given that the main purpose of the rankings is to identify the best schools academically.


I spoke with Craig Holden, a partner at Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith and chair of the Council on Access & Fairness for The State Bar of California, who was the catalyst behind the proposal to U.S. News, and told him that U.S. News was willing to have further discussions so we could determine the feasibility of the suggestions.


In addition, U.S. News would need to work with a representative group of legal educators and others to develop such diversity success yardsticks. We cannot do it without outside assistance and some meaningful level of agreement on the right things to measure and the correct metrics to use to measure them.


Searching for a law firm? Get our complete rankings of Best Law Firms.

Researchers Discuss the Higher Ed Act

I recently returned from the 2008 Southern Association for Institutional Research Conference in Memphis. I go to these conferences in the United States and around the world to give talks on the Best Colleges rankings, find out the latest trends at universities, determine what new higher education data U.S. News should try to collect, and get feedback. I made one presentation: "America's Best Colleges Rankings: What Just Happened and What's Ahead."


The impact on colleges and students of the recently passed Higher Education Opportunity Act was discussed at length there. The HEOA includes provisions aimed at making more information available so that the public can better understand and respond to the rising cost of a college education. The act calls for the U.S. Department of Education to collect and publish on its website College Navigator a wide variety of information on college affordability, the net price of attending college by income level for those receiving student aid, which schools are raising tuitions more than others, and other consumer topics, including the time it takes to complete a degree at that college, alternative tuition plans, and information for disabled students.


There was also an update on the now two-year-old Voluntary System of Accountability project, which is a partnership between the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The VSA's goal is to provide students with comparable information on public institutions in a standardized format called College Portraits. The VSA deserves a lot of credit for being the only such effort underway that will include comparative data on student engagement as well as information on student learning outcomes. There is good news, too: As of October 18, nearly 60 percent (309 schools) of the 520 member institutions of the two higher education associations have agreed to participate in the project, and over 200 have already posted College Portraits. These colleges enroll some 3 million undergraduates, nearly 60 percent of the total undergraduate enrollment in four-year public colleges and universities. But there's a potential cloud on the horizon: Because the VSA system is, by definition, voluntary, it's unclear what proportion of four-year public colleges will end up participating and making all their information public.

High Schoolers Take More Credits Than Ever

Today's high school students are taking more classes than ever.

According to a new study by the National Center for Education Statistics, the average high school graduate in 2009 earned about three credits more than graduates in 1990. The extra credits amounted to about 420 more hours spent in the classroom than 1990 graduates.

Where did students find the time? About 1 in 5 took a summer class at some point during their high school careers; some students earned high school credits such as Algebra I, foreign language, and biology in middle school; and about 5 percent of graduates took a supplemental course online.

About 13 percent of graduates completed a "rigorous" curriculum, which includes at least three years of a foreign language; math coursework that includes pre-calculus; and at least three years of science, including at least one course in biology, chemistry, and physics. In 1990, just 5 percent of students completed such a rigorous curriculum, and in 2005, 10 percent did.

[Read about the growth of foreign languages in high schools.]

Not all graduates completed a tough curriculum, though—25 percent of graduates completed a curriculum considered below standard. In 1990, 60 percent of students completed a below-standard curriculum. The study defined a standard curriculum as four years of English and three each of social studies, math, and science. Many of these graduates failed to meet the science benchmark.

Not surprisingly, those who completed rigorous and midlevel coursework scored highest on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics and science standardized tests. Graduates with higher GPAs also scored higher on the tests. The NAEP tests are given to students to determine national education levels. Scores on the mathematics test were virtually unchanged between 2005 and 2009; the science test was not given in 2005.

[Learn about the surge in AP science and math enrollment.]

Female graduates had an average GPA of 3.10, while males earned an average of 2.90. That gap was the smallest since 1990, and overall, GPAs improved from 2.68 in 1990 to an average of 3.0 in 2009. That number was unchanged since 2005. Males outscored females on NAEP math and science tests.

White and Asian/Pacific Islander students earned higher GPAs than Hispanics and blacks, but GPAs generally improved across the board.

The National Center for Education Statistics, which is affiliated with the Department of Education, studied 37,700 high school transcripts from 740 public and private schools nationwide.

See how your school stacks up in our rankings of Best High Schools. Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.

Online Pharmacy Degrees

Online degrees have taken the world by storm and have been beneficial to millions of students and working professionals from all over the world. Not only can students pursue higher education of their choice, but they can also continue working as professionals in their respective fields even while pursuing these online courses. Online pharmacy degrees are one such variety of courses that one can opt for across some of the most renowned institutes of the world.

Online pharmacy degrees have been endowed with a number of features to enable individuals/students interested in this field to take up these courses that definitely promise for great careers ahead. A few of the most significant elements associated with the online pharmacy degrees have been mentioned below for your perusal:

- These courses train students across the various aspects related to pharmacy degrees including the technical aspects as well.

- Complete information on medications and their usage, knowledge of the pharmaceutical drugs as well as computer database administration etc are also included as part of the online pharmacy degrees.

- Online pharmacy degrees are also blessed with features to enable world class information and knowledge even about the mistakes and hazards related to the usage of incorrect medications and even fake medicines as well.

Pharmacy degrees online also open numerous opportunities to the students and people who are already working in this field can surely expect to better their career chances after having successfully completed the courses. Besides the theoretical aspects, these courses are also equipped to train students in maintaining the right public relations with the patients as well as health workers and professionals. Among other responsibilities associated with people after having completed the online pharmacy degrees are responsibilities like information on alternate medicines, capability of suggesting this type of medicines, coordination with health insurance companies as well as filling prescriptions.

A few of the most reputed institutes where one can apply to take up online pharmacy degrees are Ashford University, University of Phoenix and University of Florida etc.

School Psychology: An Interesting Field

School psychology is an interesting field if you are interested in helping the children deal with different themes such as social, emotional and scientific issues. The school psychologist act as intermediaries between pupils, parents and teachers. He/she helps, a healthy environment for promoting better learn through the students. Professionally speaking, school psychology is a relatively new profession. But it is quickly to the most coveted Job in education. School psychology is that the students and parents and teachers, address, and with the behavior issues in education and the home. They will contribute to development of techniques needed to deal with the issues. You can also the training of teachers and parents to overcome a crisis Situation.

The National Association of school psychology has five areas where the services of a school psychologist can fulfill a great need. The areas include research and planning, prevention, Intervention, evaluation and consulting. School psychologists may be used as a coach or Educators for parents and community development of children, with the help understand the basics behavior management techniques and behavior problems of a child. Employment Opportunities for school psychologists are becoming more and more. Most school psychologists have little difficulty, work in elementary and secondary schools, private practice, hospitals and universities.

To a school psychologist, needs for training and certification. Several states have different rules about the minimum necessary training. So before the program, it must be some examinations to the rules and regulations for the state you live. School psychology is a great way of support for children and parents deal with the various issues common to young people at a school setting.

Consulting education is the last happens, which is slowly catching up in almost all the educational environments in the world. It is not limited to a particular country or a particular area of education. In fact, students are consulting as abroad for higher studies and helping them to make the right choice as far as your career. career guidance helps not only that the right choice of career, but helps them is confident that persons to various problems in the field of education. Training advice is priceless and indispensable because of these changing educational Patterns and specializations. It is necessary that every educational institution decides for the implementation of this advice programs from time to time to improve their students.

.2011 Rankings of Universities in the world(1-100)

Rank School Name Overall Score Country
1 Harvard University 100.0 United States
2 University of Cambridge 99.6 United Kingdom
3 Yale University 99.1 United States
4 UCL (University College London) 99.0 United Kingdom
5 Imperial College London 97.8 United Kingdom
5 University of Oxford 97.8 United Kingdom
7 University of Chicago 96.8 United States
8 Princeton University 96.6 United States
9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 96.1 United States
10 California Institute of Technology (Caltech) 95.9 United States
11 Columbia University 95.6 United States
12 University of Pennsylvania 94.2 United States
13 Johns Hopkins University 94.1 United States
14 Duke University 92.9 United States
15 Cornell University 92.5 United States
16 Stanford University 92.2 United States
17 Australian National University 90.5 Australia
18 McGill University 90.4 Canada
19 University of Michigan 89.9 United States
20 University of Edinburgh 89.3 United Kingdom
20 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) 89.3 Switzerland
22 University of Tokyo 88.9 Japan
23 King's College London 88.4 United Kingdom
24 University of Hong Kong 87.5 Hong Kong
25 Kyoto University 87.1 Japan
26 University of Manchester 85.7 United Kingdom
27 Carnegie Mellon University 85.6 United States
28 Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris 85.4 France
29 University of Toronto 85.3 Canada
30 National University of Singapore (NUS) 84.3 Singapore
31 Brown University 83.9 United States
32 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) 83.5 United States
32 Northwestern University 83.5 United States
34 University of Bristol 83.4 United Kingdom
35 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 83.3 Hong Kong
36 École Polytechnique 83.1 France
36 University of Melbourne 83.1 Australia
36 University of Sydney 83.1 Australia
39 University of California, Berkeley 82.7 United States
40 University of British Columbia 81.2 Canada
41 University of Queensland 80.7 Australia
42 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne 80.6 Switzerland
43 Osaka University 80.1 Japan
43 Trinity College Dublin 80.1 Ireland
45 Monash University 80.0 Australia
46 The Chinese University of Hong Kong 79.6 Hong Kong
47 University of New South Wales 79.0 Australia
47 Seoul National University 79.0 Korea, South
49 University of Amsterdam 78.9 Netherlands
49 Tsinghua University 78.9 China
51 University of Copenhagen 78.8 Denmark
52 New York University (NYU) 78.4 United States
52 Peking University 78.4 China
54 Boston University 77.8 United States
55 Technische Universität München 76.3 Germany
55 Tokyo Institute of Technology 76.3 Japan
57 Heidelberg University 76.2 Germany
58 University of Warwick 75.7 United Kingdom
59 University of Alberta 75.4 Canada
60 Leiden University 75.3 Netherlands
61 The University of Auckland 74.7 New Zealand
61 University of Wisconsin-Madison 74.7 United States
63 Aarhus University 74.5 Denmark
63 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 74.5 United States
65 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 74.2 Belgium
66 University of Birmingham 73.9 United Kingdom
67 London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) 73.7 United Kingdom
67 Lund University 73.7 Sweden
69 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology 72.6 Korea, South
70 Utrecht University 72.4 Netherlands
70 University of York 72.4 United Kingdom
72 University of Geneva 72.3 Switzerland
73 Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 72.0 Singapore
73 Washington University in St. Louis 72.0 United States
75 Uppsala University 71.9 Sweden
76 University of California, San Diego 71.5 United States
76 University of Texas at Austin 71.5 United States
78 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 71.3 United States
79 University of Glasgow 71.2 United Kingdom
80 University of Washington 71.1 United States
81 University of Adelaide 70.8 Australia
82 University of Sheffield 70.6 United Kingdom
83 Delft University of Technology 70.4 Netherlands
84 University of Western Australia 70.2 Australia
85 Dartmouth College 70.1 United States
86 Georgia Institute of Technology 70.0 United States
87 Purdue University 69.8 United States
87 University of St Andrews 69.8 United Kingdom
89 University College Dublin 69.7 Ireland
90 Emory University 69.6 United States
91 University of Nottingham 69.4 United Kingdom
92 Nagoya University 69.2 Japan
92 University of Zurich 69.2 Switzerland
94 Freie Universität Berlin 69.0 Germany
95 University of Southampton 68.9 United Kingdom
95 National Taiwan University 68.9 Taiwan
97 Tohoku University 68.6 Japan
98 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München 68.4 Germany
99 University of Leeds 68.3 United Kingdom
100 Rice University 68.1 United States


(1-100) (101-200)
Top 600 Universities in the World 2010
1--100 101--200 201--300 301--400 401--500 501--600
More Webpages of World University Rankings