One of CAPA's main responsibilities is to ensure the postgraduate voice is heard at the national level. Below is a sample of recent media featuring postgraduate issues promoted by CAPA.
GOVERNMENT funding for research grants should be doubled so that the success rate of applications can be boosted to 40 per cent, according to a parliamentary committee report.
INTERNATIONAL postgraduate research student numbers in Australia have increased more rapidly than those in other programs, suggesting the country is finding traction in the global talent wars, new research has shown.
The number of overseas research students in Australia has grown by 67per cent from 2002 to 2007, while the number of international students in higher education has increased 52per cent, an IDP conference heard last week.
KIM Carr's Excellence in Research for Australia initiative so far looks to be a welcome one. The scheme is transparent, comprehensible and doesn't ignore the contribution of early career researchers, including research postgraduates. There are pitfalls inherent in any measure of research quality, but this scheme already represents a remarkable improvement on its predecessor.
A good research assessment initiative avoids creating incentives that work against support for innovation across a broad range of disciplines, regions and institutions.
The University of NSW has urged the government to add foreign university teachers and researchers operating in areas of skills shortages to the commonwealth's list of in-demand migrant occupations.
UNIVERSITIES are among the few winners in last night's budget, with Education Minister Julia Gillard announcing an immediate injection into the system of $500million.
The one-off Renewal Fund is intended to help universities "rebuild their campus infrastructure after 11 years of Howard government neglect".
The higher education sector has low expectations for this year's federal budget and has put the government on notice that next year's must significantly progress the sector or Labor's "education revolution" will be at risk.
Student poverty, in this case PhDs in poverty, hit the headlines again last week with the news that the stipend was expected to fall below the poverty line by the end of the year.
At a time when Australia is grappling with the complex environmental impacts of climate change, a recent report on Australia's research workforce shows only 53 students are pursuing doctoral degrees in environmental studies.
The federal government has been urged to set tough targets to ward off a bleak and unprosperous future for Australia as it wades through hundreds of submissions to the national innovation review.
