Briefings & Evidence

In autumn 2014, the European and External Relations Committee of the Scottish Parliament agreed to conduct an inquiry into “Connecting Scotland: how Scotland can engage most effectively in a globalising world”.  The Inquiry consisted of  four-strands to consider how the Scottish Government and its agencies engage internationally, and how Scottish organisations engage internationally. Our submission…

Universities Scotland has submitted its response to the Scottish Government’s pre-legislative consultation on a Higher Education Governance Bill. Our response notes that Scotland’s university sector is committed to continual improvement of institutional governance, to ensure that it is effective, inclusive, transparent and accountable. It explains the current framework and recent modernisation through the development and…

Universities Scotland has submitted its response to the Scottish Funding Council’s review of the Research Excellence Grant and Research Postgraduate Grant consultation SFC/CN/04/2014. Key points from our submission: Research Excellence Grant proposals. We support uncoupling the funding provided to support non-charity research/charity income from that provided in recognition of research volume and quality. The proposal to distribute…

The cross-party All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Migration sought engagement with a range of stakeholders to consider what impacts, on students, universities, and local economies, the closure of the Tier 1 PSW route has had on the attractiveness of the UK as a destination to study, following the UK Government’s decision to close the post-study work route…

The Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce focused primarily on the 50% of Scotland’s pupils who don’t follow an academic pathway after school and who leave without Highers. However, many of the issues raised in the Commission’s report have parallels in the university sector and many of the recommendations have implications for universities so we are…

Universities Scotland has submitted its response to the Scottish Funding Council’s Knowledge Transfer Grant (KTG) consultation SFC/CN/01/2014. The KTG has to date been a long-term, flexible funding stream to support knowledge exchange activities, including commercialisation of research, in a rapidly evolving landscape. While taking into consideration the Scottish Government’s priorities, the grant provides institutions with…

Universities Scotland has submitted its response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the introduction of gender quotas on public boards, “Women On Board: Quality Through Diversity”. We share the Scottish Government’s goal to harness and make best use of talent in our decision-making bodies, irrespective of age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or…

Universities Scotland has submitted its response to the UK Government’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills’ consultation on “Science and research: proposals for long-term capital investment”. We believe that capital investment is a key element of competitiveness. It contributes to attracting the best staff from around the world, maintaining world-leading research and securing significant efficiencies. It is…