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Zeki Dolen

The introduction of the postgraduate master’s loan for the 2016/17 academic year has led to a dramatic transformation in the landscape of postgraduate taught (PGT) education in the UK.  The number of first‑year PGT students in the UK has increased by 58% between 2015/16 and 2020/21, compared with a 11% increase in the number of undergraduate students over the same period. While undergraduate fees have been capped at £9,250 since 2017, average PGT fees increased by 60%, from £9,465 to £15,150 between 2015/16 and 2021/22. This considerably faster than the increase in the value of the postgraduate loan, which increased only by 18% from £10,000 in 2016/17 to £11,836 in 2021/22.

These trends mean universities have become increasingly reliant on PGT fees as a source of income.  For example, the contribution of PGT fees to King’s College London’s income has increased from 11% in 2016/17 to 19% in 2020/21, and it is no exception. PGT fees as a proportion of total income for higher education institutions (HEIs) in general have steadily grown from 8% in 2016/17 to 12% in 2020/21. 

Continue reading “Universities’ increasing reliance on postgraduate taught fees as a source of income and its potential drawbacks” →

Gabriel Yunus Pontin

With the warming target of 1.5C slipping from our collective grasp, and the past COP27 viewed by many as our last chance to prevent truly severe climate outcomes, it’s the developing world that stands the most to lose despite often polluting the least per capita. Already those who have been affected by climate change are learning to adapt. In Bangladesh, duck was once a delicacy reserved for winter but now you’ll find it available in abundance all year round simply because ducks can swim.

Duck rearing, which was previously a small household industry, has replaced much of traditional chicken farming due to heightened unpredictability of the rains in the region as a result of global warming. As such, livestock more resilient to becoming too wet, too hot, too cold and importantly have the ability to swim has become key to securing Bangladesh’s food supply. Additionally, rearing ducks alongside rice cultivation increases yields or the crop by around 0.35 tonnes per hectare, as ducks naturally eat various pests that reside in rice paddies –something that chickens do not do.

Continue reading “Rising Tides Float All Ducks” →

David Neef & Joaquin Magno

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a prominent international organization responsible for global economic policy, has faced several challenges with the ongoing war in Ukraine. Though not an institution with the authority to condemn or militarily punish states for acts of aggression, the IMF plays a pivotal role in (1) financing aid for the Ukrainian people, (2) laying the groundwork for post-conflict reconstruction, and (3) acting as a deliberative space to discuss major economic shocks wrought by the war in Ukraine.

This article will analyze the IMF’s current actions and the major challenges that the war has posed for maintaining international economic stability. In doing so, we hope to establish the existing relevance of the IMF to the war in Ukraine, and the potential roles it can play in the future.

Continue reading “The IMF’s Impact on the War in Ukraine” →

Megan Baker

On 31 October 2022, British Home Secretary Suella Braverman told MPs in the House of Commons that ‘the British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast and which is not. Let’s stop pretending they are all refugees in distress. The whole country knows this is not true.’ Campaigners, including the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Care4Calais have condemned her comments, calling her language ‘dehumanising’ and ‘indefensible’. According to Politico, around 40,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel this year, which is more than in 2021 and 2020 combined. These migrants have primarily come from Albania, Afghanistan and Iran.

Continue reading “The Dangers of the British Government’s Immigration Rhetoric“ →

Alessia Mazuelos

Ever since the Cuban Missile Crisis sixty years ago in 1962, when the United States faced off with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, fears and tensions of nuclear conflict appeared to be long gone. Today, the Russian invasion of Ukraine began the biggest war in Europe since the Second World War, and with Russia’s nuclear capabilities at the tip of President Vladimir Putin’s fingers, the West and the international community are increasingly anxious about the possibility of the war becoming nuclear. After all, up until February 24th 2022, “many people have forgotten that we continue to live in a MAD — mutually assured destruction — world”.

Continue reading “Nuclear Brinkmanship Today: What is at Stake and What to Do?“ →