Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Speakers Series: Prof Deborah Prentice by Isabel

bookwriting2024 — 2024-04-03 02:11:51 UTC

Will global universities continue to stay relevant and thrive in the future? Yes, Prof Prentice is confident that they will survive. During the Covid pandemic, people turned to universities as that was where the ground breaking research was. Prof is of the opinion that pandemics will occur repeatedly and hence, it serves as an impetus for universities worldwide to improve their game and stay updated with cutting edge research.

bookwriting2024 — 2024-04-03 02:16:06 UTC

Universities need to work together to solve problems together. The sequencing of the Covid genome was accomplished in weeks when it would usually take a year. This was due to collaboration between the Cambridge Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute, the Cambridge Institute for Immuno-therapeutics and the Milner Institute of Therapeutics that resides within the same building: Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre.

bookwriting2024 — 2024-04-03 02:36:40 UTC

Test scores determine life outcomes. It also depends on how good the test is. Some segments of society have the means to be better prepared than others. Thankfully, there are other universities that can take in these students who do not get into a particular uni. Diff unis have different admission criteria especially in medical programs. For example, several Netherlands unis have started to roll out a lottery system to allocate places for medical degrees. This is to increase the diversity of students and increase equality of opportunity. Prof Prentice commented that this was one way to allocate scarce resources.

bookwriting2024 — 2024-04-03 02:48:57 UTC

Many UK universities are facing financial difficulties as the UK government has placed a cap on all tuition fees to a maximum of £9,250 per year. Hence, universities become poorer every year, the more local students they take in. Prof Prentice mentions that though an increased intake of international students may help to alleviate the situation, it is not a solution and it is most likely the business model of the university that is not working. For Cambridge, they have Cambridge Press and an endowment fund that prevents them from facing financial difficulties. In addition, they also have much collaboration with other countries especially China that houses approx 1/5 of the global population. Collaboration with China is crucial as it helps solve global problems through innovative and novel idea creations.