IRELAND: Students denied expertise of star researchers

Students in Irish universities are being denied the expertise of talented staff because they have been recruited on non-teaching contracts, the Higher Education Authority has claimed, writes Stephen O'Brien in The Times. The policy body has advised universities to remove clauses from contracts which keep 'stellar' researchers in the laboratory and out of the classroom.

Tom Boland, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) chief executive, said a number of research personnel have contracts excusing them from lecturing duties. "Some do not see teaching as their job and have been allowed to buy out of teaching," he said. "In principle that is not a desirable outcome. I don't think high-level researchers should be allowed to sequester themselves in their labs."

The HEA disburses more than EUR100m a year in state research grants to seven universities and 14 institutes of technology. Boland said colleges applying for funding must ensure that research and teaching are "closely aligned" and the benefits of research are brought to students at undergraduate level.
Full report on The Times site