(Crealis) -- Royal Holloway, University of London has become the latest UK university to give formal approval to an open access publication policy requiring its researchers to deposit copies of their research in the Royal Holloway Research Online (RHRO) repository from 1 September 2010.

The open access research repository will act as an important medium for the dissemination of Royal Holloway’s research, which will be available for free to anyone, anywhere in the world, with an internet connection.

“I am delighted that Royal Holloway has formally approved an open access mandate,” says Professor Rob Kemp, Acting Principal at Royal Holloway. “This will enable us to maximise the benefit and extend the reach of the university’s research. It also coincides with the forthcoming implementation of a new state-of-the-art research information system at Royal Holloway which will provide the missing link between open access publications, research administration and management information across the College.”

Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Principal (Research, Enterprise and Communications), adds, “This mandate is a key component of our new research strategy and is essential for an international, research-intensive university. I am absolutely committed to the values of open-access; it opens up routes to knowledge and means that Royal Holloway can showcase the range and quality of its publicly-funded research to the widest possible audience.”

John Tuck, Director of Library Services, comments, “2010 is going to be an exciting time for Library Services at Royal Holloway. The mandate puts the Library firmly at the heart of the research agenda of the College as well as reflecting sector best-practice. It will significantly increase the number of full-text deposits in our RHRO repository and we hope it will be complemented by electronic thesis submission for the new 2010/11 research student intake.”




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Spain's Cybermetrics Lab released its latest Webometrics Ranking of Higher Education Institutions late Wednesday.

The Cybermetrics Lab has been issuing the Webometrics Ranking of Higher Education since 2004. The ranking is published twice a year (January and July), and now covers more than 18,000 Higher Education Institutions worldwide. The ranking is based on the premise that web presence measures the activity and visibility of the institutions and it is a good indicator of impact and prestige of universities. The "Webometrics Ranking of World Universities" is an initiative of the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group belonging to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain.

Following is the ranking of the Top 100 Universities in the Arab World:

Click on image to see the Top 25.

Click here to go to the entire list at the Webometrics website ...

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(Crealis) -- Raqmiyat, a leading UAE-based systems integrator, announced the launch of its new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative called 'Campus to Corporate', which aims to help new graduates from key colleges and universities in the UAE to better equip and prepare themselves for the country's highly competitive job market.

The well-attended kick off event was recently held at the University of Sharjah campus where consultants and experts from Raqmiyat guided graduates on the challenges and appropriate techniques to successfully navigate the recruitment process. The new CSR initiative is expected to complement Raqmiyat's planned internship program that aims to provide new graduates with the opportunity to train and gain experience from the corporate world.

The 'Campus to Corporate' CSR initiative relies on Raqmiyat's expansive knowledge of global industries and various regional industry segments and utilizes this as a platform to provide training and development for fresh graduates in the UAE. Further, the initiative at the University of Sharjah bore testament to the company's continued commitment to the development of talent within the region.

"Today's generation of students needs to be aware that the country's job market has become fierce and highly-competitive and one of the ways to keep them one step ahead is to be well-versed and knowledgeable on new trends and innovations, within their desired industries," said Mabel Kuri. "We believe that adequate knowledge, combined with proper motivation and exposure to real-life situations can help increase the chances of our local students to succeed in the competitive market here and abroad. The 'Campus to Corporate' CSR initiative demonstrates our interest in grooming UAE's next batch of professionals, and the successful response we have received from this initial launch has prompted us to further this initiative across the country's top colleges and universities."

Overwhelmed with the positive response to the 'Campus to Corporate' launch, Raqmiyat is now looking towards partnering with more UAE-based universities and colleges to help bolster the CSR initiative.

"We are highly appreciative of this initiative taken by Raqmiyat, as this will definitely help our students become more dynamic and performance-oriented members of the work force. Such programs are absolutely essential at a time like this, especially from a key market player who is strong in providing unique solutions to the various sectors in the UAE," concluded Rana Kabbani, Coordinator - Career Advising and Student Training Office, University of Sharjah.





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