Press release • May 27, 2021 17:37 BST
Universities have an important role to play in the Covid-19 recovery process.
Universities, employers, and local leaders in the North East will be working together to create thousands of local jobs as the recovery from the pandemic gathers pace.
New research published today by
Universities UK (UUK), ‘Universities and the UK’s economic recovery: an analysis of future impact’, which was compiled by the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE), predicts that over the next five years universities in the North East will:
Be involved in research projects with partners worth almost £1 billion.
Help 725 new businesses and charities to be formed.
Durham City MP, Mary Foy, has re-established the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), Friends of Durham University.
The group, which was first established by Foy’s predecessor, Roberta Blackman-Wood, is chaired by Mary Foy, and Richard Holden, MP for North-West Durham, Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, Paul Howell, MP for Sedgefield, and Graham Brady, MP for Altrincham and Sale West, will serve as Vice-Chairs.
Peter Gibson, MP for Darlington, will serve as secretary, while Kate Osborne, MP for Jarrow, will be an officer of the group, with Durham University acting as the secretariat.
“By re-establishing the APPG, we will be able to increase academia’s role in policy-making and to promote the work of Durham University at a national level.”
The wife of a British academic being held in solitary confinement in the United Arab Emirates has said her husband was not spying and was only there for research purposes.
Matthew Hedges, a PhD student at Durham University, was reportedly taken into custody at Dubai airport on May 5 after travelling to the UAE to interview sources about the country’s foreign policy and security strategy.
The 31-year-old, who lives in Exeter, has been held without charge ever since, and his wife, Daniela Tejada, is calling on UAE officials to “admit that they’ve made a mistake” and release him.
Ms Tejada, 27, said she has not been told what exactly her husband is accused of, but said she would not rule out the prospect of him being accused of spying.