Open Access journals published by Norwegian institutions – status and prospects

More than 70 fully open-access, peer-reviewed journals are currently being published by government-funded service providers at eight Norwegian institutions. The service-providing staff is typically working within a research library, with the editor-in-chief affiliated to the same institution. In autumn 2020, Universities Norway (a cooperative body for accredited universities and university colleges in Norway), commissioned a report on this part of the national publishing landscape. The report was published in June 2021. As representatives of the committee writing the report, we present an overview of the Diamond Open Access publishing landscape in Norway and discuss our recommendations for strengthening the quality and robustness of the institutional service providers (ISPs). In brief, we suggest that the various ISPs merge and establish a board with an executive officer responsible for prioritizing technical upgrades and for establishing common standards and systems of quality assurance. Library staff at the various institutions should however still function as primary contacts for the editors and owners of the various journals, but operate according to clear guidelines and within a multi-institutional collegium.

Geoffrey Burnstock. 10 May 1929—3 June 2020

Geoffrey Burnstock was a biomedical scientist who gained renown for his discovery that adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) functions as an extracellular signalling molecule. Born in London and educated at King's and University colleges, he did postdoctoral work at Mill Hill and Oxford. He moved in 1959 to the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne because he sensed there a greater freedom to challenge established thinking in physiology. His group found that transmission from sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic nerves to smooth muscle was in some places not mediated by the accepted chemical messengers (noradrenaline and acetylcholine). He amassed evidence that ATP was this non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic transmitter, using biochemical, histological and electrophysiological approaches: heretically, he styled this ‘purinergic transmission’. Geoff further upset dogma in the 1970s by proposing ‘co-transmission’ in which some nerves released ATP in addition to either noradrenaline or acetylcholine. He distinguished pharmacologically P1 receptors (activated best by adenosine and blocked by xanthines) and P2 receptors (activated best by purine nucleotides such as ATP) and he proposed in 1985 that the latter embraced P2X (ion channel) and P2Y (G protein-coupled) subtypes: about 10 years later these categories were substantiated by cDNA cloning. From 1975 until his retirement in 1997, Geoff was head of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology at University College London (UCL), which he developed energetically into a large and strong research department. Later, as head of the Autonomic Research Institute at the Royal Free (part of UCL), he continued to collaborate extensively, and founded several journals and international professional societies. He widely sought clinical benefit for his discoveries, and both P2X and P2Y receptors have been developed as the targets of useful therapeutics (gefapixant, clopidogrel). Geoff was proud of his modest, rather humble, background and eschewed formality. He may have smiled when his early discoveries were met with cynicism, even ridicule (‘pure-imagine’ transmission noted one amusing critic), but this just reinforced his resolve and encouraged his encyclopaedic oeuvre.

CURRENT TRENDS OF TEACHER TRAINING IN UKRAINIAN ABROAD

The article analyzes the modernization processes in the modern education system of Ukraine, primarily in the formation of its pedagogical potential. The expediency of using in this sphere the achievements of foreign states in which Ukrainians live is substantiated. It has been proved that the most significant experience in training pedagogical staff for the Ukrainian schooling system in the diaspora has been developed in Canada. It is carried out by universities and university colleges. It is established that their educational and professional programs include academic courses, professional courses, and practical activities at school (educational practice). The task of these courses is to provide future teachers with knowledge of the subjects they will teach at school. The curricula include mandatory fundamental disciplines (development of children/adolescents, education of children with special needs, methods of teaching different subjects, theory of learning, etc.) and optional courses of professional direction offered by universities. The peculiarities of training teachers of Ukrainian disciplines in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Toronto universities and the organization of their further professional growth by public institutions of Canadian Ukrainians are analyzed. It was established that Ukrainian studies in Canadian universities have a degree structure of training specialists and cover three levels: Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D. However, different universities have different Ukrainian language training programs and, accordingly, their graduates have various opportunities for further employment. It was found that postgraduate education and professional growth of Ukrainian school teachers are provided by public organizations of foreign Ukrainians (World Coordinating Educational Council, Congress of Ukrainians of Canada, School Councils, etc.). They organize summer teacher training courses, seminars, webinars, online training, etc. The ideas of foreign experience, which it is advisable to creatively implement in the activities of institutions of higher pedagogical education in Ukraine, are distinguished.

E-governance and its relationship to University of Ha'il excellence from the viewpoint of the students in light of the Kingdom's vision 2030

The implementation of e-governance in universities is considered a crucial matter because of integrating roles and achieving community development and institutional excellence. Despite this, there is a shortage of studies and research that deals with e-governance and institutional excellence, especially in Saudi universities. Hence, this is a pioneer in the context of Saudi Arabia. This research is aimed to identify the impact of e-governance on institutional excellence at the University of Ha'il in light of the Kingdom's 2030 vision. The study has relied on a random sample of 400 male and female students from various university colleges. The questionnaire was used as a means of collecting data after confirming its validity for measurement. Then the questionnaire was distributed electronically due to the suspension of the study because of the Corona pandemic. The data was analyzed using statistical methods appropriate to the data's nature. It has included averages, standard deviations, simple correlation coefficients, and multiple regression coefficients. The study has reached several results. The most important are the e-governance dimensions and institutional excellence criteria. These are effectively applied at the university. However, significant importance is not given to infrastructure, beneficiaries' satisfaction, and positive correlational relationships between all e-governance dimensions and institutional excellence criteria. The combined dimensions of e-governance are 80.9 % of the variance in institutional excellence. This means 19.1% is not included in the study due to other factors. The research has suggested taking an interest in the university's infrastructure, especially the internet. It has emphasized benefiting the beneficiaries' views in developing the university and supporting external community partnerships.

The Indians and Major Studies in New Spain: Monarchical Politics, Debates, and Results

This article studies some stages and debates about the access of New Spain’s Indians to major studies: The discussion about their mental capacity in the 16th century, the impulse of Carlos II to the indigenous nobility in the 17th century, or the reticence in the Royal University of Mexico and the Church to their acceptance in the 18th century. It also analyzes the responses given by the Crown to the interest of the Indians elites in superior studies, degrees and public positions, protected by their rights as free vassals of the kingdom and as nobles, comparable to the Spanish nobility. Despite the insistent resistance of sectors of the colonial government and society to the rise of Indians, they firmly defended, in the 18th century, the rights and privileges granted to them by the monarchy since the beginning of New Spain, thereby achieving their entry into the university, colleges, and clergy.

Widening participation? (Re)searching institutional pathways in higher education for migrant students - The cases of Sweden and Italy

The aim of this study is to shed light on the ways in which transitions and support are framed in policy contexts in relation to widening participation in higher education (HE) in Sweden and Italy. More specifically, this study investigates the ways in which the discourse about the inclusion of migrant students in HE is framed in relation to the kinds of support for this group offered in two higher educational institutions, in Sweden and Italy. Furthermore, the study sheds light on the ways in which policy ideas about transition and widening participation are enmeshed in the students’ narratives and how they affect their experiences of participation, normalization and marginalization in HE. The analysis includes two datasets: i) national policy, laws and regulations and webpages of a selection of national universities and university colleges; and ii) ethnographically generated data that builds upon a case-study design and consists of audio recordings of informal discussions and interviews with students. We are, in this study, interested in framing diversity in terms of a move beyond the naturalization of hegemonic stances where labelled “Others” (e.g. based on cultural/ethnic background, functionality, socio-economic status) are treated as essentialized or mutually exclusive categories. One of the central, frontline contributions of this study, lies in its attempts to analytically scrutinise processes of inclusion and marginalisation that include a broad analytical gaze. This allowed us to analyse the mismatch between the range of support provided, and the actual needs and challenges that migrant students meet in their transition and participation to higher education in two European countries.

Support and opposition in an attempted higher education merger

The study explores an ultimately unsuccessful merger of three Norwegian public university colleges. It shows how social practices of support for and opposition to the merger were the effects of the intersection(s) between why the merger was necessary and how the proposed merger process was enacted. Support and opposition may change during the merger process, since participants move in and out of positions given how the process unfolds. We relate support and opposition to identity. A merger supports attractive identities if it is consonant with overarching normative ideals of higher education and experienced fairness during the merger process. The findings have implications for how we can better understand and explain why some merger initiatives lead to termination instead of a merger.