Educational Challenge Areas
The Educational Challenge Areas consist of a series of initiatives designed to foster collaboration among colleagues and facilitate the exchange of ideas and the development of new approaches to the University’s education provision. Our University Executive Board identified four areas of focus, each of which involve a degree of interdisciplinarity.
Strategic Importance
As part of our education strategy, we need to ensure that our programmes are fit for the future and research-enriched so we can attract the very best students from all over the world.
We are doing this in several ways. One of which is ‘fit for the future in the way that we deliver and the students we attract’, whether that be through more flexible offerings such as the development of our online flexible Data Sciences masters programmes or helping to develop regional, national and international skills through our degree apprenticeship route in Electrification.
Interdisciplinary developments in Climate Change and Sustainability and Drug Discovery and Medicinal Chemistry will continue to strengthen our research enriched educational offer.
We need to continuously develop a global learning experience that provides our students with the skills to thrive and act in an interconnected world and the Educational Challenge Areas are part of that commitment. Please do get in touch if you have new ideas that could be taken forwards.
Professor Ruth Valentine (Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education) and Professor Richard Davies (Pro-Vice Chancellor Global)
Educational Challenge Areas
Each of the Educational Challenge Areas also spans the four key University strategies (Education, Global, Research, and Engagement and Place), and advances how we deliver our educational provision through new and different modes of delivery.
NU Online is a strategic project that aims to develop Data Science courses to be delivered entirely online:
- MSc Data Science
- MSc Data Engineering
- MSc Data Science (with Specialisation in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence)
The programme team will work with an Online Programme Management (OPM) provider to support the implementation and development of the University’s online offering, building organisational capacity and capability.
The detail of arrangements with the OPM are at an early stage of contract negotiations and engagement is currently focussed on the teams directly involved.
It is proposed that the programmes will follow a carousel model of delivery with a planned start date during the 2023/24 academic year.
This new interdisciplinary PGT module, ‘Facing up to Climate Change’, has been developed and was approved in March 2023. This will launch as a pilot for the 2023-24 academic year, to test interdisciplinary approaches and address issues at a modular level. In the following academic year, the module will form part of the core for the new PGT programme in Climate Change and Sustainability but will also continue to be rolled out as a new interdisciplinary optional module for other PGT programmes across Newcastle University.
- A draft programme structure outline has been agreed. Strategic Programme Approval was given by HaSS FSG in October 2022 which included comments on development of a distinctive core and a request for clarification of the student interdisciplinary experience. The deadline for full approval for a start date of September 2024 is June 2023.
- Consultation has taken place to ensure that the School X programme is distinctive from other University programme developments.
- Further market insight work is currently underway with employers and students to assess interest and gain feedback based on the draft programme outline. This insight will be used to inform programme development. The response so far from students has been high, with 128 students currently booked onto focus groups.
- A further series of collaborative workshops will focus on: ‘live project’ development and delivery; interdisciplinary student experience; reflective skills practise core module; optional modules from other programmes (range and relevance).
- Project workstreams will involve relevant colleagues from across the University.
The Institute of Electrification and Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing (IESAM) was launched in October 2022. It will be first to address industry needs by developing a flexible, high-quality "Power Electronics, Machines and Drives" (PEMD) training pipeline in the North East. The project brings together the North East Institute of Technology (NEIoT) and key regional higher and further education providers and is funded by the Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK for UK Research and Innovation and co-funded by Newcastle University.
Newcastle University's representation to the various NEIoT groups has been reviewed and strengthened to reflect the renewed focus on skills. Despite delays in recruitment to IESAM related positions, the IESAM team was able to demonstrate appropriate progress towards the KPIs set by Innovate UK, with the PEMD and Batteries degree apprenticeships planned for joint introduction in September 2024.
Newcastle University has also developed two online professional development programmes for FE college lecturers focusing on Green Energy and Green Transport (including batteries). These CPD programmes have been developed in partnership with two colleges (EPNE, NCG) and ORE Catapult. Alongside this, a skills foresighting research initiative into green energy and green skills demand was completed earlier this year. In March 2023, Newcastle University in partnership with NEIoT submitted an expression of interest in the Innovate UK/Faraday Institution call for a National Batteries Training Centre and the NU team has been invited to develop a full bid by the end of May.
The Drug Discovery and Medicinal Chemistry project sits across both FMS and SAgE and aims to develop MSc/MRes programmes in two subject areas:
- MRes in Drug Discovery
- MSc in Drug Chemistry
The MRes in Drug Discovery is an on-campus programme scheduled to commence in September 2024, while the MSc in Drug Chemistry will be a fully online programme that is targeted to start in 2025.
Discussions have taken place with Professor Ruth Valentine and Dr Kayvan Pazouki regarding curriculum planning, with Dr David Kennedy regarding the Online MSc, and with Dr Jeremy Brown regarding the suitability of FMS Res modules for inclusion in the Drug Discovery MRes.