University dean: Stipends should go

John Betts, dean of the Faculty of Engineering, has argued that University stipends should go, and for the funds to be better used elsewhere, such as on research and laboratory equipment. He explained that with insufficient funds, his faculty could not operate and, in the long term, would be unsustainable. “In the best of cases, the quality of the degrees will fall drastically; in the worst, we will be reduced to a full theory-based research-free institution,” he warned. The higher the international standing of a university, the more renowned its reputation, the more paying foreign students it would attract and the easier the access to international funds. The research budget for the University of Malta for 2012 amounted to €600,000, comparable to what was spent on the Malta Eurovision song contest, he complained. Full story in The Times.