Postgraduate News & Views

The Open University (OUBS) has linked with other distance-education universities to develop an online post-MBA international business education programme. Known as the World Alliance in Distance Education (Wade), the four universities – OUBS, Deakin University in Australia, Canada's Athabasca University and the Hong Kong Open University – launch a one-year pilot in June 2003, open to MBA graduates.

The programme's four main areas are: corporate governance in a global environment; international supply-chain management; global trade and markets; and emerging issues in international business. It will be a truly global experience, says Richard Wheatcroft, director of OUBS's MBA programme: "Students will study online and participate in virtual study groups, allowing managers from different cultures, countries and companies to share ideas."

Will cloned doppelgangers be a reality? Could computers think for themselves? These questions are being tackled by a new MA in Culture, Science and Technology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. The programmewill cover cloning, genetic engineering and eugenics, artificial intelligence, feminism and science and biotechnology. Sarah Kember, senior lecturer in media communications, says: "There's speculation about the effects of things like cloning and genetic engineering and lots of people doing research – we wanted to design a course that engages meaningfully with these sciences."

While the course doesn't have a specific vocational objective, students can have a relevant disciplinary background, and should want to explore the issues on an intellectual and creative level, she says.

The White Rose Consortium of the universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York has revamped its skills school for postgraduate students with a workshop on working face-to-face on virtual teams. "Researchers are finding the teams they work in have members scattered around their institution, the country or the world," explains Dr Margaret Orchard, senior training and development officer at the University of Leeds.

Students attend a one-day workshop, followed a month later by a two-day residential course. Between the sessions, they are given tasks, requiring them to collaborate via e-mail or internet. "Working over time and distance means they have to be more efficient and aware of what we know about teamwork," says Orchard.

The skills school focuses on completing the tasks and analysing the process. "We look at who did what, who took the lead, who got upset. We give them time to critique the process, and think about how they could do it more effectively."

Teamwork skills are becoming necessary for postgraduates, she believes. "You may have a PhD student working on a science project which is part of a research group and involves collaborating with people at a distance. Or you could have a postgraduate studying for an arts degree and writing up a thesis; although they are working on their own they have to interact with other people, like their supervisory team and library staff."

The course is free to non-research council-funded students.

e.haughton@dial.pipex.com