A new web site, iBridgeNetwork.org, will allow universities to share the details of new inventions engineered by their faculty members with technology companies and other universities, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Friday. The web site was created by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a non-profit group, and was introduced at the Association of University Technology Managers meeting last Thursday. The site will simplify the standard practice of sharing software or scientific materials at little cost, Laura Paglione, the Foundation's director of advancing innovation, told The Chronicle.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $2.9-million grant to the National Student Clearinghouse, a Virginia-based non-profit organization, to develop a research and reporting system that will allow participating schools to measure the academic success of their students after they graduate, Inside Higher Ed reported. The Clearinghouse will use the grant to work with several states to help them develop systems for collecting student academic information and creating efficient methods of sharing information between states. The project will focus on collecting information about kindergarten through 12th grade students to help individual schools and districts track student performance as they further their education, Clearinghouse President Rick Torres told Inside Higher Ed. In the past, lawmakers and educators have pushed for a similar national database, but have slowed down by student privacy concerns.
Control of the three national laboratories currently under the authority of the Energy Department may be transferred to the Pentagon, according to a document uncovered by the Albuqerque Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Wednesday. Some argue that transferring the laboratories -- Livermore, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories -- may negatively impact the quality of their research, The Chronicle reported. While the transfer could allow the Energy Department to focus more of its resources on civilian needs, such as more sustainable sources of energy, it could also greatly reduce academic, non-military research, The Chronicle reported. The change could also cause many of the facilities' top scientists to leave, experts and government officials told The Chronicle.
