Correction Appended
A team of Dartmouth researchers has helped to map out the genome sequence of Hydra magnipapillata, a simple freshwater organism, according to a Tuesday College press release. Biology professor Kevin Peterson and graduate student Alysha Heimberg were among the more than 70 co-authors of the paper, "The dynamic genome of Hydra," which was published in the journal Nature on March 14, according to the release. Peterson's team found that Hydra and humans have approximately the same amount of genes and share genes linked with diseases including Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease, according to the press release. The study may have applications for studies of these two diseases, as well as aging and stem cell research.
Universities tend to make larger budget cuts than their endowment payout strategies dictate during periods of negative endowment growth, according to a study released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The study also found that universities with greater endowment decreases tend to cut tenure-track faculty more than universities with smaller decreases. Universities also tend to cut support for employee and maintenance employee positions but not administrative positions, according to the study. Additionally, universities with greater illiquid assets tend to make greater slashes to tenure-track faculty and support employee numbers than do universities with more liquid assets.
International applicants to American graduate schools increased 7 percent in 2010, according to a recent survey by the Council of Graduate Schools. The study found that, among the countries that send the greatest numbers of international graduate students to the United States, application patterns differed significantly, Inside Higher Ed reported on Tuesday. The number of applicants from China increased dramatically while the numbers from both India and South Korea remained constant, according to Inside Higher Ed. The survey also found that the number of applications to doctoral institutions increased over the past year, but the number of applications to master's institutions decreased, Inside Higher Ed reported. The study found that international applications to private universities increased by 12 percent, while those to public institutions increased by 6 percent, according to Inside Higher Ed.
