Country ranking of higher education systems on effectiveness

Finnish universities are the most effective in the world when taking into account national income levels, according to a ranking of higher education systems.

Top 10 countries, adjusted for economic development, are

Finland
South Africa
United Kingdom
Denmark
Canada
Sweden
Australia
New Zealand
Switzerland
Netherlands

The rankings are judged against metrics related to resources, environment, connectivity and output, based on 24 separate variables, including the number and impact of research articles produced, university enrolment and graduate unemployment, a qualitative assessment of a country’s policy environment, and spending on tertiary education as a proportion of gross domestic product. The development-adjusted ranking is measured by adjusting GDP in purchasing-power parity terms to compensate for different prices across countries.

It shows that there is a strong relationship between levels of research funding and performance but the mix between public and private funding is of little importance. It notes that there is a trade-off between the amount of government control and the level of government funding, and the worst systems combine tight government control with limited government funding.

Countries with small populations benefit from the ease with which strong informal links between universities, business and government can be developed. These nations also tend to perform more strongly on measures of connectivity, such as share of international students or internationally co-authored articles, according to the report. It has also demonstrated that international connectivity increases the impact of research.

Comments

coat-of-arms

Heraldry probably began with the knights in armour. When wearing a helmet in battle or in tournaments a knight could not be recognised; so he used symbols to decorate his shield and surcoat. The surcoat was the loose garment worn over the armour to protect it from rain or hot sun and actually was the "coat-of-arms"; it was decorated on the front and back with the same device as on the shield.
The correct expression for entire design is an achievement. An achievement consists of the shield, helmet, rest, wreath, mantling and motto. These are the main parts. To them can be added supporters and a compartment.

In the centre is the most important part, the shield. The surface of the shield is called the field and on it the colourful charges are placed. The shield is called the arms or coat-of-arms and can be drawn in any shape - in an upright position or slanting, which is the position it would fall into if hung on a peg. In Heraldry it slants to dexter.

The helmet denotes the ran…

Is Aladdin a Chinese?

Aladdin is an Arabic name, but he lived in China. Is he a Chinese?
Aladdin's wonderful Lamp was included in the first European version of the Book of the Thousand and One Nights (1704-1717), but not in the original Arabic manuscript.
So it's a problem who originally invented the story, Arabic or European? In a 19th Century Pantomime, Aladdin's hometown is Beijing or Peking, spelled "Pekin" in the report, now capital city of China.
Derby local newspaper Mercury reported the pantomime in December, 1878. The reporter said "the representation of the city of Pekin, illuminated for a fete, is really very good indeed". Above all, Pekin, Beijing or no, it would be found to be delightfully local in parts, with the opportunity never missed of getting at the Derby City Council, as in on Scene:
BADROULBADOUR - And you will live here, dear Aladdin? ALADDIN - Yes, And livery servants in most gorgeous dresses shall wait upon you - you shall hear the lark Sing from you…

The Meaning of Derby City Council Logo

The logo of Derby City Council looks quite abstract and modern. I wonder what's the meaning of it? The lower-left part of the logo looks like a snail (or the initial letter D in Derby?), the upper-right part seems a river, (Derwent river?) these two parts are connected by a straight line at the bottom.

I did some searches on the web trying to find out the true meaning of Derby City Council logo, but without success. So, I wrote to tourist information, and got the answer from Michael:
The Logo is a representation of two of Derby's oldest emblems, one being a ram the other a buck (deer). Obviously the logo is a modern interpretation of these two figures so it is not obvious unless you know what to look for. Most people do seem to agree with you that it looks like a snail however.
Ram! the curly horn of ram looks like a snail indeed. The ram and the deer are from coat of arms of City of Derby,
In this coats of arms, we can see the deers both in shield (arms) and supporter, but the…

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