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teaching and learning

Teaching & Learning >

SERU is engaged in several programmes relating to teaching and learning, all of them customised to the client's requirements and containing the very latest data from SERU's research projects. These programmes range from postgraduate vocational skills and learning activities, to 'third strand' business-specific courses and workshops conducted for the North East Chamber of Commerce and Newcastle University.

Postgraduate Training

SERU has dedicated itself to an intensive, vocational programme of postgraduate training through its new training Hub. The Hub will bring postgraduates directly into the centre of SERU's daily operations, working on actual business-support activities such as market research, empirical research and statisitical analysis - 'learning by doing' .

For more information about this exciting new programme, please visit the dedicated Hub homepage.

University of Newcastle

SERU has developed several courses for use by internal clients, or for general use by staff and external clients. Examples include;

Faculty of Science (Construction);

Four-sesion module designed to provide participants with a practical, vocational platform upon which students can develop key enterprise, employability and work-related skills and enhance their prospects for future employment. The module is structured into four components, each lasting approximately two hours;

  • Session 1: Introduction to Business Support In the North East

  • Session 2: Introduction to Market Research and the Business Plan

  • Session 3: Business Issues in the Construction Industry

  • Session 4: Case study

Workshops on SET Innovation;

These workshops organised by SERU will serve three functions; firstly, it will raise awareness of female SET innovation and acts as a means of highlighting other women participating in this area; secondly, it will act as a channel for dissemination of the findings of SERU following our research into SET innovation and related high level economic activities by women (ESF Regional, Objective 3, 1 Jan 03 – June 04 and ESF National, 1 Jan 05 – Dec 06); thirdly, it will serve the wider function of promoting awareness and emphasising the importance of innovation, IPR issues and the use of company resources in research and development.

The workshops will promote these themes through sessions similar to those previously organised by ideas21 and sponsored by  Business Link London with the support of NESTA , hosted at the Patent Office in London . The sessions will also benefit from collaboration between SERU and Oxford’s Said Business School on diversity in the scientific workforce and their related input into government policy via collaboration with the DfES and DTI. The workshops will be extensively marketed by SERU to ensure the widest possible participation by industry, academia and the entrepreneurial community.

Content;

  • Presentation by selected role models from industry

  • The importance of high level economic activities in the female labour market and the wider implications for the economy of a lack of participation in innovation.

  • Examination of the evidence for problems facing women in the SET community

  • Difficulties in bringing ideas and expertise to market

  • Solutions for barriers to the full exploitation of women’s SET R&D expertise

  • Dissemination of findings from SERU ESF / ERDF research projects

  • Open-floor question and answer session

SERU has also built an in-depth programme of classes that benefit from the very latest information from SERU's research projects, as well as input from our extensive network of partners. Examples include;

Flexibility In The Modern Workplace:

Content;

  • UK legislation relating to flexible working practices

  • Issues behind the demand for flexibility in the workplace

  • Implementation of flexible working practices in small, medium and large businesses

  • The pros and cons of flexibility in the workplace - evidence of the impact on productivity

  • Widening employment opportunities through the implementation of flexible working practices

  • E-Flexibility - the homeworking / teleworking labour market

  • Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) – its impact on flexible working

  • Support funding for the implementation of flexible working practices from external agencies, for example the Home Computing Initiative (HCI)

  • Presentation by a teleworking consultant on case studies of firms and individuals

Sourcing and Securing Financial Support For Businesses:

Content;

  • Traditional sources of financing from institutions

  • Non-traditional sources, governmental support schemes, grants, business support agencies

  • Direct and indirect forms of financing, provision of support at preferential rates

  • How to identify which schemes you are eligible for and are suitable to your circumstances

  • Techniques for making successful grant applications

  • Rules and regulations relating to the provision of grant funding and post-funding auditing procedures

  • Presentation from Business Innovation Centre (BIC) on the benefits of business support agencies and incubators as opposed to direct grant applications by SMEs and individuals for specific operational activities

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