No 6734
Wednesday 13 March 2024
Vol cliv No 24
pp. 437–446
The General Board, on recommendation of the School of Clinical Medicine, seeks approval for the establishment of a Professorship of Translational Auditory Neuroscience for a single tenure from 1 January 2025 in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences. The Resource Management Committee approved the supporting case for the Professorship at its meeting on 7 February 2024.
The salary costs of the Professorship will be met initially from the grants for two existing NIHR Biomedical Research Centre themes (Devices and Advanced Therapies) equating to 98% of the pay costs until November 2027. The remaining salary shortfall will be met from existing resources available to the Department of Clinical Neurosciences. Thereafter, the Professorship will be funded from the Van Geest Foundation Fund for Brain Repair and Neuroscience. The new Professor will be accommodated within existing facilities available to the Department in the Van Geest Building with dedicated laboratory space. The University is establishing itself as one of the top UK institutions for auditory implant research. This Professorship is one of two leadership positions in this area, the other being the existing Professorship of Otology and Skull Base Surgery. The proposed office is critical as a complementary appointment. The most successful auditory research centres worldwide all have complementary surgical and auditory research leadership roles. The Professor of Translational Auditory Neurosciences is a strategic role providing vision and leadership in the translation of medical devices and advanced therapy research. This is key to furthering the otology and audiology research aims in the hearing and vision theme in the Department and building the experimental and advanced therapies cluster.
The General Board, on the recommendation of the Council of the School of Clinical Medicine, has agreed that election to the Professorship shall be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors and the electors should give preference to those candidates working within the field of translational auditory neuroscience for hearing device users and medical device translation.
The Council is submitting a Grace (Grace 1, p. 444) for the establishment of the Professorship.
The General Board’s Education Committee has approved the dissolution of the Examination and Assessment Committee. The Examination and Assessment Committee was established in 2019 as a sub-committee of the Education Committee after the review of examination processes in 2017, which resulted in the dissolution of the Board of Examinations (see the Report: Reporter, 6509, 2017–18, p. 672). The core purpose of the Committee, to promote diversification of assessment across the University, has been achieved. Other initiatives, including those relating to digital assessment, have been absorbed by newer bodies that were set up by the Education Committee during the Covid‑19 pandemic to facilitate remote teaching and assessment. Responsibility for University assessment practices remains with the Education Committee.
The General Board has approved the following revised delegations recorded in Notices and procedures published by the General Board and reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, and in footnotes attached to General Board Regulations.
Rules for the Guidance of Candidates and for the Prevention of Misconduct in Examinations (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 206):
By replacing the references to the Examination and Assessment Committee with references to the Head of Examinations in paragraphs 3 and 11 and in the footnote attached to paragraph 3.
Examination Review Procedure (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 220):
By replacing the words ‘appointed by the Examination and Assessment Committee’ with ‘appointed by the General Board’ in paragraph 3.7.
Procedure to Support and Assess Capability to Study (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 242):
By replacing the words ‘the Examination and Assessment Committee’ with ‘the General Board’s Education Committee’ in the footnote attached to paragraph 4.1(d).
General Regulations for Preliminary Examinations (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 263):
By removing the footnote attached to Regulation 2.
Natural Sciences Tripos, Part II (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 417):
By removing the reference to the Examination and Assessment Committee in the footnote attached to Regulation 30 in relation to the subject Biological and Biomedical Sciences.
General Regulations for the degree of Master of Research (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 541):
By removing the reference to the Examination and Assessment Committee in the footnote attached to Regulation 2.
A reference to the Examination and Assessment Committee in a footnote confirming a delegation of authority under the Ordinance for Fines (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 207) has also been replaced with a reference to the Head of Examinations.