Quantum Arthur-Merlin Games

This paper studies quantum Arthur-Merlin games, which are Arthur-Merlin games in which Arthur and Merlin can perform quantum computations and Merlin can send Arthur quantum information. As in the classical case, messages from Arthur to Merlin are restricted to be strings of uniformly generated random bits. It is proved that for one-message quantum Arthur-Merlin games, which correspond to the complexity class QMA, completeness and soundness errors can be reduced exponentially without increasing the length of Merlin's message. Previous constructions for reducing error required a polynomial increase in the length of Merlin's message. Applications of this fact include a proof that logarithmic length quantum certificates yield no increase in power over BQP and a simple proof that QMA is contained in PP. Other facts that are proved include the equivalence of three (or more) message quantum Arthur-Merlin games with ordinary quantum interactive proof systems and some basic properties concerning two-message quantum Arthur-Merlin games.Comment: 22 page

NHBC Foundation: improving recruitment of young people into home building : a literature review

This literature review was undertaken to support research into young people's attitudes to careers in house building. The review is based on database searches supplemented by the evidence gathered during stakeholder interviews and through requests made to the wider careers and home building sectors. In order to fully answer the main research questions, the literature mapping the barriers faced by young people to working within the sector was explored. Based on the review a set of criteria for analysing and categorising industry sector initiatives will also be developed. The criteria will be presented as a separate compendium of opportunities.National House Builders Council Foundatio

Evaluating the Legacy Careers Project.

The Legacy Careers Project was a five day programme of career enrichment activities for schools in East London. The programme ran from June to December 2013 with students moving from Year 8 to Year 9. It provided information and activities to support students to better understand their future career options. The project takes its inspiration from the Olympic Games and is informed by the opportunities offered by Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This paper sets out the findings of an evaluation of the project conducted by the International Centre for Guidance Studies. The evaluation concludes that the project was successful. Evaluators noted the delivery of an effective and coherent career learning programme that aligned well with best practice in the sector. Key indicators of success are as follows: • Students who participated in the programme reported that they enjoyed the experience and found it useful; • A high level of learning could be observed throughout the programme; • Students reported that they had developed their skills and attributes through the programme; • There was evidence of greater purposefulness in thinking about their next career destination; • The programme exceeded the initial target of 200 participants by providing 770 students (year 8, moving to year 9) and an additional 70 team leaders (year 12) with career enrichment activities outside of the classroom; • There was a high level of positive engagement from the schools involved in the programme; and • The programme also provided opportunities for a group of sixth form team leaders. These students also reported improvements in their self-confidence (53%), leadership skills (47%) and other skills and attributes.London Legacy Development Corporatio

HR strategies for researchers: a review of the HR Excellence in Research Award implementation activities across Europe

This report explores how research institutions and funders across Europe are approaching the researcher HRM, particularly in response to the European Commission’s initiative to provide the HR Excellence in Research Award for organisations demonstrating their practical commitment to the principles set out in the Charter and Code.Vita

Entrepreneurship and UK doctoral graduates

Copyright c 2011 IP Publishing Ltd. Reproduced by permissionThis paper discusses the experience of UK doctoral graduates in pursuing entrepreneurial careers: there is evidence that this applies to a substantial number - about 10% - of doctoral graduates. The nature of their experience was explored using 37 interviews with doctoral entrepreneurs. The research was funded by Vitae (www.vitae.ac.uk), an organization championing the personal, professional and career development of doctoral researchers and research staff in UK higher education. The stories that the participants tell suggest that doctoral entrepreneurship develops out of a complex interaction between the personality and skills of the entrepreneurs and the environment in which they operate. In particular, the authors argue that the participants have mobilized a mix of financial, social and educational capital in order to create and sustain their enterprises successfully

Understanding a ‘career in careers’: learning from an analysis of current job and person specifications

The Career Development Institute (CDI) is developing a career progression pathway for the career development sector. This report provides evidence which can inform the creation of such a framework. It is based on an analysis of 214 job and person specifications. These were drawn from all four UK nations and reflect the five CDI constituency groups as well as higher education and the welfare to work sector. Key findings include the following: It was possible to identify six levels of vacancies in the career development sector: entry level; practitioner; advanced practitioner; manager and senior manager; and research and technical support. There were careers vacancies in every UK nation and in every English region. Nearly half of the vacancies were located in London and the South East. Over three-quarters of the job opportunities for the career development workforce were located within careers companies and the education sector. Just less than three quarters of the vacancies were full time positions. A clear majority of vacancies (69%) were permanent positions. Three-quarters of vacancies specified a careers qualification. Many job and person specifications either did not specify the level of the qualification or suggested diverse careers qualifications at different levels. A minority of vacancies did not require any qualifications and a small number did not require any specific careers qualifications. Job and person specifications set out a wide range of duties for careers workers. The most common were providing one to one career information, advice and guidance and organising and delivering group sessions. The behaviour, knowledge and skills most likely to be specified were interpersonal skills, the use of ICT and electronic systems (including CRM systems) and the ability to manage paperwork and work to targets. Salaries varied from £13,400 to £65,000 although the overwhelming majority of those that specified a salary were between £15,001- £35,000. Salary varied according to the level of the job, the sector it was based in and the qualifications that were required. The analysis revealed 103 different job titles. This is a significant increase on the 2009 mapping by LLUK which identified 43 job roles. Careers adviser/advisor was the job title most commonly cited.Career Development Institut

Understanding how people choose to pursue taught postgraduate study

HEFC

Fostering college and career readiness: how career development activities in schools impact on graduation rates and students' life success

This paper sets out the recent evidence around career development. This evidence is examined within the context of the college and career readiness agenda. The argument is made that in order for young people to be genuinely “ready” for both college and career they need to have attended to their academic achievement, their aspirations and plans for the future, their ability to make transitions and their ability to direct their own careers. It is argued that career development offers schools a body of practice that has been shown to have a positive impact on young people’s readiness for college and career. The report acknowledges that the provision of career development has been in decline in many North American schools despite evidence of its effectiveness. Given the current instability of the labor market, the increasing complexity of the education system and the need to grow the skills base of the workforce in a competitive global market, failing to attend to young people’s careers seems shortsighted. As this paper shows, there is a strong body of evidence which demonstrates that career development activity in schools can help young people to experience academic achievement, successfully transition to the labor market and live happier and more productive lives. It is hoped that setting out the evidence in this area of research will provide policy makers and school leaders with the resources required to make informed decisions and to support the development of the future generations of talent. The paper explores the impacts of career development in relation to four main questions: • Does career development engage young people in their schooling and help keep them attending school? • Does career development positively impact on young people’s academic achievement? • Does career development assist young people in making successful transitions to college or the labor market? • Does career development have a positive effect on people’s career and life success?Career Cruisin

The other empire: Metropolis, India and progress in the colonial imagination

This is a detailed study of the various ways in which London and India were imaginatively constructed by British observers during the nineteenth century. This process took place within a unified field of knowledge that brought together travel and evangelical accounts to exert a formative influence on the creation of London and India for the domestic reading public. Their distinct narratives, rhetoric and chronologies forged homologies between representations of the metropolitan poor and colonial subjects - those constituencies that were seen as the most threatening to imperial progress. Thus the poor and particular sections of the Indian population were inscribed within discourses of western civilization as regressive and inferior peoples. Over time these discourses increasingly promoted notions of overt and rigid racial hierarchies, the legacy of which remains to this day. This comparative analysis looks afresh at the writings of observers such as Henry Mayhew, Patrick Colquhoun, Charles Grant, Pierce Egan, James Forbes and Emma Roberts, thereby seeking to rethink the location of the poor and India within the nineteenth-century imagination. Drawing upon cultural and intellectual history it also attempts to extend our understanding of the relationship between 'centre' and 'periphery'. The other empire will be of value to students and scholars of modern imperial and urban history, cultural studies, and religious studies

Strategic consultation on the FE workforce and Initial Teacher Education workforce for the Education & Training Foundation

A research project undertaken on behalf of the Education and Training Foundation exploring barriers to attracting candidates with higher qualifications and skills to the FE sector and to explores if ITE predominantly attracts people from a humanities background. The report suggests that people move into FE teaching through opportunity. The issue if dual professionalism is an important element of identity. Those becoming teacher educators tend to drift into the role. Discussions were focused less on the background of people but on the space they have to deliver a curriculum which includes pedagogy theory and the extent to which ITE need to have subject specialisms to prepare teachers for effective classroom practice.Education and Training Foundatio