University challenge for new group

Thursday 18 September 2014

The Island is a few degrees closer to getting its first University.

A group of academics and creators have come together to drive forward the idea and hope their plans will encourage more students to the Island.

The Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies (JICAS) is the brainchild of John Lawton and Sir Nigel Broomfield KCMB and is an independent, non-profit facility for international scholars and students.

They plan to have a new centre set up in town within the next year which they hope will attract PhD and post graduate students to come over to carry out their research.

Mr Lawton said: “One of our aims is to help diversify the local economy and provide opportunities for local people. Research deepens understanding, fosters innovation and drives people to fulfill their potential – that’s the philosophy of JICAS. 

“We will look to recruit support staff locally and hope to encourage local academics to stay or return to the island. As with universities and colleges throughout the world, we will diversify the economy by bringing a small, controlled number of academics and students to Jersey.”

JICAS is sponsoring a series of lectures during the Branchage festival later this month, one of which is “An evening with Professor Noam Chomsky” – the American linguist, philosopher, political commentator and activist.

JICAS Director Sean Dettman said it the series will be a taster of what they can bring to the local community.

He said: “The focus is initially to promote and facilitate the research being done in Jersey and exporting it to the international academic community to allow them to come to Jersey.

“The amount of quality research being done here needs to highlighted within the international academic community.  Jersey should be getting the credit for this, showcasing to the rest of the world what we are bringing to the table.”

Mr Dettman said he hopes they can encourage more academics to come over and tap into the research already being done locally at places like the Durrell Academy, Howard Davis Farm with their sea-bed mapping exercise and things like Jersey Heritage’s Ice Age project. He said Heritage and Société Jersiaise archives have largely gone untapped and could also unearth something very interesting.

JICAS will also be involved in the Inquiring Minds Lecture series this autumn in collaboration with Jersey College for Girls. It will feature top academics, intellectuals and politicians who will be invited to Jersey to take part in the debate.

Next year they plan on holding the John Lawton lecture series and later next year want to start offering Postgraduate Certificates and Diplomas in Education in collaboration with the Institute of Education, University of London.

Eventually the group would like to see all the institutions in the island come together to form a University structure and encourage undergraduates to study here too.