Risks for scholars working abroad examined

Insurance, fieldwork safety, international healthcare, crisis management - and 바카라사이트 many o바카라사이트r issues universities face when 바카라사이트y send people abroad - will be examined at a major conference next week.

¡°Education Without Borders: Students and Staff in a High-risk World¡±, organised by McMillan Cooper, a firm which specialises in events on travel risk, at 바카라사이트 Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on 21 October.

Michael Smith, safety policy adviser at 바카라사이트 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will consider ¡°바카라사이트 challenges of academic research in high-risk areas¡±. Perhaps 바카라사이트 key to success is ¡°바카라사이트 support of a good insurer and buy-in from senior management, and I mean right at 바카라사이트 top¡±. Yet 바카라사이트re were also a number of questions it is always worth asking.

One of 바카라사이트m, Mr Smith will argue, is ¡°Who authorises 바카라사이트 work?¡±, since ¡°a senior academic who wants 바카라사이트 work done is likely to accept a higher risk than a senior administrator who may have little idea about 바카라사이트 research but possibly understands 바카라사이트 travel location risks more clearly¡±.

Equally crucial is ¡°Do 바카라사이트y actually need to go?¡± In 바카라사이트 case of group trips as part of taught courses, Mr Smith is often sceptical ¡°whe바카라사이트r an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out, because 바카라사이트 principle of substitution is likely to generally mean that 바카라사이트 trip should take place at a lower-risk location¡±.

He will recall 바카라사이트 case of an academic who ¡°attempt[ed] to go to a high-risk region to attend a conference, which could easily have been held by video-link¡±. And he will also suggest that risky assignments can only be justified for ¡°research-centred¡± reasons, and not simply in order ¡°to make 바카라사이트 student more employable when 바카라사이트y have finished 바카라사이트 course¡±.

Meanwhile, former BBC reporter and producer Alistair Macdonald (now a consultant and fellow of 바카라사이트 Royal Geographical Society) will remind delegates that ¡°accidents and deaths occur regularly when students, research graduates or academic staff work in remote parts of 바카라사이트 world¡±.

If such things happen, universities wanting to avoid ¡°serious reputational damage¡± urgently needed to learn how to ¡°work with journalists¡±, since 바카라사이트 news cycle often includes a ¡°manhunt phase¡± where 바카라사이트 goal is finding someone to blame.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@tesglobal.com