In the second of a series of podcasts, Professors Kate Purcell and Peter Elias from the University of Warwick's Institute for Employment Research discuss 'employability' and the skills graduates need in today's job market.

Professors Purcell and Elias are members of the IER research team responsible for Futuretrack, the most extensive investigation of the relationship between higher education and employment ever undertaken in the UK. The survey is being undertaken on behalf of the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU).

The first of a series of seminars/workshops examining the relationship between higher education and employment will be held on Wednesday 7th December 2011 with papers from Dr Hans Dietrich (IAB, Nuremberg) and Professor Robert Wright (University of Strathclyde).

Graduate employability is a hot topic in the media at the moment, with much talk about the fierce competition for graduate jobs. IER researchers provide insights into their work on graduate employment in an article for the Knowledge Centre, discussing findings from Futuretrack, an independent, interdisciplinary, policy-related research project about the relationship between higher education, career decision-making and labour market trends.

The competition for Chancellor's Scholarships (formerly WPRS) for entry in October 2012 has now opened. The Graduate School expects to award around 45 Chancellor's Scholarships. Awards made for entry in October 2012 may include payment of fees at the Home/EU rate and a maintenance grant in line with the UK Research Council stipend (£13,590 for full-time award holders in 2011-12).

The 2011 meeting of the heads of research councils in the G8 countries , scheduled this year in the UK, was held at Scarman House from 10 to 12 July. This annual event, held in turn in each of the G8 countries, provides an opportunity for the research council heads and senior representatives to hold relatively informal discussions and to hear presentations on a topic of common interest. For the July event, Peter Elias organised a workshop entitled: ‘Access to research data: new developments and old problems’. This workshop included contributions from Professor Paul Boyle (Chief Executive of the ESRC and International Champion for RCUK), from Professor Paul Burton (genetic epidemiologist, University of Leicester) and from Ms Melanie Wright (director, Secure Data Service, University of Essex). Visits were organised to the Warwick Innovative Materials Research Centre (WIMRC) and to the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford. A formal dinner, attended by the Vice-Chancellor and by Robert Lindley, Peter Elias and Margaret Birch from IER, was held at Mallory Court. The event was organised by RCUK and facilitated at Warwick via IER in close liaison with RCUK staff.