International students wishing to apply to universities in the UK will have to undergo a rigorous interview system, the Home Office has revealed.

The plan was initially announced last December by Home Secretary Theresa May, a member of the Coalition government. She stated that the UK Border Agency’s interview scheme was to be “extended radically” in a move to gain further control over foreign students’ visa applications, to curb immigration.

The scheme, which has been heavily criticised by University of East Anglia Vice-Chancellor Edward Acton, has raised fears that it will discourage applications from international students to the UK.

A spokesperson for the University of Oxford expressed her concern, stating, “Our priority as a leading global university is recruiting the very best students, wherever they are in the world, and we have lobbied the government not to enact policies that will be detrimental to world-class universities.”

The same spokesperson also told Cherwell, “Oxford already has in place a system to ensure the English language skills, financial resources and intentions to pursue serious study all meet the University’s high standards, and should reassure potential applicants that we don’t anticipate the expansion of student visa interviews to negatively impact students accepted for study here.”

The interviews, which will be carried out by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) are expected to examine an applicant’s educational background and place of study, in order to assert the validity of their status as a student. Those who fail to turn up for the interview without reasonable excuse risk being rejected entry to the UK by the UKBA.

Aditya Sharad, an Indian student at Magdalen, expressed his concern to Cherwell, saying, “If the system isn’t planned properly then it would make visa processing times much longer and create added uncertainty in an already complicated application process. The UKBA has the right to interview internationals but making interviews compulsory for every applicant could put off qualified overseas students from applying, even if they’re considering top tier universities, by making the application process more drawn out.”

Details for the plan are yet to be unveiled in full, although it is expected that the number of interviews for potential overseas applicants is set to rise from 2,300 to over 100,000.

Last year, the UKBA turned down 17% of those interviewed on the grounds that their level of English was insufficient, but warned that up to 32% could have potentially been rejected owing to questionable credibility regarding their true status as students.

In 2011, 261,400 overseas students were granted entry clearance to come and study in the UK, rising from only 191,600 in 2005. David Cameron’s government has vowed to reduce the UK’s net migration from its current 250,000 to 100,000 before the next election. Study is the most common reason given by migrants coming into the UK, and therefore student migrants are the most significant in the annual net migration figures.

Jo Aldhouse, the Visa and Immigration Adviser for the University of Oxford Student Information and Advisory Service, told Cherwell, “The reintroduction of interviews will potentially slow the visa application process, possibly particularly affecting countries where it is already lengthy. It is likely also to reintroduce an element of subjectivity, which could be problematic particularly as appeal rights were removed with the introduction of the Points Based System for students.

“We would hope that this won’t lead to applicants being put off but it’s a pity if the visa process will be made more difficult for students who have obviously already proved themselves by getting through Oxford’s admissions procedure.”

The move is part of stricter government regulation over student visas: earlier this year saw London Metropolitan University banned from accepting overseas candidates, putting 2,000 students at risk of losing their university places.

New Oxford University research has found that those who successfully quit smoking see a significant reduction in anxiety levels, contrary to the widely-held belief that smoking helps relieve stress.

The results of the study, carried out by academics from several universities including Oxford, Cambridge and King’s College London, were obtained by analysing data which examined people’s experience of quitting smoking. This included a measurement of anxiety levels before and after attempts to quit. Researchers found that those who smoked in order to cope with stress saw the largest decrease in anxiety levels as a result of quitting — though they are also at the greatest risk of increased stress levels if an attempt to quit fails.

The Oxford academic participating in the research, Dr Paul Aveyard, said he was not surprised by the results. He told Cherwell, “Other studies have had the same outcomes and when you look at lab studies you find no evidence that either cigarettes or nicotine is a stress-reliever, despite what is commonly believed.”

The study was the first to analyse the effects of quitting in relation to the reasons for smoking, allowing researchers to identify those who smoked to relieve stress as the greatest beneficiaries of quitting in terms of anxiety levels. As a result, Dr Aveyard said these findings should be incorporated into NHS support schemes, saying, “People should be told that they may feel bad for a few weeks – we call this withdrawal – but after that they will be less anxious and depressed.”

However, he went on to highlight the complexity of the issue, explaining, “Lots of people want to give up smoking and this is another good reason to do it.  Most people have many more reasons to stop smoking than to carry on with it, but when they try to stop they find it difficult and in most cases they don’t succeed.”

Smokers seemed to agree that the new findings are unlikely to translate into successful New Year’s resolutions, with Nina Pattinson commenting, “It’s all very well for the NHS to change its advice as a result of this study, but I can’t see it making that much difference. Many smokers use stress relief as an excuse to avoid the difficulty involved with trying to quit. Most people, including myself, already know about the evidence to support quitting, but smoking remains popular because addiction is irrational. Knowing the risks is just the first step!”

Five Oxford academics appeared in the New Year’s Honours list which was announced on Saturday 29th December.

The honours include a knighthood for Professor Hew Strachan, a damehood for Professor Carol Robinson and CBEs for Professor Judith Freedman, Professor David M Clark and Professor Raymond Dwek.

Sir Hew, Chichele Professor of the History of War and Fellow of All Souls College, was awarded his knighthood for services to the Ministry of Defence.
His long career has seen him become an authority on subjects ranging from the First World War to the history of the British Army. Sir Hew is also Chief of the Defence Staff Strategic Advisory Panel and a member of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Foreign Policy magazine recently listed him as being in the top 100 most influential global thinkers. 

First-year physicist David Harris said of Sir Hew, “This guy sounds amazing. I want to spend my life doing cool stuff in the MoD, which is too secret to be able to discuss at the dinner table, and then get a Knighthood for it!”

A DBE was awarded to Professor Carol Robinson, Fellow of Exeter College. Dame Carol received her honour for services to science and industry. A renowned chemist, she is also a Royal Society Professor. One of her areas of interest is the application of mass spectroscopy, the laboratory technique of separating components of a sample by their mass-to-charge ratio, used largely for analytical purposes. On hearing the news, Dame Carol said, “I was delighted to receive this honour and I have to say very surprised. I am still getting used to the title but think that I could get to like it!”

Fellow dame, and former colleague from Dame Carol’s Cambridge days, Professor Dame Athene Donald tweeted, “Delighted to see Oxford’s (and ex Cambridge) chemist Carol Robinson get DBE – great to have another scientific dame!”

Three CBEs will join the ranks of Oxford academics. Professor Judith Freedman, Professor of Taxation Law and Fellow of Worcester College, was made a CBE for services to tax research. Freedman specialises in the fields of corporate and business taxation. She is a member of HMRC’s Panel of International Academic Tax Expertise on Business and has served on a number of law societies.

Professor David M Clark, Fellow of Magdalen College and Professor of Experimental Psychology, was also awarded a CBE and said, “I am honoured and delighted to receive this award which provides important recognition in the UK of the value of scientific research on psychological therapies and their dissemination, as well as the need for public transparency in reporting the outcomes of our mental health services.”

Equally pleased was Professor Raymond Dwek, Director of the Glycobiology Institute and Emeritus Fellow of Exeter College, honoured with a CBE for services to UK-Israel scientific collaboration.

Dwek argued for the importance of his work, stating, “I feel that science can be a powerful force for peace and dialogue. I believe that scientific links can help improve lives and there are benefits to all in that region. For instance, our current UK Ambassador Matthew Gould has started an important initiative in regenerative medicine (stem cells) which will have enormous health benefits to both countries.”

These five academics now join the ranks of the many Oxford dons who have been honoured in the past. Keble PPEist Emma Alexander said of the quintet, “That Oxford academics are being recognised in this way feels incredible for us as students. It drives home to you that it’s an honour (if you’ll pardon the pun) to be lucky enough to study somewhere as amazing as here; we receive tuition from people who are truly world- class.”

Chelsea club owner and Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich recently injected more than £4.3 million into Oxford Catalysts, an innovative green energy firm spawned out of the Wolfson Catalysis Centre of Oxford University. It mainly engages in small-scale clean synthetic fuel production via Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis.

The AIM-listed company (LSE: OCG) issued an approximate £30.6 million placing at 125 pence per share in mid December. Its stock has risen about 10 per cent since its announcement of placing, with Abramovich’s 3.5 per cent holding being now valued at about £6 million in London Stock Exchange.

Roy Lipski, CEO of Oxford Catalysts Group, acclaimed the success of the placing in a press release: “This oversubscribed fund raising, achieved under difficult market conditions, is a huge vote of confidence in Oxford Catalysts’ technology and potential. We are delighted by the very significant support received from existing shareholders, several new major institutional investors and a new strategic investor.”

A team of Oxford
 scientists has found
 that hot chocolate
tastes better from 
orange cups. Accord
ing to a study of 57 volunteers by Oxford-based researchers Charles Spence and Betina Piqueras-Fiszman, drinking hot chocolate from orange mugs increases the intensity of flavour, whilst white and red mugs seemed to have a nonexistent or even negative impact. Professor Charles Spence, from the Oxford Psychology Department, commented, “Normally one sees that red is associated with sweetness so we were surprised not to see that.”

Even the cutlery used can alter the taste of food. Whereas gold plated spoons were reported to have little effect on the taste of whipped cream, zinc and copper spoons made it taste more bitter.