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Year: 2022

Chulalongkorn University, NUS executives discuss academic cooperation

Posted on by Chulalongkorn University

On Wednesday, May 18, 2022, Professor Dr. Kaywalee Chatdarong, Vice President for Strategic Planning, Innovation and Global Engagement, welcomed Prof. Dr. Chee Yeow Meng, Associate Vice President, Innovation & Enterprise, and Director, NUS Overseas Colleagues & MSc in Venture Creation, and delegates from National University of Singapore (NUS).

The visit was to discuss possibilities for future academic collaboration between Chulalongkorn University and NUS Overseas Colleagues (NOC), NUS MSc in Venture Creation and NUS Graduate Research Innovation Program (GRIP).

On this occasion, Dr. Santhaya Kittikowit, Assistant to the President for Innovation Affairs, served as a representative to discuss about CU Innovation Hub. Asst. Prof. Dr. Jittima Luckanagul, Head of Chula Spinoff Club Project, was present to discuss about a dual degree program between NUS MSc in Venture Creation and Chula MSc Innovation Enterprise.

Miss Kanyasorn Tansubhapol, Assistant to the President for Secretary and Special Affairs, and Dr. Pietro Borsano, Deputy Executive Director of the School of Integrated Innovation, were also present to welcome the NUS delegation.

Role of integrative psycho-biophysiological markers in predicting psychological resilience

Posted on by eduhk

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and parasympathetic nervous systems have been reported to play important roles in regulating emotion and coping with stress. But their direct relationship with psychological resilience remains unclear. These biophysiological features should be considered together with traditional psychometric properties to study resilience more comprehensively.

A Study of Dr Way Lau Kwok-wai, Assistant Professor at the Department of Special Education and Counselling, The Education University of Hong Kong, examined the role of biophysiological features such as vagal tone and HPA reactivity in resilience and determine the predictive power of resilience with the combination of psychological and biophysiological measures.

The study involved 55 male and 52 female university students with no psychiatric disorders. To examine the physiological changes in response to stress, the participants undertook a 15-minute Trier Social Stress Task (TSST), consisting of five minutes’ preparation, and delivering a five-minute speech in their second language and performing mental arithmetic in front of a review panel.

Psychometric properties of resilience were measured at rest; and vagal heart rate variability (HRV), salivary cortisol, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels were captured at baseline during and after the TSST. Multivariate linear regression and support vector regression machine-learning analyses were performed to investigate significant predictors and the predictive power of resilience.

The results showed that positive and negative affects, HRV during the anticipatory phase of stress, and the ratio of cortisol/ DHEA at the first recovery time point were significant predictors of resilience. The addition of biophysiological features increased the predictive power of resilience by 1.2 times compared to psychological features alone. The results from machine-learning analysis further demonstrated that the increased predictive power of resilience by adding the ratio of cortisol/ DHEA was significant in ‘cortisol responders’ (those who demonstrated an increase in cortisol during the stress phrase); whereas a trend level was observed in ‘cortisol non-responders’.

In the investigation of the HPA axis, the researchers did not observe any notable changes in cortisol or DHEA, but there was a marginally significant increase in the ratio of cortisol/ DHEA during and after the TSST in the complete samples, suggesting that the ratio of cortisol/ DHEA could plausibly be a more sensitive marker for acute stress.

The findings extend knowledge from the literature that high vagal activity during the anticipating phase of stress and the ability to restore the balance between cortisol and DHEA after a stress event can be an important feature in predicting resilience. The findings enhance our understanding of the role of vagal tone and HPA functioning in resilience, and further support the notion of combining psychological and biophysiological data in measuring and predicting resilience.

Training multi-talents specialising in East Asian languages

Posted on by Chinese Culture University

The Chinese Culture University was in the vanguard of establishment of the Department of Japanese Language and Literature in Taiwan.

The department cultivates transdisciplinary talents by providing professional courses of “humanities expertise plus one.” The department also offers practical courses to help students transfer learning from classroom to workplace and encourages students to understand Japanese society from the popular industry chain. Moreover, the department receives a grant from the Eurasia Foundation to provide a lecture course entitled “The Asian Community: The Construction and Transformation of East Asian Studies.” Combining the resources of Japan Research Center and the East Asian Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at our University, the department aims to cultivate young talents specializing in East Asian studies.

The department has cooperation relations with 33 partner institutions in Japan. The cooperation activities include exchange studies to Japan annually, summer study at partner institutions in Japan, and inviting students from partner institutions to join the Chinese language summer camp at our university. The department also has the only Japanese-Taiwan exchange professor system in Taiwan, which increases the opportunities for teacher-student exchanges between Taiwan and Japan. In addition, the department organizes Taiwan-Japanese student exchange activities such as “Japanese Corner” and “Student Companion.”

Moreover, we have industry-academy cooperation with travel agencies to promote Taiwan-Japanese youth exchange activities, provide students with internship opportunities to guided tour to famous off-campus attractions through the service learning courses, and provide trainings for students who want to take foreign-language tour manager and tour guide national license examination. We also encourage students to gain internship experience in foreign countries. Our department offers the industry-academy cooperation internship project to foreign countries, applies for “Overseas Internship Program” provided by the Ministry of Education, and selects outstanding students to intern abroad in overseas business institutions during summer vacation.

HKBU establishes the School of Creative Arts

Posted on by HKBUCPRO

To further augment human creativity in the world of arts, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) will establish the School of Creative Arts with effect from 1 July with a revitalised vision to nurture the next generation of creative talent for Hong Kong, and contribute to the city’s development as a creative arts hub for China and the world.

Professor Alexander Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, said: “Recent advancements in digital technology have opened up new avenues in the world of arts. On top of this, the Government’s Policy Address in 2021 expressed its vision to position Hong Kong as Asia’s city of culture and creativity. The National 14th Five-Year Plan also raised the level of support for Hong Kong to help it develop into a hub for arts and cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world.

“By capitalising on the new opportunities and the latest technological advancements, and with the synergies created by the establishment of the School of Creative Arts, the University will take the development of the creative arts to a higher level, and set new standards for future teaching and research.”

The School of Creative Arts will be comprised of three constituent academic units, namely the Academy of Film, Academy of Music and Academy of Visual Arts. By integrating related talent and resources of the University, it will be a place where great minds in the creative arts and technology can meet, and it will provide HKBU with a strong platform to advance the arts and culture, as well as art-tech, in Hong Kong and the region.

Professor Johnny ML Poon, Associate Vice-President (Interdisciplinary Research) and Dr Hung Hin Shiu Endowed Professor in Music at HKBU, has been appointed as the School’s Founding Dean.

“The School of Creative Arts is well poised to disrupt creative practice and art education in film, music and visual arts. Certain aspects of the world of arts – namely, its creative genealogy and methodology – require a radical rethink. A new framework of education and research is needed for artists to ‘think’ about futurity.

“Inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote ‘the best way to predict your future is to create it’, the new school, rooted in HKBU’s liberal arts ethos and transdisciplinary inquiries, aims to interrogate the infinite acts of human creativity, reassess the different roles of the arts in our time, and create new artistic opportunities for the future,” said Professor Poon.

The School of Creative Arts attaches great importance to transdisciplinary teaching and learning to nurture future-ready talent for Hong Kong and the nation who can innovate solutions and tackle the challenges of the times through ideation that transcends the boundaries of disciplines. On top of the existing programmes offered by the University in the disciplines of acting, film, music and visual arts, two new transdisciplinary programmes, namely the Bachelor of Arts and Science (Hons) in Arts and Technology and the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Administration (Global Entertainment), will be launched by the University in the 2022/23 academic year, and they will be housed in the School.

In terms of research and professional development, the integrated talent pool of the School of Creative Arts, which comprises experts from different arts disciplines, can facilitate broader collaboration with local and overseas universities, research institutions, government departments, professional bodies and industries.

Furthermore, the School’s capacity to fuel the development of the creative arts will be substantially strengthened with the expected completion of the Jockey Club Campus of Creativity in 2024, which will feature state-of-the-art facilities for a comprehensive range of creative arts disciplines.

With the School’s strengthened focus on the development of the creative arts for the future and the synergies created by the strategic realignment of its resources, it is expected that the University’s knowledge output in the creative arts and its impact can be maximised, enabling HKBU to become the research and education hub for the creative arts, culture and related industries in Hong Kong for China and the world.

Learning Uzbekistan’s local customs

Posted on by ahmadibrahim

If you happened to be the most respected guest when visiting in Uzbekistan, expect to be seated the farthest from the door. Management and Science University (MSU) learns more of Uzbek local customs at the MSU International Cultural Festival.

Welcomed on campus recently was Uzbekistan Ambassador to Malaysia His Excellency Ravshan Usmanov, and an Uzbek dance group.

His Excellency encouraged the students gathered at MSU’s Performing Arts Theatre to study hard, master social skills, and learn other cultures.

You are the only one who can make this world a better place, with more knowledge and more friends. Uzbekistan welcomes MSU in this effort to strengthen ties between our nations. It gives me great pleasure to be joining in this showcase of intangible heritage acknowledged by UNESCO.”

Receiving the entourage in MSU main campus in Shah Alam was MSU President Professor Tan Sri Dato’ Wira Dr Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid.

“Malaysia and Uzbekistan share a lot of values and traditions, and strengths that can be combined for the benefit of our two countries and our two peoples. Our purpose at the University is always about building a better future for everyone, and I believe that education is the best change factor,” remarked Professor Tan Sri Dr Mohd Shukri.

The Republic of Uzbekistan is the world’s only doubly landlocked country other than Liechstenstein. Considered to be of the Caspian region though not immediately bordering the Caspian Sea, its relationship with Malaysia dates back to 1992 with the establishment of a Malaysian embassy in Tashkent. The cultural visit to MSU coincidentally celebrates 30 years of bilateral diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Promoting international diversity and intercultural competency, the weeklong exchange at MSU embraced learning by sharing. Bahasa Malaysia was learned along with Uzbek, traditional dances were performed, and national costumes worn as well as displayed.

Across education as well as industry, Management and Science University (MSU) has collaborations in Pharmaceutical and Health Care, Halal Certification, Personnel Training, and Poultry as well as Agriculture with Uzbekistan. MSU also collaborates with Navoi State Pedagogical Institute, Bukhara State University, Bukhara State Medical Institute, and Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages.

HKAPA appoints Dr Iñaki Sandoval as Dean of Music

Posted on by Communications Office

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (the Academy) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Iñaki Sandoval as Dean of School of Music, with effect from August 1, 2022.

Dr. Iñaki Sandoval is an internationally renowned pianist, composer, and music producer with extensive arts administration experience. As Dean of Music of the Academy, Dr. Sandoval will lead the implementation of the overall vision and the academic development of the School of Music, working closely with faculty members to promote innovative enhancements in the delivery of performing arts education.

Academy Director, Professor Gillian Choa, warmly welcomes Dr. Sandoval to the Academy community, “Dr. Sandoval has over two decades of experience in higher education in music and is an internationally acclaimed musician himself. With his breadth of experience, expertise, and international connections, I am confident that he will be able to build upon existing strengths of the School and develop new initiatives that will further strengthen its overall growth and positioning, hence making a very positive and valuable contribution to the Academy. I very much look forward to working with Dr. Sandoval.”

Devoting himself to higher education in music for over 20 years, Dr. Sandoval has held senior management and teaching positions in different institutions around the world. Prior to joining the Academy, Dr. Sandoval has served as Principal cum Tenured Professor at the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy in Estonia. He is also the founding Dean of Graduate Studies and founding Director of the Jazz Department at the Liceu Conservatory in Spain.

As a former council member of the European Association of Conservatories, and board member of the International Association of Jazz Schools, Dr. Sandoval is well connected with conservatoires and performing arts educators.

 

Dr. Sandoval received professional music training both in the United States and Spain. He holds a PhD in Musicology and Art History from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, a Master of Music degree from the University of Nevada, and two Bachelor of Music degrees from the Berklee College of Music and the Liceu Conservatory, respectively.

Trebas Institute Toronto extends partnership with Number 9 Audio Group

Posted on by Global University Systems

Trebas Institute Toronto is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Number 9 Audio Group, a renowned recording studio in Toronto, providing students with the opportunity to hone their technical and creative skills using industry standard facilities.

As part of this partnership, Number 9 Audio Group will provide recording resources, including space, equipment and recording engineers, for students in Trebas’ Audio Engineering program. Delivering a blend of theoretical learning and practical experience is an integral element within the Trebas curriculum and students will benefit considerably from the hands-on experience working with musicians, bands and sound engineers.

The partnership has also led to the launch of the ‘Number 9 Trebas Graduate Award’ which will be presented at Trebas’ graduation ceremony. The award recipient will receive a formal internship at the Number 9 studio or free studio time, among other benefits.

Number 9 Audio Group has been providing professional audio services since 1981 and is renowned for recording with high-profile clients including Rush, Amanda Marshall, K-os, Van Morrison and The Rolling Stones.

Commenting on the partnership, Mohamed Slimani, Vice-President of Operations at Trebas Institute, said: “We are delighted to be working with Number 9 Audio Group. Students are at the heart of all we do, and we strive to provide them with the highest quality of training and skills. I am excited for the benefits that this partnership will bring for our students and look forward to supporting them on their individual learning journeys and equipping them with valuable hands-on experience.”

George Rondina, Managing Director at Number 9 Audio Group, added: “Trebas Institute and Number 9 Sound Studios have become a great team that will instruct the many great recording engineers of the future”.

Established in 1979, Trebas Institute has campuses in both Montreal and Toronto. Trebas has had over 3,000 graduates from over 40 countries. The college is also one of the principal subsidiaries of Global University Systems (GUS), an international network of higher education institutions united by a passion for delivering accessible, industry-relevant credentials.

For more information, visit https://www.trebas.com/.

About Trebas Institute

Trebas Institute offers programs in music, film, business, technology and program management. Their goal is to provide education that gives students a competitive edge in their chosen industry, while constantly updating offerings to keep pace with the changing marketplace.

The campus boasts state-of-the-art equipment for sound and video production, and classes taught by expert instructors with industry experience. All of this prepares students to leave their mark in their chosen field.

Many of Trebas’ alumni have gone on to win major awards and work for leading industry names, like Virgin and Universal Music Group.

About Number 9 Audio Group

Number 9 Audio Group has been providing professional audio services since 1981. Our Toronto recording studio is renowned for music recording with high-profile clients and post-production. We also have complementary departments in pro audio rentals as well as CD duplication graphic design, video production and audio/video transfers.

We also offer what we believe are the area’s best recording courses. A quarter-century of industry experience has allowed us to hone our craft and develop versatile methods to professionally and adequately serve anyone who walks through our doors.

Our main recording studio is comprised of two large, isolated spaces. One is more useful as a ‘general purpose’ space and has three isolation booths inside, while the other was custom-built for our beautiful nine-foot grand piano. If all you need is a quick edit and you don’t require a full-scale recording studio, our production suite will fit the bill without running it up.

 

EdUHK carries out research on assessment-as-learning in China

Posted on by eduhk

Dr Lao Hongling, Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I), The Education University of Hong Kong, has co-authored a book chapter entitled ‘Dancing with Chains: How Does Assessment-as-learning Fit in China?’

Assessment-as-learning aims to provide learning opportunities to students via assessment activities, advocating the development of their long-term learning capacity, such as self-regulation and metacognition. Although students are central to the practice, teachers still play a key role, especially in younger age-groups. Teachers are expected to design, teach, monitor, provide feedback, and modify these assessment activities, so that students can maximise their learning during assessment. This casts a heavy burden of expectation on teachers. However, they may not be ready to implement the new procedures, especially in a deep-rooted examination-oriented culture such as that of mainland China. Working from teachers’ perspectives, the chapter explores whether assessment-as-learning can be accommodated by such a culture.

At first glance, the disjuncture between assessment-as-learning and an examination-oriented assessment culture seems obvious. Firstly, assessment-as-learning aims to develop students’ long-term learning capacity, whereas examination-oriented culture prioritises students’ short-term test performance. Furthermore, driven by these different purposes, the assessment tasks themselves have different goals and formats. However, if assessment-as-learning is treated primarily as a learning strategy, rather than an assessment device, the question arises whether it would be a better fit in an examination-oriented culture. The long-term learning capacities developed via assessment-as-learning could be used to enhance short-term test performance. To maximise students’ learning opportunities, the chapter looks at whether it would be possible to integrate assessment-as-learning into all assessment designs, including both formative and summative scenarios.

To answer these questions, the nature of assessment-as-learning is discussed, highlighting its position as a learning strategy instead of a competing assessment procedure. Then it briefly reviews the assessment culture in China and examines the perceived conflicts between assessment-as-learning and the examination-oriented culture, and attempts to seek alternative perspectives that might potentially alleviate such tension.

Finally, a case study provides a snapshot of the current status of assessment-as-learning in China from the teacher’s perspective. It shows how the examination-oriented culture still casts a long shadow over the conceptions and practices of assessment, by limiting their scope and format. It also studies how recent reforms provide new opportunities for the development and implementation of assessment-as-learning as universal learning strategy, integrated into all classroom assessments, as well as being used to improve short-term academic performance.

Co-authored with Dr Yan Zi, Associate Professor at C&I, the chapter features in the book Assessment as Learning: Maximising Opportunities for Student Learning and Achievement (Z. Yan & L. Yang [Eds], Routledge 2021).

To learn more about the publication, please click here.

Scientists discover mechanism behind suppression of fearful memories

Posted on by Tokyo University of Science

Fearful events negatively impact the brain.

For instance, war veterans often go through post-traumatic stress disorder months after the cessation of the triggering event. Now, in a study led by Tokyo University of Science researchers, the precise mechanism of suppression of such fearful memories has been uncovered. Using a mouse model, the researchers identified the associated biochemical pathways, thus paving the way for the development and clinical evaluation of therapeutic compounds such as KNT-127.

Tragic events like wars, famines, earthquakes, and accidents create fearful memories in our brain. These memories continue to haunt us even after the actual event has passed. Luckily, researchers from Tokyo University of Science (TUS) have recently been able to understand the hidden biochemical mechanisms involved in the selective suppression of fearful memories, which is called fear extinction.

The researchers, who had previously demonstrated fear extinction in mice using the chemically synthesized compound “KNT-127,” have now identified the underlying mechanism of this compound’s action. Their findings have been published recently in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

Prof. Akiyoshi Saitoh, lead author of the study, and Professor at TUS, muses, “Drugs that treat fear-related diseases like anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder must be able to help extinguish fear. We previously reported that KNT-127, a selective agonist of the d-opioid receptor or DOP, facilitates contextual fear extinction in mice. However, its site of action in the brain and the underlying molecular mechanism remained elusive. We therefore investigated brain regions and cellular signaling pathways that we assumed would mediate the action of KNT-127 on fear extinction.”

“We investigated the molecular mechanism of KNT-127-mediated suppression of fearful memories. We administered KNT-127 to specific brain regions and identified the brain regions involved in promoting fear extinction via delta receptor activation,” elaborates Dr. Daisuke Yamada, co-author of the study, and Assistant Professor at TUS.

Using a mouse model, the research team performed fear conditioning test on laboratory mice. During fear conditioning, mice learn to associate a particular neutral conditioned stimulus with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (e.g., a mild electrical shock to the foot) and show a conditioned fear response (e.g., freezing).

After the initial fear conditioning, the mice were re-exposed to the conditioning chamber for six minutes as part of the extinction training. Meanwhile, the fear-suppressing therapeutic “KNT-127” was microinjected into various regions of the brain, 30 minutes prior to re-exposure. The treated brain regions included the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA), the hippocampus (HPC), and the prelimbic (PL) or infralimbic subregions (IL) of the medial prefrontal cortex. The following day, the treated mice were re-exposed to the chamber for six minutes for memory testing.

The fear-suppressing “KNT-127” that infused into the BLA and IL, but not HPC or PL, significantly reduced the freezing response during re-exposure. Such an effect was not observed in mice that did not receive the KNT-127 treatment, thus confirming the fear-suppressing potential of this novel compound.

Chemical compounds known to inhibit the actions of key intracellular signaling pathways like PI3K/Akt and MEK/ERK pathways reversed the therapeutic effect, thereby suggesting the key roles of these two pathways in influencing KNT-127-mediated fear extinction.

The first author of the study, Ayako Kawaminami, who is currently pursuing research at TUS, says, “The selective DOP antagonist that we used for pretreatment antagonized the effect of KNT-127 administered into the BLA and IL. Further, local administration of MEK/ERK inhibitor into the BLA and of PI3K/Akt inhibitor into the IL abolished the effect of KNT-127. These findings strongly indicated that the effect of KNT-127 is mediated by MEK/ERK signaling in the BLA, by PI3K/Akt signaling in the IL, and by DOPs in both brain regions. We have managed to show that DOPs play a role in fear extinction via distinct signaling pathways in the BLA and IL.”

PTSD and phobias are thought to be caused by the inappropriate or inadequate control of fear memories. Currently, serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines are prescribed during therapy. However, many patients do not derive significant therapeutic benefits from these drugs. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of new therapeutic agents that have a different mechanism of action from existing drugs.

Dr. Hiroshi Nagase, a Professor at University of Tsukuba and a coauthor of the study, concludes, “We have succeeded in creating KNT-127 by successfully separating convulsion- and catalepsy-inducing actions, which has so far been extremely difficult. Our findings will provide useful and important information for the development of evidence-based therapeutics with a new mechanism of action, that is targeting DOP.”

Fighting fear with the right therapeutic is the need of the hour, as anxiety and stress increase globally, and the findings of this study could help us achieve this objective. We have our fingers crossed.

***

Reference

Title of original paper: Selective δ-Opioid Receptor Agonist, KNT-127, Facilitates Contextual Fear Extinction via Infralimbic Cortex and Amygdala in Mice

Journal: Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.808232

About The Tokyo University of Science

Tokyo University of Science (TUS) is a well-known and respected university, and the largest science-specialized private research university in Japan, with four campuses in central Tokyo and its suburbs and in Hokkaido. Established in 1881, the university has continually contributed to Japan’s development in science through inculcating the love for science in researchers, technicians, and educators.

With a mission of “Creating science and technology for the harmonious development of nature, human beings, and society”, TUS has undertaken a wide range of research from basic to applied science. TUS has embraced a multidisciplinary approach to research and undertaken intensive study in some of today’s most vital fields. TUS is a meritocracy where the best in science is recognized and nurtured. It is the only private university in Japan that has produced a Nobel Prize winner and the only private university in Asia to produce Nobel Prize winners within the natural sciences field.

Website: https://www.tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelations/

About Professor Akiyoshi Saitoh from Tokyo University of Science

Dr. Akiyoshi Saitoh is serving as a Professor in the Department of Pharmacy, at the Tokyo University of Science, Japan. His research work primarily focuses on the role of the amygdala in the rodent fear extinction memory as well as on the development of novel opioid delta receptor agonists for combating depression and anxiety. Prof. Saitoh has published over 100 refereed papers so far. He also has a patent to his credit.

From the classroom to the field

Posted on by Niamh Ollerton

The sports world is changing dramatically. Niamh Ollerton takes a closer look at how hands-on learning, digital transformation, and media consumption are just some of the ways the industry is getting a shake-up, and how universities are preparing graduates for this new landscape.

Sport is an important element in the lives of many people from all walks of life across the globe. An afternoon watching your favourite football team. An evening watching basketball teams shoot their shot. Admiring figure skaters from the bleachers as they attempt gravity-defying routines. The sports industry has something for almost everyone.

Sport has the power to move people, entertain, and in some instances give people a purpose to get through each week. But it’s not just the players and athletes involved in putting on these performances; there are sports stars behind the scenes helping them shine too. Coaches, scouts, managers; every team needs someone with the skills and expertise fighting in their corner, helping them improve and reach the next level.

To really make it as a coach or manager today, students and graduates alike will need a Sport Management and Coaching degree on their resume.

“Diversity allows for interesting debates and we also learn from one another.”

The business of sport

Sports Management degrees combine educational and practical elements of business leadership skills with passionate knowledge of the sports world.

The business-oriented degree focuses on how an individual can lead an organisation in the sports industry, with students undertaking classes in finance, marketing, public relations, leadership skills, and communications.

To hone necessary expertise, Sports Management students will also study laws and ethics specifically related to the sports industry and finesse important skills such as negotiating a sponsorship contract or managing a sports facility. The opportunities that come along with the degree are also growing. PwC figures predict the sports market will grow at a compound annual rate of 3.2 percent in North America alone, rising from $71.1 billion in 2018 to $83.1 billion in 2023 through a mixture of established and emerging areas.

Among its outlook predictions for 2022, PwC identified betting, streaming and rights negotiations, mergers and acquisitions, the resurgence of live audiences, smart venues, NFTs and digital assets, sports documentaries and reality TV, sponsorship data, fan-created content, and mixed reality.

A changing sector

Emlyon Business School’s MSc in Sports Industry Management is designed to provide students with global perspectives of the sports industry.

“Although we name it Sports Industry Management, the MSc SIM could be looked at first as a Master’s in Marketing and Innovation where sports are our field of study,” says Antoine Haincourt, Head of MSc in Sports Industry Management.

“We see sport as a starting point, not a finish line. Why? Because sport is a fantastic playground, multifaceted, culturally coded, but more interestingly a sector facing major transformation challenges. This is what we are here to help students gain the core competencies needed to effectively lead change in just 18 months.”

Emlyon’s programme started in 2012, and essentially looked at sport through the lens of the sporting goods market. Haincourt believes the boundaries from the past have become blurry, and today, sport meets with lifestyle, technology, entertainment, and health.

Other examples of change in the sector may not seem as obvious, such as digital transformation, media consumption, and global political instability and its impact of mega events. “We should look at some other factors, probably less visible,” Haincourt says.

“Sport is historically driven by males for males. What we see today is a major shift towards feminisation.

“Some may essentially see the rise of female teams in the major sports and leagues. However, just to name one example, one should also take into consideration that the greatest shift and growth driver is the rise of heartbeat sports among females, outside of most institutional organisations. Another shift is how organisations embrace CSR, and sustainability issues.”

Changing the sector

In addition to teaching concrete and theoretical knowledge, Sports Managements programmes put cohorts in the shoes of sports professionals by allowing students to work hand-in-hand with renowned brands.

“From startups to international sports companies, we had the chance to learn and put into context and action the different notions learned,” says Zoé Gerdil, a MSc in Sports Industry Management student at Emlyon Business School.

“The programme also has a long list of professors and speakers which are either current or former sports professionals.

“By sharing not only their knowledge but also their personal experiences, the cohort benefits from getting a deeper understanding of the requirements and demands of the sports industry,” Zoé says.

Emlyon’s diverse range of classes and experiences which, in Zoé’s case, offer the professional learnings needed for the career she wants to build in the sports, and more specifically, in the outdoor industry.

Zoé believes these programmes are essential to build strong and competent professionals and allow diversity in an industry as specific as sports.

“Programmes such as Emlyon’s MSc SIM offer opportunities for young professionals and leverage for an international career,” she says.

“These programmes don’t only focus on the surface of the industry, they also teach what the future challenges will be and how the industry will adapt to the issues of tomorrow turning us into true leaders and innovators.”

Emlyon’s cohort is generally half international and half French, 60 percent male, 40 percent female on average. Students also come from different backgrounds, countries and previous study, something Zoé thinks is very important.

“Diversity allows for interesting debates and we also learn from one another. As a woman entering the sports industry and one of the six girls on the programme, I’m looking forward to seeing more women apply to such programmes!”

This article was abridged from 2022 QS World University Rankings by Subject. Download the full edition.