National Postgraduate Committee (NPC) General Secretary Simon Felton has responded to the University and College Union boycott vote by saying that the National Postgraduate Committee renews its wholehearted support for academic freedom and its opposition to any
boycott.
A boycott would run contrary to our objective, which is to advance in the public interest the education of postgraduate students within the UK. The Committee on Human Rights of Scientists of the New York Academy of Sciences responded to the 2002 boycott saying it "violates the basic principles of scientific freedom and scholarship"[2]. The NPC echoed these sentiments in its reponse to the 2002 boycott and continues to support these views that a boycott attempt based on nationality encourages discrimination and goes against the principle of judging academic work on its merits alone [3]. A boycott prevents collaborations and working with leading research and encourages further discrimination against some students and staff within the UK.
The NPC will continue to invite contributions from Israeli academics to its own publications, including the Journal of Graduate Education.
The NPC will express its concern to UCU about the impact on postgraduate students and the academic community.
Notes for press officers:
The National Postgraduate Committee is a charity to advance, in the public interest, postgraduate education in the UK. It is run by postgraduates for postgraduates and supported by affiliated student representative bodies throughout the UK.
For further enquires, please contact the General Secretary, Simon Felton, at npc@npc.org.uk
References:
[2] http://www.nyas.org/about/newsDetails.asp?newsID=134year=2002
[3] http://www.npc.org.uk/features/featuresarchive/npcsaysdonttakeacademiahostage