Challenges for University Engagement in the UK: Towards a Public Academe?

This paper considers the changing role of universities in the UK as they respond to an engagement agenda that stipulates a more immersive and visible interaction between academics and the public. It constitutes a survey of attitudes to public engagement in a selection of UK universities drawing on interviews with senior academics with managerial responsibility at the end of 2009. The results of this study reflect a mood of indecision and anxiety among respondents towards a public engagement agenda seen to influence the contours of their professional identities and working lives. The study situates academic accounts that contest the legitimacy of public engagement as a core academic activity and the role of academics in communicating with public groups. Moreover, it reveals a lack of agreement and consistency in the conceptualisation and application of public engagement in higher education contexts, certainly beyond an emergent discourse of research impact.     

The cumulative and residual fatigue response associated with soccer-specific activity performed on different playing surfaces

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to assess the effect of playing surface (Natural [NT] and Artificial [AT] Turf) on the fatigue response to a soccer-specific exercise protocol (SSEP). Eighteen male soccer players completed the SSEP on NT and AT with pre-, post-, and 48 h post-assessments of eccentric knee flexor (eccKF) and concentric knee extensor peak torque (PT), peak countermovement (CMJ) and squat jump (SJ) height, and Nordic hamstring break angle. No significant main effects for surface or any surface and time interactions were observed for any of the outcome measures, except for eccKF PT recorded at 3.14 rad·s^-1, which was significantly lower 48 h post-trial in the AT condition (AT = 146.3 ± 20.4 Nm; NT = 158.8 ± 24.7 Nm). Main effects for time were observed between pre- and post-trial measures for eccKF PT at all angular velocities, Nordic break angle, CMJ and SJ height. Nordic break angle, and both CMJ and SJ height were significantly impaired 48 h post-trial when compared to pre-trial. The findings of the current study suggest surface dependent changes in eccKF PT which may have implications for recovery and subsequent performance after competition on AT.