Uni of Sydney $140,000 scholarship to study soccer governance

The University of Sydney Business School has got into the spirit of the World Cup with a $140,000 PhD scholarship to study the governance of soccer in Australia.

Former Socceroo captain and football legend Johnny Warren (left) in his playing heyday.

In today’s Higher Ed Daily Brief: Studying soccer governance, exotic university rankings, age doesn’t matter

World Cup time

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The University of Sydney Business School has got into the spirit of the soccer World Cup now underway in Russia, announcing a PhD scholarship for research into the governance of soccer in Australia. The scholarship, worth $140,000, is sponsored by the Johnny Warren Foundation, named in memory of the legendary Socceroo captain.

“There is a broad spectrum of governance and management issues that could be investigated by the recipient,” said the business school’s Stephen Greaves. “These might include grassroots and youth development, broadening football’s participation base, tackling societal issues through football and fostering relationships with other nations.”

Johnny Warren’s nephew Jamie Warren, who is executive chair of the foundation, said it wanted to “support high quality research that will inspire discussion, debate and policy.”

Top millennial

Another day, another exotic university ranking. Times Higher Education, the people who bring you the Young University Rankings of institutions which have been around 50 years or less, have, for the second year, split another shard from this product to create the Millennial Ranking.

Come again? Yes, this is no joke — it’s the list of top universities which were founded since the year 2000. This comes to our attention because Charles Darwin University, established in 2003 according to the ranking table, is on it and it comes in 9th. “As a small regional university we will continue to work hard to maintain our ranking in the fiercely competitive international system. To be recognised within the Top 10 of the world’s newest universities of this century is an outstanding achievement,” says Charles Darwin’s vice-chancellor Simon Maddocks.

The reality is that, if you’re in the group of universities founded in the 21st century it’s not a very competitive field. However universities which are hungry for yet more accolades can always turn to the list of the world’s top 10 dumbest university rankings, thoughtfully published by the UK higher education think tank WonkHE.

Or you could always shoot for a place Time Higher Ed’s Gen X and Gen Y rankings if your university is of a certain age.

But wait a minute

Turn to the Charles Darwin University website and you find a page which celebrates a 25th anniversary. “In 2014 Charles Darwin University celebrated 25 years of university education in the Northern Territory,” it says. The backstory is that the institution was founded as the Northern Territory University in 1989 and became Charles Darwin University in 2003 when it merged with two colleges in Alice Springs and Katherine. So if you take in two smaller institutions and change your name, the slate is wiped clean and you start all over again?