The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has provided the University of Glasgow with a Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) grant to support cutting edge research that addresses the challenges faced by Official Development Assistance(ODA)/ Lower and Middle Income (LMIC) countries. It will do this by supporting challenge-led disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, strengthening capacity for research in the UK and in LMIC countries and responding to emergencies where there is an urgent research need.  

Every three years, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning undertakes a global survey of the State of Adult Learning (GRALE). The third GRALE report was published in late 2016. As well as covering broad developments in adult learning, the survey had as its principal theme the benefits of learning, focusing on health, employment and community effects.  As the main editor of the survey, Tom Schuller will describe some of the challenges involved in carrying out the survey; present some of its primary conclusions; and reflect on the issues arising.