Blog

Our evidence-led recommendations will challenge universities – but within the parameters of the possible, says Nigel Carrington

We can’t just concede that usage is ethical if within universities’ narrowly conceived rules. What about the pursuit of truth, asks Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin

A columnist has dared to voice the blasphemy that spending huge sums on higher education doesn’t always open new doors, writes Pushkar

The country’s leaders must recognise that emigration is not a betrayal but a symptom of deeper societal issues that must be addressed, says Roohola Ramezani

The political freedom currently exists for Palestinians to debate how to build back better. But it may be short-lived, warns Bill Williamson

Centres of Research Excellence, officially launched today, will also strengthen the UK’s leading position in biomedical sciences, says Patrick Chinnery

The far-right president rails against academics’ supposed sense that they are superior. A scholar forced to sell books to make ends meet feels anything but

Managers should take inspiration from student organising, but we need more than diversity window-dressing, say Alexander Hensby and Barbara Adewuni

The choice is to innovate or, potentially, to die. Focusing on customer experience and tech is the best way to avoid the latter, says Eric Skipper

Higher education funding in the UK may still be inadequate, but cost-cutting cannot come at the expense of social mobility, says Fiona Devine

The new commission must answer the big questions without delay and consult universities, say Jan Palmowski and Kurt Deketelaere

We can no longer deem as educated a student who knows nothing about statistics, data analytics or computing, says Daniel Diermeier

The financial woes can’t be solved without job losses; the key issue is to ensure they set the university up for a realistic long-term future, says Malcolm Prowle

But their long-term sustainability needs a clearer political strategy, including reflection on whether there are too many, says Luc Sels

Avoiding layoffs is the issue of the hour. The UCU would do better to prioritise negotiations on pay-related issues such as workload, says Jak Peake

Better to revise the previous government’s tuition fee hikes than redirect taxpayers’ money into wealthy graduates’ pockets, says Maxwell Yong

As universities are encouraged to undertake ever more local engagement, my four Bs framework will help them think it through, says Craig Jeffrey

A tactical takeover might have been easier in the short term, but Adelaide University will be better for being a marriage of equals, say David Lloyd and Peter Høj

Misappropriation of junior colleagues’ ideas is a betrayal. Requiring them to wait years for redress adds insult to injury, says Wyn Evans

Universities often say they are pursuing transnational education for both love and money. But that can make for a strategic muddle, warns Stephen Thomas

Political interventions on a host of issues suggest marketisation’s opponents are wrong to see neoliberalism as the root of all evil, says Gerbrand Tholen

The rules should quash the idea that a formal investigation is the only way to take action on disclosures or rumours of abuse by staff, says Anna Bull

But we must be sure to protect research and future subscription budgets, as well as building a sensible authentication system, says Cathy Foley

However we feel about the election result, we must strive to make education and democracy protect and nurture one another, says Michael Roth

The global cost pressures imposed by sector expansion oblige universities to embrace technology that is finally fulfilling the hype, says Anthony Finkelstein

This year’s Maddox Prize nominations suggest that institutional challenges may be a bigger problem than online abuse, says Tracey Brown

Forcing changes to the peer-review process would probably come with unforeseen and unwanted consequences, says Sheldon H. Jacobson

It’s tempting to dismiss the Ohio senator’s attacks on higher education as MAGA rabble-rousing, but he is right in some respects, says Lincoln Allison

Addressing the sector’s woes has, at best, been kicked down the road to next year’s spending review. How disappointing, says Nick Hillman

Devolving research and skills funding to metro mayors would allow universities to drive innovation-led economic growth, says Neal Juster

Misleading claims that some undergraduates are unjustly receiving extra help obscure how many universities are actually failing to provide sufficient support to disabled students, says Chris Pepin-Neff

With its focus on breakthrough research and innovation, Manuel Heitor’s plan for European research should be commended, says Jan Palmowski

Tailored guidance, standards, tools and infrastructure are needed to make data more accessible and interoperable across the globe, says Daniel Keirs

Wales’ groundbreaking Medr must boldly rethink how education and training work for society and the economy, says Ellen Hazelkorn

A ‘Fortress Australia’ that remains open to international trade and talent needs an educated, innovative and globally minded population, says Philipp Ivanov 

Let's not overlook the transformative power of education to spark curiosity, build resilience and drive positive change, says Rahim Somani

Civil servants appreciate a relational approach that responds to their needs and convenes evidence they will actually find useful, says Sally Hogg

If elected, I will use my vast experience of higher education to help Oxford lead the way through the big challenges facing UK HE, says David Willetts

Speaking Spanish is seen as a problem to be erased. But in Puerto Rico it is key to our success, say Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera and Héctor José Huyke

Policymakers must recognise that international education is a lifeline for low- and middle-income countries, say Maia Chankseliani and Joonghyun Kwak

UUK’s Blueprint is right to call for greater FE-HE collaboration so both sectors can complement each other’s strengths, say Sam Parrett and Nick Whitehouse

English higher education is already very diverse. Aggressive top-down attempts to diversify it further will do more harm than good, says B.V.E. Hyde

Partnerships with the public and private sectors can be slow-going or episodic. Urgent challenges demand a step change, says Daniel Diermeier

Whatever happens in the Middle East, we must learn how to minimise harm when discussing emotive topics, says Emma Davies

Our student survey underlines the scale of the problem. Here are some tips on how to respond, say Rosa Freedman and Odeliya Lanir Zafir

The new administration must also adopt systemic measures to rebuild trust within the academic community, says Roohola Ramezani

Administrators at US colleges are increasingly defective and detached from education but I’m too old to try something new, says a faculty member

But radical thinking is needed to make its collaborative instruments more effective and convince sceptical governments of their value, says Jan Palmowski

Publishers used to provide authors with better service – and royalties. But open access cooperatives offer a ray of light, says Harvey Graff

Chris Rock’s joke about US gun control exemplifies a cognitive sophistication that machines will struggle to match, say Akhil Bhardwaj and Anastasia Sergeeva

A ground-breaking physics experiment underlines a proud scholarly tradition that relies on purpose, dedication – and money, says Keith Burnett

Ukrainians are very resourceful and are more eager than ever to develop cooperation with institutions and scholars in the West, says David Livingstone

Institutions should make the case for their vital role in the proposed drive for more EU-wide coordination on skills and innovation, says Jan Palmowski

Even the ‘predatory’ label gives an undue level of legitimacy to operations that lack all the typical accoutrements of journals, says Steve Hochstadt

Doing so would do a service not only to Muslim would-be students worried about usury but to everyone concerned about debt, says Steve Connolly

Recent figures suggesting growing Russian isolation doesn’t tell the full story, say Lin Zhang, Zhe Cao, Gunnar Sivertsen and Dmitrii Kochetkov 

Support networks, mentoring and inter-institutional collaboration could make a big contribution to improving representation, says Mercy Denedo

Limiting overseas enrolments will reduce diversity and hit capacity to fund programmes that enhance Indigenous higher education, says Barry Judd

Boosting access to higher education is important, but closures and mergers will create better institutions for students to attend, says Manigandan Ganesan 

Next year’s review must consider why the equality charter now views ‘gender as a spectrum’, in addition to questions of cost and effectiveness, says Lucy Hunter Blackburn