Opinion

Aberdeen’s proposal to close language degree programmes might save money but it will impoverish international understanding, says Charles Burdett

Before undertaking change programmes, universities should devote more attention to designing how success will be achieved, says Paul Woodgates

It may be true that higher education rarely tops the agenda in electoral campaigns, but don’t be fooled – the politics is as fevered as ever

With helping students and graduates the likely priority, universities will have to make concessions for a share of any spare cash, says Jonathan Simons

Unless we get an X-ray machine, the guard room will be inadvertently signing for dubious deliveries for the foreseeable future, says George Bass

The general secretary’s visibility makes her a natural target for discontent, but many of the blunders arose from committee decisions, says Dyfrig Jones

Unless vocational and higher education systems are better aligned, Australians will struggle to met the challenges of the future, say five researchers

The Gaza situation is no exception to the rule that truth-seeking requires the marrying of free expression with inclusion and respect, says Duncan Ivison

As MENA adapts to global warming, regional universities, especially in the UAE, are preparing to embrace a climate leadership role, says Mariët Westermann

Government micromanagement of teacher education is unprecedented interference in day-to-day academia. Will your subject be next, asks Viv Ellis

Business schools show the power of collaboration, common purpose and internationalisation outlook, says Mark Smith

Students must be allowed to participate in decisions about technology adoption that affect their education, careers and lives, says Mona Sloane

Many researchers need more help to negotiate a wide array of ethical issues, from identity to genetic engineering, says Aymen Idris

Innovative programmes to revive student interest in the humanities are great, but they must be properly funded and staffed, says an academic

Problems may result from focusing on branch campuses, resisting online provision and partnering only with top 1,000 institutions, says Mike Winter

Both boards approved the case for the amalgamated Adelaide University – but politicians still formed a scrutiny committee, say Peter Høj and David Lloyd

I tell students that I want to make them my academic integrity collaborators, upholding the quality of their own education, says Kenneth Worthy

Victims need the certainty that worries and complaints will be listened to and that investigations will be fair-minded, says Owen Bubbers-Jones

Apparently widespread use of Bluetooth earpieces by medical school entrance candidates in one province has forced a re-sit, say four researchers 

Researchers mustn’t be obliged to second-guess which results might not play out well in public or with powerful interests, worries Tracey Brown

If you get what you measure, then a new framework for assessing universities’ efforts to support interdisciplinarity will provide welcome impetus

Reporting misconduct to an external ombudsman would circumvent managers’ tendency to cover up, says Wyn Evans

Academics could cooperate to decommercialise publishing so that all students have affordable access to reliable information, says Michael Wynn-Williams

The UK government should be doing more to help students survive the cost-of-living crisis, not dissuading them from studying, says Zahir Irani

As the cuts to the USS scheme are reversed, the UCU’s battle for better pay and conditions goes on. Members must vote ‘yes’ to more action, says Jo Grady

Government retaliation against criticism could undermine not just the universities but also their founders’ businesses, says an Indian scholar

Only offering discounts for publication in fully open access journals is limiting the options of researchers in lower-income countries, says Daniel Keirs

‘The change’ is finally starting to get the attention it deserves, but the issues go far beyond the medical field, say Joanne Ella Parsons and Ruth Heholt

The post-war scheme is 75 years old this year, but global conditions still cry out for inclusive international collaboration initiatives, says Maria Balinska

As Max Weber taught, scholars must respect the distinction between facts and values, says Martyn Hammersley

Young women’s mental health has been badly hit by the Taliban’s ban on their attending school or university, says a scholar in Afghanistan

Nurturing investigative skills will make for a better democracy – even if it embarasses campus administrators in the process, says Harvey Graff

Schools should bring together academics, students and practitioners to address urgent business issues, say Kakoli Sen and Anindo Bhattacharjee

Disadvantaged learners could also be offered financial support at school and monetary incentives to stay in higher education, says Jack Price

Greater understanding of the risks will help plot a sensible course between academic freedom and government control, says Fiona Quimbre

With politicians increasingly focused on short-term priorities, it is becoming both harder and more necessary for universities to take the long view

Lord Robbins’ review of British HE has had a 60-year legacy, but it ducked the question that looms largest over today’s sector, says Nick Hillman 

The challenge for universities seeking greater openness, innovation and collaboration is they can’t do it on their own, say Ian Matthias and Mike Boxall

Instead of focusing on the reliability of the data, I know first-hand that defamation suits become personal and career-threatening, says David Sanders

As geopolitical tensions and political scrutiny mount, knowledge diplomacy becomes both harder and more important, says Shearer West 

Grouping the likes of Brazil or Argentina with much bigger spenders will only raise the barriers to publication even higher, say three researchers

While academics may be dismissive, the process helps their professional colleagues recognise their own scholarly contributions, say four of them

Annual meetings should be reimagined as spaces that enable connections – including with practitioners and the media, says Noam Schimmel

The UK government is freezing ‘troublemaking’ educationalists out of policymaking. Universities should model better forms of debate, says Clare Brooks

The increased weighting of the environment section poses risks in an era when EDI is increasingly politicised, say Alice Sullivan and John Armstrong 

We who are the beneficiaries of technology must also listen and respond to the voices of frustration if science is to regain public trust, says Keith Burnett

Increased visa fees and health surcharges are likely to compound the Brexit effect on EU academics’ willingness to stay in the UK, say five researchers

The historical disconnect between teaching and research makes it easy to restrict expression without provoking much outrage, says Saikat Majumdar

We need to encourage and support scientists to leap into the unknown to solve our grand challenges faster and more equitably, says Xiangkun Cao

The internationalisation process should centre on quality assurance – but this is not necessarily a top priority in post-conflict regions, says Michèle Wera

Creating a cross-border qualification within a year is hugely ambitious but the wider benefits of mobility should be huge, say Jo Angouri and Jan Palmowski

University rankings wield enormous influence. But if constructed and used correctly, they should be a mirror and support, not a straitjacket

The UK government’s deeply flawed Online Safety Bill reflects widespread ignorance about tech – even within higher education, says Andy Farnell

Lockdowns demonstrated the damage isolation does to mental health. Why are universities prolonging it by recording lectures, asks Paul Wiltshire

Using AI, a teacher with little coding experience could design a virtual environment to deliver a specific lesson to a specific student, says Nick Clegg

Over the past century, capitalism, relativism, egoism and social advocacy have fuelled the decay of traditional academic commitments, says Bruce Macfarlane

Experiences in the Congo and the US Congress taught Stephen Weissman that adventurous academics need self-examination and thoughtful adaptation

MBAs replaced liberal arts with business courses. Demands for humanised corporations require a reversal, say Donald Drakeman and Kendall Hack

Some politicians are using the supposed ideological character of research to justify imposing greater control over it, says Martyn Hammersley

Many ask why we assume a combined university will offer more. The answer is that we are purposefully designing it that way, say Peter Høj and David Lloyd