Features

With a few exceptions, vice-chancellors’ remuneration did not rise vertiginously in 2011-12 - a good thing politically. But are they still paid too much compared with their peers?

Nobel prizewinner Sir John Gurdon, who famously did not have his potential recognised, and five other scholars recall their school days and the characters that inspired them one way or another

Justice has been poorly served by the bloody-minded determination of the state to prosecute anti-fees demonstrators, argues Martin McQuillan

Post-Sandy Hook, hundreds of American college presidents are taking on the gun lobby. Amid the US’ increasingly febrile and evidence-free policy debates, does the campaign signal a return to the ‘bully pulpit’ for the American academy’s leaders? Jon Marcus reports

In our market-driven world, in which the ideals of common good are disappearing, Fred Inglis reminds us that it is the public universities that are in a pivotal position to protect our society

Matthew Reisz meets scholars whose enquiries are intertwined with their creative endeavours

Helen Bynum on the rewards, delight and egg-citement of dabbling in duck-keeping

Artistic practice can certainly be research - but the present model in UK universities is confused and lacks intellectual rigour, argues Nicholas Till

Not only do medieval travellers’ tales provide students with a compelling account of history rooted in personal experience, they also promote cross-cultural understanding in the present day, argues David Mould

A series of high-profile research scandals within social psychology have led to unjustified attacks on the whole academic discipline. Wolfgang Stroebe and Miles Hewstone declare that the majority must not suffer for a tiny minority’s misconduct

Higher education is not compulsory, and in an environment of rising costs and scepticism on both sides of the Atlantic, growing numbers are becoming increasingly vocal about the other options. Jon Marcus reports

The visa process can trap students in a costly Kafkaesque limbo. To improve life for foreign scholars, the sector should halt its failed lobbying over policy and focus on publicising the misery caused by Byzantine bureaucracy, argues Simeon Underwood

People take refuge in drama when the bombs rain down, and the arts aid rebuilding when the guns fall silent, says James Thompson, who has travelled to some of the world’s most violent regions, only for the horrors of conflict to be felt closer to home

Open-access publishing, once a niche preoccupation, is now a hot-button issue. But concern is growing that unintended consequences of new publication mandates will cost individual scholars and the UK sector dear. Paul Jump reports

For centuries Regius chairs were the gift of kings, tools of statecraft and the preserve of ancient universities. But that has changed, most recently with the addition of 12 new professorships, as Richard J. Evans relates

Jeremy MacClancy on the British Museum’s new exhibition linking Ice Age artistry to the Modernists

Regrets? They’ve had a few…but with the frustrations have come joys and satisfaction, too. Six scholars reveal what they wish they had known at the beginning of their careers and offer some sage advice to would-be professors

Miriam David’s reflections on her career as a scholar and feminist inspired her to interview a range of female academics about their paths to the getting of wisdom - and the pivotal role feminism has played in their lives

Mary Evans uncovers clues as to why crime fiction appeals to so many but is disregarded by critics of the literary world

Financial models that have stood firm for decades are failing, technological revolution is opening new doors and a growing middle class is creating unprecedented demand. At a time of extraordinary economic and demographic change, Elizabeth Gibney explores five trends that are transforming the face of global higher education

The critics of private-sector higher education can muster plenty of hostility - even hatred - towards its providers but precious few reasoned arguments, according to Peter Crisp

Ireland’s government expects consolidation to play a big role in creating a financially sustainable higher education system. As the sector pores over a new strategy document that will inform ministers, Matthew Reisz considers the shape of things to come

Ireland’s government expects consolidation to play a big role in creating a financially sustainable higher education system. As the sector pores over a new strategy document that will inform ministers, Matthew Reisz considers the shape of things to come

Whether spurred by lofty research ambition or the prosaic hope that one can live more cheaply than two, universities’ urge to merge can bring cultural as well as organisational challenges, as recent unions show. David Matthews reports

Scholarship has long been international but the current vision of a ‘worldwide’ academy of rootless student-consumers and national economic competition is as contradictory as it is immoral, argues Thomas Docherty

Whether spurred by lofty research ambition or the prosaic hope that one can live more cheaply than two, universities’ urge to merge can bring cultural as well as organisational challenges, as recent unions show. David Matthews reports

With radical changes causing discontent across Europe, Susan Bassnett wonders if UK scholars are justified in feeling so aggrieved about their lot

Toby Miller did not take a straight path into academia - far from it, having been, among other things, a DJ, a ditch digger, a speech-writer, a bureaucrat, a security guard and a merchant banker. He reflects on how his atypical trajectory shaped his views of the insular scholarly world

Austerity has brought tragedy to Greece and the UK. Martin McQuillan reflects on the narrative and ideology of ‘fiscal discipline’ and what it means for both nations and their academies

Ronald Barnett offers an imaginative approach to the idea of the university: ‘feasible utopias’ that open up possibilities for renewal beyond the dominant ideas of the market and the pessimistic reactions they elicit

Well, we didn’t see that coming but Patrick McGhee did: the v-c consults the oracle and offers his forecast for the year ahead

To many in the West, Central Asia is a bewildering array of indistinguishable nations. But if you take the time to get to know them, argues David Mould, the ‘stans’ are fascinating individuals

Live tweeting at conferences is on the rise as audience members share with online followers, but some think it improper, impolite and plain rude. Chris Parr navigates the new-media rules

Tom Palaima muses on truth’s troubled relationship to the tales we tell about the heart of war

Rejecting dire warnings that increasing competition in higher education will end in disaster, Paul Ramsden argues that the opposite could be true, but only if the sector is allowed to take charge of its own destiny

All eyes are on Brazil’s academy and its rising research output, generous funding and willingness to team up internationally in a bid to become a major player. Elizabeth Gibney reports from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro

Moocs are already big - in reach and in hype - and are predicted to explode. Zoë Corbyn checks in to learn if they are more than just a novelty and to find out what it’s like to teach a class of 38,000

Spring is dawning in the Gulf and the UK academy’s links with the region’s repressive, anachronistic autocracies look increasingly questionable, says Christopher Davidson

Learning outcomes are frequently dismissed as a nuisance to be dutifully completed and swiftly put aside, but Frank Furedi believes their prescriptive nature and underlying utilitarian ethos make them an altogether more corrosive influence on higher education

In the first of a new series on academics who conduct research in extreme circumstances, Gillian Fowler recalls the six years she spent working as a forensic anthropologist exhuming mass graves in Guatemala

To mark the 10th anniversary of the film-maker Karel Reisz’s death, his son, Times Higher Education staff writer Matthew Reisz, examines academics’ appraisals of his father’s work, and reflects on how it feels to view your parent through scholars’ eyes

Read all about it: Fred Inglis on the horn-blowing and the hoopla, the cant and the can-do spirit of the glossy world of official university magazines

They may (almost) all be white men in suits but that doesn’t mean that all vice-chancellors are the same, says Jack Grove. So which tribe does your v-c belong to?

Next week, scholars will launch the Council for the Defence of British Universities. Historian Keith Thomas and astrophysicist Martin Rees, eminent founding members of the independent body, explain why they believe the academy requires protection from the state and the market

Weary of cronyism, many in Italy welcomed a metrics-based research evaluation - until they saw the catalogue of approved publications, ‘crazy lists’ that ignored many journals in favour of provincial newspapers, religious circulars and yachting magazines. Massimo Mazzotti writes

Genius and madness may be two sides of the same coin and both states exhibit ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking. Such unusual thought patterns are key to creativity but can also lead reason astray. Glenn Wilson takes a look at the psychology of minds at the margins

A childhood spent near the coast sparked Frances Ashcroft’s lifelong passion for biology. It also meant she caught the sailing bug early on, and she has been captivated - and frequently capsized - ever since

The REF is coming and many institutions are looking to poach premier league researchers to boost their scores (and income) before it is too late. Elizabeth Gibney takes a look at the recruitment ‘feeding frenzy’

Joanna Sugden reports from New Delhi on the challenges facing Western institutions seeking to gain a foothold in India

Filled with treasures from around the globe and across the ages, England’s university museums are as varied as their funding, but those of Oxford and Cambridge still take the lion’s share of Hefce cash. Matthew Reisz on the changing roles of these repositories of knowledge

The UK sector’s growing involvement in offshore education includes everything from branch campuses and institutional partnerships to validation and franchising. David Matthews weighs the different models’ risks, rewards and rationales

As the first undergraduates subject to England’s new higher fees regime acclimatise to campus life, Chris Parr talks to freshers across the capital about their reasons for going to university, how they are financing their studies and how they feel about tuition costs of up to £9,000 a year

The tide of instrumentalism threatens to engulf the UK’s higher education sector, but could a new wave of liberal arts programmes signal a return to the ancient ideal of learning for its own sake? Nigel Tubbs hopes so

The Ivy League’s autonomy has allowed its members to conquer the world. The UK must loosen the reins on its universities and establish an equivalent, Terence Kealey argues

Full results of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-13 with all the data, interactive tables and analysis.

As the traditional academic publishing model comes under pressure from legitimate criticism, austerity and alternative forms, firms are springing up to exploit the uncertainty. Iain Stevenson investigates

There was never a golden age in which academic values such as universalism and disinterestedness were not at risk, argues Bruce Macfarlane. But in an age of sponsorism and insecurity, all scholars must hold fast to the precepts that make our intellectual endeavours worthwhile

A handful of universities have produced more than their share of vice-chancellors. Jack Grove looks at how these centres have nurtured talented leaders

A young Nick Hillman chose Manchester less for the university’s eminent historians than for the city’s glorious music scene - and despite the latter’s loathing for his Conservative heroine

Is the new student loans system an affordable, progressive system of graduate contributions - or a dodgy move to get debt off the books that could bring grave fiscal consequences? John Morgan sifts through the rhetoric, rates and RABs