Features

The A-level results are here again: cue the usual laments that exams are getting easier and the scramble for places is becoming ever more intense. But is any of it true? Jack Grove finds out

It's neither ghoulish nor foolish to hold tutorials over one's own coffin, philosopher Peter Vardy insists. Students like to tackle the big questions in life - and none is bigger than death

Instead of sermonising about the need for more contact hours, ministers should stop infantilising students and listen to what they actually want, argues Paul Ramsden

An outsider's perspective can spark innovation, but many refugee academics struggle to rekindle careers. Matthew Reisz shares the setbacks and successes of scholars set on rejoining their peers

Just penning a book isn't enough - academic authors want people to buy it and read it. Promotion is the publisher's domain, of course, but Dale Salwak is convinced that writers can make a big difference by taking an active role in spreading the word

The PhD by publication offers an alternative path to the traditional PhD by thesis, but it is viewed by some as inferior. Richard Willis refutes the argument that it is second rate, and Christopher Cowton looks for clearer regulations

Helen Fulton is unrepentant about her addiction to Glyndebourne, where high-end opera meets country-house garden to the delight of those of the English bourgeoisie who have secured tickets

Is this a godless age? No, say 'post-secularist' academics, who argue that the world outside the liberal West is 'furiously religious'. But such scholars overstate the number of believers, contends Alastair Bonnett, and ignore support for secularism worldwide

It is not just the prayerful who can be religious; by scholarly definitions, they can include fans of football teams and celebrities, says Robert Segal

Apps created by and for the academy could turn smartphones into essential academic tools for everything from teaching and citations to social-science fieldwork. Sarah Cunnane reports

Professional coaching - a common tool in business - is just starting to make inroads in the academy. Matthew Reisz speaks to advocates of tailor-made tactics for defeating stress, stasis and discord

Its higher education sector appears healthy, but will Australia's new demand-led system enable it to recruit enough domestic students to beat a drop in overseas recruitment and chronic underfunding? Simon Baker looks for lessons for England in an Antipodean challenge

...lecturers must be able to impart what they know. Craig Mahoney, head of the HEA, believes training can make any academic a more effective and inspired teacher

Treasury wonks may disagree, but Roger Luckhurst argues that his AHRC-backed study of superstition is not a waste of public money. The fears of the past inform the politics of the present, the mummy's curse simply a reflection of ambivalence towards Egyptian self-determination

Watching sport is an intellectual pursuit, contests football fan Stephen Mumford - but only if you don't mind which team wins

Having made a pig of university funding, the government had to dress it up. But who will be seduced by a brazen shade of 'Student Experience' lipstick or the White Paper's other blandishments? wonders Simon Blackburn

Thom Brooks is living the American Dream, not in the US itself but among the Geordies. And unlike Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee, coming to the UK feels like a journey to the future, not the past...

Competence in mathematics is desirable for everyone but vital for scientists, yet there is a widespread, deep-rooted fear of the subject. Stephen Curry insists that this can be overcome by making maths an integral part of science education

A gruelling four-year battle with her institution over a gender pay gap was ultimately empowering for Liz Schafer, who hopes it will help other women in the fight for parity

At a Unesco forum, Matthew Reisz hears about the hunger for libraries, corporate creep, and what should and should not be archived on the net

It is time to extend R.H. Tawney's 1922 vision of universal secondary education to universal access to tertiary study, argues Simon Szreter, and also to reject the coalition's fatally misguided economic policies

With scholars exploring digital platforms to make their work more available, Matthew Reisz looks at possible replacements for the monograph

In their haste to prepare students for a career, universities have lost sight of the true meaning of education, argues Steven Schwartz

As the UK looks to private companies to stimulate competition, the US for-profit universities are taking on their critics. Jon Marcus reports

The truth is in here, but so too are countless myths: Colin Higgins on the strange world of the academic library, where cod-antique book curses jostle for shelf space with thieves, tourists and treasures

Could robots offer our ageing populations care in their dotage, even love? Can machines genuinely become social beings? Will androids one day dream of electric sheep? Kathleen Richardson examines the history and development of the robot and evaluates the possibilities

A Dance to the Music of Time offers profound insights into life's contingencies and the nature of Englishness in the 20th century, writes Vernon Bogdanor

A postdoctoral position was once the passport to a research post for life. But the inexorable growth in numbers of postdoctoral researchers means competition for academic careers is fierce. Paul Jump asks what should be done to help early career scientists looking for a lab to call home

The narrow focus of 'profane' media studies on semiotics and consumption ignores the extent to which culture is rooted in our deep yearning for the sacred, argues Eduardo de la Fuente

The coalition has angered many in higher education by raising the fees cap, cutting grants, making market reforms - and that's all before its White Paper. Here, David Willetts explains its rationale and why the sector will come to thank him

With not only Bleak House but even Peter Rabbit seemingly too long for a texting, tweeting, attention-deficit generation, Valerie Sanders scans her shelves for a lightweight literary canon and asks: condensed or skimmed?

Andrew Oswald considers recent moves in economics, famously the most dismal of sciences, to take the happiness and psychological health of the population as seriously as a country's GDP

Can science provide the ultimate explanation of human nature? No, says Simon Blackburn, who tells us there's life in the philosophical armchair yet

A name change - along with the inauguration of a new chancellor this week - is intended to mark the start of a new era for the former Thames Valley University. Rebecca Attwood delves into the University of West London's colourful past and hears of its ambitions for a brighter and more secure future

Martin Cohen, a long-term resident of Normandy, presents a gourmet repast of his 11 favourite myths about the French, from barefaced fibs to insouciant self-deception and charming vérité

Study of the best that has been thought and said is under attack. Fred Inglis turns to F.R. Leavis for the ordnance with which to defend the humanities

A scandal involving clinical trials based on research that was riddled with errors shows that journals, institutions and individuals must raise their standards, argues Darrel Ince

About 100 years ago, higher education restructured to meet the needs of the industrial age. It has changed little since, even as the internet has transformed life. Another revolution is needed, says Cathy Davidson, to modernise universities and prepare graduates for a 21st-century working environment

Support for the monarchy is not this sceptred isle's only narrative, insists Clive Bloom. From Thomas Paine to bolshie bunting-subverters, arguments for a Republic weave in and out of our national story

The concept of the 'killer-ape' offers a pessimistic reflection of humanity and its genesis, but the latest research shows that a primate species whose success is based on mutual aid and pleasure, not violence, is a better model for human origins. Eric Michael Johnson considers the better bonobos of our nature

A French conference debates how to cultivate leadership qualities in MBA students, without losing sight of what really matters in life. Matthew Reisz observes

As the student experience becomes more crucial to universities' survival, administrators see a chance to step out of their supporting parts. John Morgan examines how their positions may expand and evolve

Fifty years ago this week, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin fulfilled humanity's ancient dream by ascending into the heavens. Colin Pillinger considers the First Cosmonaut's space odyssey and the intellectual journey that made it possible

To communicate our ideas eloquently is a skill that takes practice. Dale Salwak offers advice on how to help our students write well

Universities' accounts seem fairly healthy, but it's no indication of future well-being. Using an exclusive analysis of the sector's financial statements for 2009-10 by Grant Thornton, Simon Baker asks whether institutions will be strong enough to survive the trauma ahead

Are world leaders born or made? Can policy- based courses prepare the next generation for the challenges ahead? Harry Hoare discusses the role of philosophy in honing the hearts and minds of those who walk the corridors of power

Finbarr Livesey describes the courses preparing the leaders of the future with theory, practical insights...and healthy doses of humility

As his report on university governance is released, Malcolm Gillies asserts that alumni will make the best governors as they are the ones who will hold the greatest stake in future

Reflexive claims for the US academy's greatness ring hollow, says John Summers, given elite institutions' tight links with economic and political power and lack of appetite for challenging ideas

In a time of unprecedented change for the UK's academy, its leaders are under the spotlight as never before. Accordingly, Times Higher Education has augmented its annual survey of pay in the sector with an investigation into our v-cs' educational backgrounds. John Morgan asks: who are these people and what do they earn?

Academics without the freedom to exercise judgement are not true academics. Frank Furedi explains why scholars must resist the rise of proceduralism

There's no such thing as a typical academic, but some have more unusual backgrounds than others. Matthew Reisz discovers some startling stories

Nazi advocate or German nationalist? Research into businessman Alfred Toepfer and his foundation, which offers scholarships to Oxbridge students, has raised allegations of a cover-up of his support for Hitler's Reich. Richard J. Evans examines the evidence and finds a reassuring outcome

A university's brand - crucial in helping to attract students, staff and funding - is built on esteem. Times Higher Education's first World Reputation Rankings reveal how academics view the strength of institutions' teaching and research, while John Morgan explores brand values, virtues and vices

Some 13 million students enrol in the US community college system each year, but only about a third graduate. How can completion rates be improved? Zoë Corbyn reports on what is being done to turn 'access' into 'success'

As the White Paper that will lay out the government's agenda for change is delayed 'to test proposals more thoroughly', seven former education ministers offer their recommendations. Simon Baker reports

As graduation rates shrink and tuition fees and student debts soar in the US, experts call on the UK sector to heed lessons from the world's academic powerhouse. Sarah Cunnane reports

Prospective students' increased focus on graduate employment prospects and salaries in the wake of tuition fee rises will have profound repercussions for the sector in terms of setting fees, argues Christine Buccella

Much of the Ivy League eschews interviews when filling posts, says Amanda Goodall, and UK universities keen to hire the best should follow suit. But Richard J. Evans, appointed to a chair at Cambridge without any face-to-face contact, begs to differ

Prospectus promises don’t always match reality, so how can young people get what they need to make an informed choice? As the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey reveals what undergraduates really think about campus life, Rebecca Attwood learns that universities are working hard to improve