Features

What mad pursuit? Duncan Wu on a night of sublimity and terror among the roaring, soaring, brutally lyrical Monster Trucks

An HEA survey shows that teaching is still valued less than research, not least because of a lack of accord on how to assess it, writes Rebecca Attwood

After a decade as professor of physics, John Polkinghorne retrained for the priesthood. He talks to Matthew Reisz about his faith and run-ins with atheism's champion, Richard Dawkins

The Sixties generation of academics are approaching retirement, so what better time to consider that contentious era's legacy, writes Matthew Reisz

Graduate student Jorge Cham decided to look on the bright side of his experiences and created a comic that is entertaining millions, writes Jon Marcus

The inaugural Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards, run in association with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, will recognise and reward business and management. The deadline for entries is 20 February, with the ceremony to take place at the London Hilton Hotel on 9 June. Here some of the judges outline what they will be looking for

Cary Cooper reflects on the ups and downs, the friendships and rivalries, the knife-edge thrills and raw passion of years spent loving a tribal and beautiful game

US students are being advised to stop cramming through the night and get more sleep to raise their academic performance. Jon Marcus reports

A new breed of scholars is expanding the academy by turning music festivals, Lego and puppets into objects and tools of study. Hannah Fearn reports from 'out there'

Victorian values and the censoring presence of his prudish daughter blinded Charles Darwin to female promiscuity and delayed the study of sperm competition for 100 years, says Tim Birkhead

As the academy looks beyond the traditional roles played in assessment by essays and timed exams, new techniques are helping to turn students into active partners in their own learning. Rebecca Attwood reports

Academic computing has come a long way from the first lumbering leviathans. Now, says John Gilbey, we need to work on making everything accessible everywhere, every time

The espresso is Italy's gift to the world and the ideal stimulant for the creative mind, says Graham Farmelo

Continental business schools are spearheading the attempt to access the lucrative market for higher education in English. Matthew Reisz reports

'Knowledge for its own sake' is as narrowly utilitarian a remit for universities as the business-facing alternative, argues Gary Day

The economic downturn is affecting most sectors in the UK, including higher education. But, writes Hannah Fearn, it is not necessarily all bad news

Social scientists deployed in war zones to engage with civilians and advise US military commanders are under fire from their peers, writes Jon Marcus

Times Higher Education's annual Student Experience Survey highlights a host of institutions bent on making the university experience first rate in every way. Rebecca Attwood reports

National Theatre-going regular Rivka Isaacson finds compelling drama in the early morning cast of characters waiting to buy day tickets

A lack of quantitative analysis and a tendency to avoid policy-based research has left the study of higher education in the doldrums, John Gill hears

The 'Melbourne model' has prompted universities worldwide to consider broadening undergraduate degrees. But, finds Hannah Fearn, the template does not win over everyone

Archaeology's ability to reveal the truth untainted by political, cultural and nationalist bias remains a matter for heated debate. Matthew Reisz reports

The UK's only private university is led by an outspoken iconoclast, does not take part in the RAE and is home to 'internal exiles', mavericks and unabashed traditionalists. Matthew Reisz reports

Employers have discovered that a mind sharpened by the study of philosophy is ideal for today's workplace, writes Hannah Fearn

Leslie Gofton recalls swapping words, if not licks, with Jimi Hendrix, and argues that a misspent adulthood is a much greater waste than ill-spent adolescence

From nativity scenes to Apollo 8 and Beagle 2, our eternal fascination with the heavens is never greater than at Christmas, recounts Colin Pillinger

A fortnightly series in which academics step outside their area of expertise. Laleh Khalili on two intimate, nourishing and, for female academics, often simultaneous acts: breastfeeding a child and feeding one's own mind

As the findings of the final research assessment exercise are released, Times Higher Education has devised tables of excellence to rank institutions according to their subject successes and their overall quality

In social situations, topologists and biophysicists alike find that their enthusiasm for their discipline is not always infectious. Matthew Reisz reports

Is student-centred learning a sound practice based on mutually respectful shared scholarship or a managerialist fad that fails to stretch the brightest? John Gill weighs the arguments

Pressures to complete PhDs rapidly are forcing the sector to ask if the process should aim to build generic research skills or expand the frontiers of knowledge. Matthew Reisz reports

Matthew Reisz charts learned societies' evolution from a world of armchairs and empire to inclusive, forward-thinking advocates for their disciplines

Bar matters sartorial, Peter J. Smith has always been eclipsed by his older sibling - but he stayed by him even as he heard the snap of the policeman's rubber glove

Bosses want work-ready recruits, but academics argue that they may end up less happy than before if universities cultivate skills, not intellect, writes Hannah Fearn

Academia's worst snobberies may be dying out, but an accent on class still lingers, finds Matthew Reisz

We should teach PhD students how to balance the conflicting demands of scholarship and dissemination, says Peter Barry

The discipline of anthropology has split firmly into two factions - social anthropologists and evolutionary anthropologists. Hannah Fearn asks whether or not the warring sides can be reconciled

Rather than helping poor students through their studies, universities may be using bursaries to give themselves a recruiting advantage, writes Rebecca Attwood

Kevin McCarron considers doggy bags and Debrett's, passing the port and choosing urinals, and why simple good manners really do make the man

Japan and South Korea want their universities to attract overseas academic talent, but doubts persist about their readiness for the global market. Michael Fitzpatrick reports

For three decades, Laurie Taylor's fictitious university and its characters have mocked the absurdities of campus life, writes Matthew Reisz

A lesson in animal behaviour helped Bob Blaisdell improve classroom comforts and student learning

Japan and South Korea want their universities to attract overseas academic talent, but doubts persist about their readiness for the global market. Michael Fitzpatrick reports

Milton expert Stanley Fish refuses to demonise the administrator and warns against influencing the moral character of students, he tells Matthew Reisz

Moving house is the perfect way to begin a new chapter of your life, says Mary Warnock, even if those around you think you're mad

In the UK, the gulf between the political and the academic worlds seems all-but unbreachable while Americans flit easily between lecture halls and halls of power. Here Matthew Reisz examines why Whitehall seems so inhospitable to scholars, while overleaf Jon Marcus looks at why Washington is so accommodating

In America, it is common for academics to play a prominent political role. Jon Marcus reports

Scientists say degree courses in complementary therapies and alternative medicine are 'baloney' and 'mumbo-jumbo'. CAM academics disagree passionately. Zoe Corbyn checks out the fray

Sex is researched across many disciplines, but there are no certificated courses in sexology in the UK. Matthew Reisz considers some of the scientists who are focusing on sexual functioning and behaviour

Whatever their social and cultural backgrounds, students will flourish if we take them seriously and impart a love of our subject, says Frank Furedi

Linda Colley tells Matthew Reisz how her work on 'Britishness' fed into an exhibition about the fight to enshrine liberty in the national fabric

Is dumbing down a reality on UK campuses? Most respondents to our online poll highlighted dangers to academic standards, but they were split about whether degrees are worth less than they were before. John Gill weighs up the facts

Those who say life is like a game are confusing fantasy with reality, says Robert A. Segal

Universities tried to stop further education colleges gaining the power to award foundation degrees. Hannah Fearn reports on the tension between the two sectors and asks whether their formerly close relationship will be ruined by a fight for students

Looking back on her lifelong love of teaching, Sally Brown believes that well-designed assessment is one of pedagogy's greatest tools

Renowned feminist writer Sheila Rowbotham talks to Matthew Reisz about writing from her own experience and imagining what it is like to be inside a homosexual man's body

UK scholars are slowly but surely heading into the blogosphere. Zoe Corbyn reports

Asia is determined to keep its bright sparks at home while Britain struggles to develop native scientists. Linda Nordling reports that some think this presents a golden opportunity for the UK to leap ahead by leaving basic science to other nations

In performing magic, academic and author Dale Salwak found a demanding calling that rewarded him with joy and self-discovery