Features

When universities accept donations from entities with particular ideological stances, are they sacrificing academic freedom on the altar of Mammon?

As the winter solstice looms in the northern hemisphere, five academics reflect on the light and dark of the dead season

After the Solstice Attack, the University of Rural England has become a bastion of hope and survival, writes John Gilbey. But how far can it push its role as the ultimate post-apocalyptic anchor institution?

Claims that university education is vital for healthy societies are unconvincing and potentially counterproductive. Better to try to expand the tribe that appreciate the humanities’ relative value, says Nir Evron

Many older academics have a great deal to offer, in terms of both research and teaching the next generation. But should they step aside for the sake of their younger colleagues’ careers? Jack Grove reports

A Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal analysis suggests that while the two-year MBA remains extremely strong, shorter alternatives are also becoming highly valued in a time-pressed world. Anna McKie reports

Peer review is lauded in principle as the guarantor of quality in academic publishing and grant distribution. But its practice is often loathed by those on the receiving end. Here, seven academics offer their tips on good refereeing, and reflect on how it may change in the years to come

IQ tests are conceptually muddled measures of learned knowledge, self-confidence and social background, says Kenneth Richardson

What single change to university practice would have the most positive and far-reaching consequences? Eight academics and thinkers give us their views

Chester’s Tim Grady, recently shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize, is proof that smaller universities can produce researchers who compete with the elite. John Morgan writes

Japan’s combined budgetary crunch and demographic squeeze has raised questions about the sustainability of its huge university sector. John Ross visits the country to investigate

Round-the-clock demands from students can take a toll on lecturers. With a THE survey highlighting rising expectations, Anna McKie asks where the line should be drawn between professional and private life

Despite his stressful sudden exit from Papua New Guinea, John Warren insists that Western universities must continue to send staff to institutions in the developing world

Which is the better option when it comes to running academic journals – the professional editor or the academic one? Rachael Pells analyses the pros and cons of each

In the very different cultures of St Vincent and the Faroe Islands, whaling forms a key part of their identity. Scholar Russell Fielding gets a real insight into the hunting tradition. Matthew Reisz reports

Simon Baker weighs the evidence for the transformation of the country’s higher education system

The academy has long had a rich vein of children’s literature running through it, with J. R. R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll and C. S. Lewis all being Oxford dons. Matthew Reisz finds that the seam is still producing modern-day gems

Donald Trump’s election prompted US scientific leaders to get more of their own into public office. However, as the midterm elections loom, progress on bringing analytical skills into the political arena looks like being very slow, writes Paul Basken

While widening access is high on universities’ agendas at undergraduate level, class barriers still prevail in the academy. Here, five working-class scholars describe their experiences of ‘otherness’

Intimate teacher-student relationships must be off-limits even if consent is not an issue, says Agnieszka Piotrowska – who has personal experience of student vulnerability in such asymmetrical relationships

A new teaching year has just begun in the northern hemisphere. Eight academics reflect on their experience of lecturing, and offer their tips on opening students’ eyes – and keeping them open

Unwieldy bureaucracy, infrastructure challenges and scant funding all hold back innovation in Indian higher education. Philip Altbach and Eldho Mathews assess the country’s current strategies for transforming its universities

From the largest strike in the history of UK higher education, to the US ‘academic precariat’ looking to unionise to improve their conditions, Jack Grove assesses the changing influence of workers’ organisations

Scholarly prose can be verbose and unclear, and can obscure the point you are trying to make. Joe Moran offers his top 10 tips for writing well

Sociology, once a discipline seen as the embodiment of social progress, is now subject to frequent scepticism over its methodology, politics and career relevance. Here, five sociologists offer their assessment of the challenges facing the subject and what the future holds

The digital tide will not wash away campus-based learning, believe most respondents to THE’s University Leaders Survey. David Matthews reports on what they see ahead for study options, scholarly conferences, scientific progress and more

To spare doctoral candidates protracted and unproductive efforts, Tim Marler and Dean Young suggest a pragmatic route to successful completion, while, below, Julian Kirchherr advocates a quick-and-dirty path to a viable thesis

Ellie Bothwell analyses how religious institutions shape up compared with secular institutions and how they are adapting to modern mores

What are vice-chancellors’ insights into the trends, threats and priorities affecting the future of the university? Nearly 200 leaders of world-ranked universities give their views on where the sector will be in the year 2030. John Ross reports

As students increasingly turn to essay mills to do their work, Anna McKie explores what drives this global trend and how universities are fighting it

The political craving for simple measures of learning gain is neither pedagogically informed nor sufficiently nuanced. Four academics argue that only by changing focus will the concept become useful

Jonathan Haidt tells Matthew Reisz how a moral culture of ‘safetyism’ took root in today’s students, who view the use of any word that can cause offence as an act of violence

Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King and economist John Kay address the USS’ so-called funding crisis and propose a fairer approach to sharing risk between employers, employees and generations

There are reasons to be optimistic that we can start to know something about whether life exists elsewhere. But, says Charles Cockell, a more remarkable finding might be that we are exceptional

Immersive ethnographic research often produces gripping accounts of life on the edge, but verifying such work can be problematic. Matthew Reisz examines how ethnographers can produce work that is both credible and robust

Sexual harassment of female lecturers by their students is one of the less discussed aspects of the interplay between gender and power in academia. Kate Cantrell tells her story

Independent research institutes are hailed as hothouses for cutting-edge science, but they seem to be falling out of fashion. Rachael Pells asks if concentrating research in universities is a better strategy

Matthew Reisz meets Andrea Pető, recent recipient of the Madame de Staël prize, a scholar at Hungary’s Central European University whose feminist probing into the dark corners of Hungary’s past is provoking strong reactions in the ‘illiberal democracy’

Nearly 50 years since war on cancer was declared, declarations of victory remain a distant prospect. Here, six cancer researchers assess the lie of the land

Senior management has its perks but it also comes with a host of new practical, philosophical, psychological and even physical challenges. Here, seven people who have lived through that fiery baptism tell their tales

Academic Jack Davis tells John Morgan of his surprise at learning that his history of the Gulf of Mexico had won a Pulitzer prize and his hope that it will help to deliver a pro-environmental message

Precarity is a significant feature of the academy worldwide, creating a feeling of ‘academic apartheid’ as it grows. Ellie Bothwell explores its impact

Lincoln Allison was inspired to teach by academics who loved what they did and communicated this to students. But has all passion for teaching been eliminated by creeping assessment and instrumentalism?

Real challenge from an outside expert can propel valuable change, but do external examiners still provide a valuable critical eye for the marketised UK university sector? Six scholars offer their views

John Ross examines what Jacinda Ardern’s policy might mean for institutions, employers and students

The entanglement of the university and tech worlds faces increased scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Could joint positions in industry and academia offer a workable and ethically defensible way forward? David Matthews reports

While Vieno Vehko empathises with millennials’ burden of tuition debt, she also finds it hard to respect a group that neither reads critically nor takes responsibility for its learning

Braving frozen horse liver, shamanic rituals and endless vodka-soaked toasts may not have resulted in the hoped-for discovery of a hitherto-unknown form of opera, but Nicholas Till has no regrets about his visit to Yakutsk

With about one-third of Earth’s 7 billion inhabitants on a social network, it is an inevitable part of scholars’ lives. While many academics find Twitter and Facebook useful means of disseminating their research, Sara Custer finds that the addictive seeking of ‘likes’ has its perils

In a world transformed, we need a radical new blueprint – for a flexible, less centralised network of scholars and students, says a former Berkeley chancellor

Is the 4* researcher who is also a stellar teacher a realistic expectation? Times Higher Education surveyed academics to find out. Jack Grove reports

Government investment will address the underperforming sector but political interference needs to stop for Indian higher education to truly make its mark, argues Deepak Nayyar

Three-quarters of students in the UK now receive ‘good’ degrees, compared with just half 20 years ago. Is grade inflation an inevitable result of the marketisation of higher education and is the picture the same worldwide? Simon Baker examines the evidence

The Oakland Promise, like a number of local schemes in the US, aims to be a ‘cradle to career’ programme moving more of the city’s children into higher education. John Morgan visits California to assess it

Do you feel you’re just winging it, waiting for the day when your incompetence is exposed? Six academics show that you’re far from alone

Determination to make your own way is key to success in academia, but scholars’ research, teaching and even their lives can be transformed by a chance encounter or event

Further education has suffered a dark decade in Australia, but now even universities are beginning to think things have gone too far. John Ross reports

How strong a voice should academics and students have in university governance? Tom Cutterham contrasts autocratic and democratic patterns in UK and European institutions

As exam marking season gets under way, seven academics offer their advice on assessing your students

To what extent can universities drive economic development – or vice versa? Rachael Pells explores the ways in which higher education and economic success interact