News

New director acknowledges social justice agenda must go hand in hand with financial sustainability of troubled institution

Money ‘reallocated’ from specialist institution fund announced by government last year, UKRI says 

Director of fair access warns that school-leavers from coastal and former industrial communities are less likely to see a degree as a way to improve their lives

Gang Chen gets backing as US reported to be considering retreating from such cases

Railing against ‘anti-Russian forces’, lawmakers are proposing state control over ‘educational activities’

Clinical evidence showing psychedelics can treat mental health disorders has revived the thorny issue of whether researchers should ever admit using these substances

Sector leaders say government proposal amounts to ‘a sudden multimillion-pound hit’ for some institutions and criticise decision not to phase changes

Women writers are still largely marginalised on syllabuses, particularly in the Ivy League, according to new study

Academic says glut of gloomy research on postgraduate welfare could have unhelpful impact

Executive chair says scholarship from non-medical subjects will be vital for post-pandemic society

More ‘coherent’ mechanism is needed to develop regional ties, expert says

Scottish university hopes to resume face-to-face tuition on postgraduate taught courses

Australian study suggests academics’ recruitment habits exacerbate their workload problems

National University of Singapore Press criticised over decision to scrap publication of title critical of country’s rulers

Revival of plan to restrict numbers via minimum grade requirement raises concerns over impact on poorest

Option is put forward alongside post-qualification offers as one of two potential reforms

No national delay to UK research audit, but Research England to consider granting more time for universities in emergency circumstances

Teaching excellence framework will also no longer be an annual exercise, with next assessment due to be published next year

Government’s ‘interim response’ to Augar review puts off big decisions but signals drive to lower costs of system

New president welcomed by higher education groups, but faces tough legislative hurdles

‘Final conclusion’ to review of post-18 education to come at spending review, as DfE heralds skills white paper, TEF review and admissions consultation

Accounts show two leaders departed roles with payments of almost £200,000 while others received inflation-busting uplifts to salaries

Hepi paper by former Uclan deputy v-c calls for new funding system in which richest graduates pay more

Outgoing Office for Students chair defends university expansion before taking up government role

The Yale professor talks about racism in post-war Britain, mixing the personal and the academic in her writing and her advice to her younger self

Initial estimates indicate jump in applications for coming year in excess of 10 per cent

Tributes paid to ‘intelligent, witty and compassionate leader’ who transformed Canadian studies and forged a major new collegiate university 

The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the world’s media

Outgoing US president cites USC trustee in rationale for helping fellow Florida developer

Institutions have introduced four-day weeks during lockdowns, but scholars suspect most changes will be temporary

Campuses rated below par for three years in a row could be asked to suspend undergraduate recruitment

Warnings that banking covenants could be breached in some scenarios emerge in latest accounts

Growth of academics on such terms precedes pandemic and REF census

British Council expert says universities should be prepared for more deferrals, cancellations and late decision-making over the next 12 months

Strategy for institutional financing of open science follows California and UK models

Establishing clear performance goals can be crucial for the success of young researchers and research groups alike. Jack Grove speaks to laboratory leaders about taking a more enlightened approach to this task in difficult times

Survey of Australian researchers also reveals unusual problems associated with home working, including sleepwalkers gatecrashing Zoom calls

Academics at Southwest Minzu University complained of bonuses as small as 91p – or even negative awards

While Greg Craven warns competition for business and law students could bankrupt some universities, colleagues disagree

Higher education finance expert weighs up costs of options for government, amid calls for loan discounts and cash grants

Incoming president names advisory team while pushing social sciences and battle against cancer

Office for Students proposal to measure student progress to ‘professional’ jobs without benchmarking could deter universities from recruiting disadvantaged learners, sector warns

University president claims peers are so captured by need to cultivate politicians and donors that they fail to publicly challenge anything but the most egregious behaviour

OECD finds science rose to the challenge of coronavirus, but this led to cancelled projects elsewhere and academics working outside their expertise

African American studies chair says tackling inequality is ‘on a knife-edge’ and urges institutions to stop ‘tinkering around the edges’

Researcher uses role-play techniques to demonstrate both the technical and interpersonal challenges of decision-making during a pandemic

Institutions emerge from a nearly year-long lockdown with greater knowledge of digital education and public health

LGBTQ science professionals complain of not being supported in their roles

Cardiff asks Helen McCarthy to stand down from extenuating circumstances chair ‘to retain student confidence’

While arresting scientists, US slides on funding and misses commitment on rules consistency

Few areas of higher education and research have been left untouched by the Covid-19 pandemic – and during 2020, trends emerged that the academic community will be keeping a close eye on in 2021. Here, we look at five and what the coming months may bring

Expert sees opportunities for ‘soft power’ in Global South

Covid-19 and Brexit have created perfect storm, with confusion over paperwork and whether study abroad is deemed essential travel

John Eastman, a renowned conservative, joined Trump at rally to push vote fraud claim

Gang Chen, respected nanoengineering professor, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted

Low case rates will allow the phased return from April, says education minister

Office for Students suggests universities may need to provide extra lectures or repeat courses after pandemic-related disruption

Author of London Met study attacks universities’ ‘empty platitudes and virtue signalling’

Delayed government verdict on post-18 education review seen as unlikely to address concerns on rising system costs or HE economic role

HBCUs want a chance after decades of federal aid for poorer white-majority institutions