News

Efforts to reject a consumerist approach to higher education are undermined by unions’ own reliance on money-making activities, a new study claims

By Kellie Woodhouse, for Inside Higher Ed

England’s £9,000 fee system is “broadly fit for purpose” and “does not require wholesale reform”, but maintenance support for students should be enhanced, according to a new report

Applications from Russell Group graduates – who are more likely to be from wealthy backgrounds – have a better chance of success, commission says

The pressure to publish high-profile papers may not be linked to research misconduct, a new study has found.

More than half of female students reading science subjects at the University of Bristol said that they have felt uncomfortable at the institution because of their gender

A number of vice-chancellors, prominent academics and other higher education figures have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours

The government will not halt its planned changes to Disabled Students’ Allowances as they will “improve the levels of support overall” for students, according to Jo Johnson

The UK’s “internationally admired system of peer review” should remain part of any future higher education quality assurance system, the head of the sector’s standards watchdog has said.

John Hennessy has announced plans to step down as president of Stanford University in summer 2016, after leading the institution for more than 15 years

Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt has resigned from his position on a Royal Society committee as well as an honorary UCL professorship

The University of Cambridge has plans to establish a “LEGO professorship of play in education, development and learning” alongside a research centre, with £4 million of donations from the LEGO Foundation.

Female scientists have joined others in responding to Nobel laureate’s comments about the “trouble with girls” in labs.

Additional support for part-time undergraduates also under consideration

Fifty-five people working in universities have been named as the latest winners of the sector’s top honour for teaching and learning

Universities UK has launched its fightback against the prospect of further funding cuts with the publication of a study highlighting the economic benefits of higher education

Higher education news from around the globe

Scottish institution strengthens its identity as a centre for singing and languages with pioneering new course

As the gender equality charter mark prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary, it looks to partner with a local agency in Australia

A former adviser to Vince Cable expects maintenance grants to disappear and a lower loan repayment threshold as department tackles £450m cut

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is the model for a nine-day walk highlighting the stories of refugees

Improving partnerships with overseas universities is seen as the biggest challenge facing internationalisation staff in European universities, according to research

Sub-Saharan universities must adapt to the shifting career aims of their future graduates, study suggests

UK Mooc platform adds new partners after admitting that using global rankings as a proxy for quality ‘hides a lot of detail’

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks explains the university’s branch campus strategy

FoI request reveals which institutions have targets of some sort after the suicide last year of a professor at Imperial College London

A round-up of recent recipients of research council cash

Higher Education Academy report into quality assessment recommends creation of a task force to establish guidelines around the 2:1-2:2 borderline

Research can have unpredictable results, but some advance planning will make proving its value much easier

The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the national press

Inaugural campaign to diversify income streams kicks off with £5m donation for pioneering research centre

UK higher education round-up and highlights from the Twittersphere

When grant managers provide specialised input, approval rates rise, study finds

International alumni outreach efforts are on the rise as institutions expand fundraising horizons

Premiere of work based on 16 frank interviews with vice-chancellors and the chair of governors

University of Leicester head tells ARMA conference that the start of research careers and early work needs support

Japan still ‘king of the mountain’ but balance of power shifts to neighbour

The UK’s only national humanities research festival has announced funding awards to 41 universities and cultural organisations

A Nobel Prize-winning fellow of the Royal Society has apologised after saying he was in favour of single sex laboratories.

But new report reveals that the president was not the highest-paid person on campus at more than half of institutions

A combination of short undergraduate courses and master’s programmes may be attractive to overseas students, Hefce says

Former postdoctoral researchers will now be counted as alumni at the University of Cambridge

Institutional reviews by the Quality Assurance Agency could become a thing of the past in favour of more robust internal monitoring by universities themselves, a draft policy paper suggests.

Union members at the University of Aberdeen have voted to strike in protest at the axing of 150 jobs.

New study suggests using phones in class could actually be beneficial, provided students stay on topic

A new series of short films reveals the often unexpected books that have inspired scientists at Cambridge.

Glyndwr University’s new interim vice-chancellor Graham Upton has said the troubled institution is “on course for financial stability” despite a turbulent few years.

Job losses could be in prospect at Aston University, with the institution saying it has to “look at how we do things” in the light of more higher education cuts.

Lobby group presses the case for UK science in the wake of BIS cuts of almost half a billion pounds

A conference will explore the role of “Universities in Revolution and State Formation” all the way from 19th-century Sicily to the Arab Spring.

The Office for Fair Access is to review how much poorer students benefit from financial support while at university.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced the government department covering higher education will have its budget for this year cut by a further £450 million.

Institution may close one of its engineering schools after a 'disappointing result' in the research excellence framework

Sector fine-tunes policies aimed at addressing under-representation of female academics. Jon Marcus reports from Copenhagen

Hepi/HEA Student Academic Experience Survey results may intensify pressure on staff to gain formal accreditation

Nafsa conference hears of figures showing that overseas students’ interaction with locals is more limited than generally assumed

Hepi head says £30bn export aim achievable only with cross-government effort

UK higher education round-up and highlights from the Twittersphere

The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the national press

Higher education news from around the globe