English universities plan charter to tackle ‘low-quality’ courses Move will include guidance around when to close, merge or reform courses, but Universities UK points out difficulty of assessing courses’ value By Ellie Bothwell 16 November
Universities may ‘struggle’ to run mass Covid tests, v-cs warn Sector leaders raise questions over timing of pre-Christmas plans and workload involved By Anna McKie 16 November
Russian politics ‘plagued by PhD plagiarism’ Half of regional governors’ dissertations contained copied text, and these plagiarists went on to perform worse in government, research suggests By David Matthews 16 November
New book provides self-help for those struggling in academe Being Well in Academia offers guidance on ‘bullying, conflict, death, poverty, racism and violence’, says author and ‘agony aunt’ Petra Boynton By Matthew Reisz 15 November
We need to talk about student homelessness UK universities must investigate how many of their students are affected by homelessness – and what can be done about it, says Ricardo Visinho By Ricardo Visinho 15 November
Williamson confirms plan to consider post-qualification admissions Education secretary says use of predicted grades in English system ‘breeds low aspiration and unfairness’ By Chris Havergal 13 November
Universities and pension bosses at loggerheads over USS future Vice-chancellors criticise level of contributions proposed by Universities Superannuation Scheme By Chris Havergal 13 November
Universities ‘moving closer to the centre’ of political conflict UK’s chief scientific adviser for national security says threat to universities’ values is most significant risk By Ellie Bothwell 13 November
Call for mission-focused ‘collaboration zones’ to boost UK R&D Vice-chancellors and business leaders urge tighter focus and fresh funding incentives to drive up industry-academia innovation By Chris Havergal 13 November
Academics back refusing funding over human rights concerns Survey finds one in five scholars self-censored their teaching when students from autocratic states were in their class By Ellie Bothwell 13 November
V-cs back ‘post-qualification offers’ admissions system for UK Vice-chancellors say confirming offers after results day would increase ‘fairness for applicants’, with switch proposed for 2023 By Anna McKie 13 November
Anger as UKRI rules out blanket funding extension for PhDs Extra funding will be prioritised for those in final year or those with ongoing support needs, with other students urged to adapt their projects to existing deadlines By Simon Baker 12 November
