Philosophers clash over race science paper Furore over Oxford doctoral student’s journal article reignites debate over the limits of free speech By Jack Grove 4 February
China influence scandal rocks Berlin university Contract reveals the Free University of Berlin is bound by Chinese law, which critics fear gives Beijing influence over teaching content By David Matthews 4 February
Union calls 14-day strike in UK pay and pensions dispute Walkouts to escalate over February and March By Anna McKie 3 February
AI courses ‘vulnerable’ to post-Brexit downturn in EU recruitment Data suggest the subject has one of the highest shares of students from other EU nations in UK universities By Simon Baker 3 February
Who will succeed Mark Walport at UKRI? What challenges lie ahead? The hunt for a new UK research supremo continues, apparently after the shortlisted candidates failed to pass muster By Jack Grove 3 February
‘Bridging’ funding between grants could help cut gender pay gap Bristol deal also gives greater recognition to ‘good citizenship’ in promotion process and is seen as model for sector By Anna McKie 3 February
The assault on Spain’s public universities must end The appointment of Manuel Castells as the country’s universities minister signals a change in fortune, says José Martinez-Sierra By José Martinez-Sierra 3 February
Male PhD graduates more likely to get full-time, permanent job But study shows that difference in career prospects between men and women is considerably smaller within academia compared with other sectors By Ellie Bothwell 2 February
Enrolment drops leave English universities with shrinking feeling Expert stresses that many universities are managing to diversify their income away from full-time undergraduate fees By Simon Baker 1 February
Does it matter if more and more students are getting firsts? Lincoln Allison looks back to an age of tougher marking and considers what, if anything, we need to do about the historically inevitable slide towards grade inflation By Lincoln Allison 30 January
‘Tide turning’ on use of ‘conditional unconditional’ offers But data for 2019 show use of ‘conditional unconditional’ offers still high at some universities By Simon Baker 30 January
Reforms put science at heart of UK’s post-Brexit policy agenda Announcements on visas, funding and bureaucracy seen as sign of growing influence of Dominic Cummings By John Morgan 30 January