Employers refuse to back down on eve of UK university strikes Universities decline to make fresh offers on pay and pensions as union prepares for second round of industrial action By Anna McKie 18 February
Aberdeen told to repay £119K over ex-head’s ‘gardening leave’ Scottish Funding Council review condemns how bumper payments to secure ‘orderly exit’ of Sir Ian Diamond were awarded By Jack Grove 18 February
Wits v-c Adam Habib to be next SOAS director South African political geographer to succeed Baroness Amos in January 2021 By Chris Havergal 18 February
The Irish political earthquake could have aftershocks in the north Sinn Féin’s desire for an all-Ireland education system could see it reject fee rises north of the border, says Diana Beech By Diana Beech 18 February
Universities fear loss of policy focus as ministerial roles split Experts say appointment of separate universities and science ministers means no one in government will ‘care about universities as a whole’ By Ellie Bothwell 17 February
Humanities scholars warn over UKRI’s plan for open-access books Proposals to mandate open access monographs from 2024 will make it harder to publish and will limit career chances, says professor By Jack Grove 17 February
Plan S does the wrong things to the wrong people UKRI and other funders must prevent good intentions on open access from undermining good science, says Lee Cronin By Lee Cronin 17 February
Imperial’s Simone Buitendijk named as next Leeds v-c Vice-provost for education will replace Alan Langlands at Yorkshire university By Anna McKie 14 February
Researchers ‘unaware’ of extent of assessment influence Danish-Australian paper finds researchers unconsciously adjust to accommodate assessment exercise By John Ross 14 February
Higher education researchers ‘stuck on their own islands’ Analysis of 17,000 articles in the field finds lack of integration between different areas of study By Simon Baker 14 February
Michelle Donelan named universities minister as science split off Chippenham MP appointed following sacking of Chris Skidmore By Chris Havergal 13 February
Skidmore sacked from universities and science post in reshuffle Boris Johnson’s shake-up ends second of two spells in post for Kingswood MP, with Andrea Leadsom also sacked as business secretary By John Morgan 13 February
