Opinion

Ken Pounds ponders whether the Mars Science Laboratory's success will revive public interest in going boldly where no one has gone before

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Press a button and someone’s reputation dies, warns Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Flawed policy levers forced Salford to charge £9K fees to retain its widening participation aims, Martin Hall argues

The examiner examined: Martin Cortazzi on the day a UK university asked him, rather apologetically, to show them his passport

Queen Mary can best serve its local community via the pursuit of global excellence, Simon Gaskell tells critics of recent 'restructures'

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Despite the demise of Lords reform, fundamental changes to the academy are still unlikely to receive parliamentary scrutiny

New gatekeeping needed for real choice and access, says Malcolm Gillies

In puritan times, says Thomas Docherty, we need sabbaticals more than ever

Transnational initiatives pay dividends far greater than a share of the overseas student market, Paul Greatrix insists

Reform of the high-stakes A level is an inherently risky business, says Mary Curnock Cook, who sees the value in a number-based scale

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Hefce figures show that the proportion of scholars under 30 is falling: the implications for the sector's future could be severe

Pay-to-publish will work for top-flight Big Science: for everything else it will be a disaster, says Salvatore Babones

Sir Martin Harris, Offa's outgoing director, argues that widening participation and fair access remain key to the sector's progress

The UK has more professors than ever, says Stephen Court, but their influence over their institutions, and their optimism, is on the wane

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The government expected price sensitivity and consumer choice to drive down degree costs, but that's not happening

Life/work imbalance hits women harder. But despair not, says Sally Feldman

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In dark days, the academy must dare to look beyond arguments for economic impact and restate the case for its intrinsic value

Christopher Bigsby is as qualified as any chancellor - and less harmful

The British Library is rising to the challenges posed by the creative chaos of the digital age, says outgoing chief executive Lynne Brindley

Public policy shaped Wales' universities early on, and it shapes and supports them still, says Leighton Andrews

As Whitehall mulls reducing quality assurance, Hefce seems to be calling for more. Simeon Underwood is tired of the same old song

By any objective measure, Welsh university research simply doesn't deserve its bad press, argues Peter Halligan

A cross-border certification regime run by institutions is the only way to tackle unscrupulous recruiters, says Mitch Leventhal

The chief scientific adviser needs academic, diplomatic and political skills. Mark Walport might have them all, thinks James Wilsdon

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A community can run wisely and well without market values, Alan Ryan says

Going for gold is the solid approach, argues Michael Mabe...but David Price counters that only green is sustainable

Earth's problems know no borders, observes Feridun Hamdullahpur, and research efforts must be collaborative and global to tackle them

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With immigration and university standards hot issues, any impropriety involving recruiters abroad could tar the sector

Felipe Fernández-Armesto urges students to take on tutors in a war of ideas

Malcolm Gillies on music, leadership and youth

Contra the media and the bruised egos in the financial sector, the academic mindset is well suited to the Bank of England governorship

Innovation oughtn't mean just profit-making technology - there is a subtler, social sort, explains Nick Petford

Universities must disclose scholars' financial conflicts of interest or the integrity of faculty opinion will be jeopardised, says Cary Nelson

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The move to open access should not mean cuts to research: the government and industry could pitch in to cover the transition

It's wrong to call 1,000-strong institutions 'universities', says Michael Farthing, and it's not just a matter of semantics

As British students from all classes look to the US and challenges rise in the East, Anthony Seldon warns the sector against complacency

The information deluge and the promise of open enterprise offer UK universities an opportunity not to be missed, says Geoffrey Boulton

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Private growth in the sector is a tender subject, but the reality is more complex than ideologues on both sides would have it

Thomas Docherty muses on the challenges of second-language acquisition

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