Opinion

Although post-cuts upheavals loom, says Rick Rylance, we must believe that the humanities' strengths will endure

David Eastwood complains of much misunderstanding in responses to the Browne Review. His advice is to read it before voicing criticism

Malcolm Gillies questions the maths behind the new student loan policy

Judy Simons declares that the cultural and societal benefits of the arts are transformative, calculable and must be advertised

@Lord_Browne gained a following by poking fun at UK higher education’s upheavals. Now silenced by Twitter, he tells Sarah Cunnane about real universities, the trouble with students and how many Russell Group v-cs it takes to change a light bulb

The Royal Society Prize for Science Books stimulates public interest and is too important to be allowed to disappear, says Maggie Philbin

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Pontius Pilate I am not...

We don't need any more world-class universities, says Rebecca Hughes; what we do need is greater diversity

In a post-cuts landscape, David Docherty contends, the onus is on the academy to find ways to draw in vital corporate investment

Institutions must focus closely on their duty of care for students with mental health difficulties, say Alastair Wilson and Richard Brunner

In competitive times, it's hard to avoid hype in a prospectus, says Tim Birkhead

Harold Innis was a professor at the same institution for decades – but while he remained steadfastly local and empirical, he probed the expansive variables of space and time. Tara Brabazon reveres the Canadian historian and economist

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Worth the paper it's written on

As Kristin Luker's work shows, it is autonomous scholarship that makes social science 'relevant', argues Ellie Lee

James Tooley is excited by the prospect of greater competition in higher education but warns of the threat from creeping bureaucracy

Successful overseas ventures must stick to core values while adapting to local cultures and regulation, says Christine Ennew

Or how Sally Feldman's iPad went from cuddly kitty to proud panther

Peer review is being co-opted into the political process, says Sandy Starr, at the cost of impartiality and independence

The coalition’s qualified support for science recognises that universities are the ‘jewels’ in the UK’s economic crown, argues Paul Clark. But the huge cuts to non-STEM teaching require decisions to be made about Lord Browne’s plans – and quickly

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Blowing the whistle on corruption

Browne's fee-for-all will challenge universities' price-fixing skills and applicants' mathematics, warns Helen Carasso

Geoffrey Crossick says that short-term crisis should not be allowed to curtail Britain's ability to succeed in a changing environment

If only Tony Blair had understood class, we wouldn't be in this mess. Bring back the material realities of British life, says Mary Evans

Lord Browne's rhetoric is all about freeing universities, but his plans could result in 'a state-controlled and regulated industry'

Kevin Fong argues that cutting science funding will be bad for Britain

Across the academy, scholars must stand by their colleagues, especially those deemed ‘non-priority’, and assert the value of all subjects in enriching our lives, argues Keith Burnett

The CSR proposes shifting the burden of university spending from the state to the student. The academy must probe coalition weaknesses and stop the plans before it’s too late, argues Pam Tatlow

The CSR’s savagery is the latest chapter in a narrative first articulated by Labour: the neoliberal university. Andrew Blake writes

In a time of shrinking funding, librarians’ savvy use of time- and space-shifting podcasts can aid diverse groups of students and scholars and highlight valuable resources, argues Tara Brabazon

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Room 101 here we come

UK universities are regularly exhorted to learn from the US, but we can teach them, too, writes Matthew Partridge

Why are Americans happier to pay fees than Britons? Cary Cooper looks at the possible consequences of adopting their model here

Born of UN efforts to prop up the great powers, the Declaration of Human Rights' legacy matches its odd origins, argues Jon E. Wilson

Lord Browne's review could herald a bloody shake-out and damage the fabric of a sector that 'matters' to all of society

Insight and independent thinking are truly vocational skills, argues Alan Ryan

Alasdair Smith sees the Browne review as a golden opportunity to halt the academy’s distorted focus on research output

Alan Ryan proposes that there should be no cap on tuition fees, grants for the talented poor should return and universities should lose their safety net

Mike Boxall and Paul Woodgates explain how universities can thrive despite mass retrenchment and pressure from private competitors

Changes ahead on the higher education horizon may prove the making of some institutions and the breaking of others

Felipe Fernández-Armesto deplores scholarly reviewing's tarnished golden rule

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Frock horror

Computers can auto-generate processes, so can we really use them for scientific research if we can't control them? asks Aleks Krotoski

The sector needs agreement on pensions and job security if it is to resist savage coalition cuts, argues Sally Hunt

We all collude in the hype cycle that turns shiny ‘new media’ into forgotten, junk-generating ‘dead media’, and it’s time to look at the costs, argues Tara Brabazon

To secure our future in hard times, we must make tough choices and ensure that society is aware of higher education’s value, argues Paul Marshall

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Playing away

Higher fees should reflect an institution's quality, rather than status, so we should start measuring it, argues Graham Gibbs

Does religion give us purpose, or has history been tailored to give one version of events, asks Gary Day

UK research is not in decline, but to secure its future we need to spread the word about its benefits, says Alan Thorpe

Malcolm Gillies applies the rules of lane swimming etiquette to funding

In the wake of Benedict XVI’s British visit, Robert Segal deconstructs the Pope’s protestations about the potency of religion

University research generates ideas and keeps the country competitive - so we must protect its funding, argues Paul Wellings

The politics of the North-South divide gave material for many gritty novels of the 1960s, says Gary Day