Opinion

Tim Birkhead on universities' courtship of their next cohort of students

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online

Big bursaries are not enticing the poor into elite institutions; targeted outreach may be an answer, says Sir Martin Harris

Tara Brabazon shares her 10-step regime for steering emotionally drained postgraduate students through the final stages of their thesis

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Body, not mind

George Watson defends a much-maligned institution that is simply the best political idea mankind has had

John Henry Newman's vision for university revolutionised the global academy. David Grumett discusses its development and impact

Gary Day finds that some people survive disaster and war through sheer luck and improvisation

If Jane Austen can flout the rules of grammar so can I, writes Sally Feldman

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: There are always alternatives

Employee ownership could help preserve the university as a site of research and teaching, suggests Steve Fuller

Kenneth Baker calls on universities to seek financial independence from the state, and for the state to handle a precious asset with care

Gary Day on a harrowing tale of modern-day slavery that he fears will have no impact on its reality

For-profit providers need scrutiny, but so do their non-profit cousins, to ensure the delivery of quality education efficiently

Kevin Fong’s inability to resist his smartphone threatens his family vacation

The creative industries must be given as much support as STEM subjects to keep the UK at the forefront of the world economy, argues David Docherty

Social media allow academics to support students and colleagues, network and explore new intellectual connections, argues Tara Brabazon

Your chance to advise on academic dilemmas. Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Let the new era of austerity commence?

If Lord Browne uncaps fees, the Golden Age of the English university may well come to an unseemly end, writes Paul Benneworth

Gary Day finds the presenters of Secret Britain intrusive and marvels over Anglo-Saxon treasures

US for-profits are a mixed bag but they meet a real need, says Alan Ryan

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: More smoke than fire?

Student life gave Roxanne Pallett a blank canvas from which to reinvent herself and the confidence to follow her dreams

We have the technology to share knowledge, says Malcolm Read, but researchers need to work towards a culture of openness

What makes a novelist? Irritability? Unhappiness? Gary Day wonders whether in future it will matter

The government is mistaken to continue arguing that science graduates alone are the key to delivering economic growth

Researchers need the freedom to take risks, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto

David Cameron’s vision for Britain threatens associations such as the Research Information Network that help boost UK productivity and efficiency, argues Tara Brabazon

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

A dustman for 12 years, octogenarian Ernie Sharp was more than qualified to do a degree in waste management

The UK's first-class knowledge economy will be consigned to second-class status if the axe is wielded too savagely, Steve Smith warns

The Norman Conquest and the Domesday Book offer great sparring material, says Gary Day

The UK and California both face a shortfall of university places, but at least snobbery isn't making things worse across the pond

One man's music is so often another man's noise, laments Malcolm Gillies

National university league tables are aimed at student consumers, but the revamped THE World University Rankings have a broader constituency: the global academy in all its variety. Phil Baty reports

Attention all sixth-formers: worried about securing a university place? How about a period of volunteering during which you can learn new skills, help the community and gain a financial fillip before the academy beckons, suggests James Derounian

Each week, Dr Margot Feelbetter poses a dilemma and offers advice for readers to respond to online. This week: Clearing the absent mind from overload

Mutability is our tragedy: Gary Day on the impact of a new name, a new identity or a new pair of breasts

Anshul Tomer, a successful actor and singer, is thankful for the life-changing experience of studying in Edinburgh

John Turner has given up trying to please everyone. Restricting the choices of a few is a necessary part of protecting the majority

Teaching graduates how to think will help them get jobs, says Tim Birkhead

Finland has recognised broadband access to the internet as essential to citizenship; Australia and others still lag unacceptably far behind, writes Tara Brabazon

The past 10 years have seen their fair share of ups and downs for higher education in Ireland, but Ferdinand von Prondzynski, outgoing president of Dublin City University, leaves his post with more than a hint of optimism for the future

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

Boredom, fear and bloodshed: Duncan Wu on a provocatively frank view of the war in Afghanistan

A rewarding education set up a relationship for life, woven into my work as a composer, says Cheryl Frances-Hoad

The UK sector should tackle undergraduates' poor written English via a nationally prescribed update of the US model, urges Alex Baratta

In this age of austerity, we need to fund excellence, say David Price and Stephen Caddick

Universities must serve up pedagogy fit for the 21st century or suffer the consequences in reputational terms

Need to decipher a CV? Channel your inner detective, says Sally Feldman