Opinion

Headlines from the latest Times Higher Education discussed by the editorial team

From writing papers to urinating on other people’s work, cats have a rich history of scholarly work, finds Glen Wright

Successful reform of higher education to reward good teaching 'may be an impossibility', says Paul Blackmore

Big data, Google Books and the Ngram database are wonderful aids to today’s intellectual problems, argues Frank Furedi

New approach to provision of specialist support is threat to students’ effective participation, warns Harriet Cameron

Felipe Fernández-Armesto’s students, shocked by racist outrages at the University of Missouri, mull over the content and context of their curriculum

Letting students co-design their own curriculum is pedagogically sound and delivers real satisfaction, say advocates

Universities aren’t developing the skills young people need to succeed in work, says Roxanne Stockwell

Philosophers Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum speak up for the benefits of writing collaboratively

Dorothy Bishop takes a close look at the universities and science minister’s NSS claims

Can effective outreach programmes help institutions to reach the hard-to-reach? asks Chris Parr

Vice-chancellors must do much more to prepare students to tackle climate change, argues Joy Carter

The National Union of Students has released a selection of Christmas songs inspired by higher education. All together now – one, two, three, four...

Employability skills remain a significant differentiator in the region, says Zahir Irani

Conservative MP Neil Carmichael, chair of the Education Select Committee, on the risks to the higher education sector of exiting the EU

Donald Braben looks at the implications of Sir Paul Nurse’s review of research councils

On the eve of her viva, Vivi Lachs muses on the untimely death of an eminent historian – and her unstintingly generous mentor

Employability matters, but it is poorly defined. Only by spelling out what the term means can the concept be put to work

Too many senior scholars abuse their power when it comes to assigning credit, argues Bruce Macfarlane

To measure this key graduate outcome, we must better understand what it is, what it is not and what it could be, argues Johnny Rich

The powerful message that maintenance grants send to students will be lost in the shift to loans, says Carina Buckley

Freeze on tuition fee increases does nothing to counter inequality, writes Martin Hall

Jennifer McCoy looks at how a ‘political earthquake’ in Venezuela might affect the country’s universities

Vice-chancellor of OP Jindal Global University on Indian higher education

University of Tennessee’s advice on holiday parties sets off major political debate, writes Scott Jaschik

University educators have a responsibility to debunk the myth that intelligence is fixed, says Claire Taylor

Round-up of tweets from Times Higher Education’s summit in Delhi

I had assumed stories about campus political correctness might be overblown. But the experience of my friend is an example of how deeply it permeates universities

Catherine O’Connell responds to a recent study that identified four ‘tiers’ of universities in the UK

The eminent scholar’s views are controversial, says v-c Colin Riordan, but providing a forum for debate is core to universities’ mission

David Price, Graeme Reid and Andrew Clark applaud the wisdom of creating Research UK

The impact on one Roma man of Rainer Schulze’s research was worth far more than any amount of academic praise

It is time to consider more structured support for academics who undertake the vital task of improving public engagement

David Matthews blogs from the Times Higher Education BRICS summit in Delhi

The rankings results, plus highlights from this week's magazine, discussed by the editorial team

The BRICS and Emerging Economies rankings show the diversity of global HE, says Chris Parr

David Lloyd, vice-chancellor of the University of South Australia, on an erratic period of change for universities

Giving evidence to a BIS committee inquiry on assessing the quality of higher education provoked questions about how teaching might be measured, writes John Gill

An aggregated university score would be designed to serve government bean counters, not students, says Athene Donald

Peer review is the least bad system we have for assessing quality, but metrics can help to determine attention and impact, says Euan Adie

The Open University’s regional centres, set to be closed next year, are at the heart of its cultural legacy and local links – but they definitely aren’t standing still, says Geoff Andrews

Unexpected creation of a ‘Global Challenges Research Fund’ means that if they want more money, academics may have to contribute to international development

Clearly describing the inefficient and damaging situation might point the way to better alternatives, says Eric Silverman

This week's edition discussed by the Times Higher Education team

Matthew Reisz is startled by the abusive responses to one of his articles

The media’s sneering attacks on the Labour leader’s limited tertiary study fail to recognise that academic qualifications are not political science, says Martin McQuillan

Why are we treated shabbily when we do so much for our universities? ask two members of this overlooked group

Where do we draw the line on restricting academic freedom? asks Geraldine Van Bueren

Do students’ rising demands for ‘safe space’ reveal a reluctance to be challenged, or a new zeal for political engagement?

Involvement in global quality assurance is crucial to signing up more overseas students, says Fiona Crozier

If the government is serious about globalisation in higher education, it should do more to open up overseas study to UK students

For most young researchers, academic research is the love of their life. But how much can and should be sacrificed for this love?, asks Sibylle Anderl

Investment in knowledge is one of Britain’s USPs, explains Mark Samuels

There’s a choice to be made on R&D investment, says Richard Jones, and we must get it right

John Morgan on the Green Paper's plans to make universities exempt from FoI

Commitment not to merge the research councils appears to contradict plans for a bonfire of the quangos in BIS

Matthew Feldman reflects on academics’ place in the insatiable 24-hour news cycle

Matthew Reisz considers an international lawyer’s extraordinary documentary about the after-effects of trauma and guilt

In the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, students at a business school in the city are more committed than ever to defending European values, says Frank Bournois

This week's edition discussed by the Times Higher Education team