Opinion

Overseas students are key to universities’ success, bringing valuable fee income and adding value for home students, too

John Gilbey remembers the gifted, generous and genial creator of the Discworld universe

Felipe Fernández-Armesto laments our giant-killing culture

Protracted battle to retrieve a computer centre’s seats for the elderly and handicapped at Bremen says much about the bureaucratic mindset

The case for research funding in the humanities is stronger if we recognise the similarities, argues David Eastwood

This flawed publication is symptomatic of a deeper malaise in business and management studies, says Dennis Tourish

Universities must understand what employers want from graduates, argues Kevin Kruger

Economist Andrew Oswald counsels against despair over the Universities Superannuation Scheme reforms

The UK sector gathers to hear and debate the major parties’ poll positions on higher education

University terror inquiries flag the vital role of strong pastoral care and good tutoring in guarding against disengagement

A legal battle in Germany over a contentious dissertation on Martin Luther and anti-Semitism raises key questions about academic decisions

For teachers, the border between the two is porous, says Shahidha Bari

A claim of academic immunity is not the trump card it was, say David Lawson and Leon Glenister

Be open about your health, an academic advises. It could be the surest way to get the workplace support you need

Dominic Dean has a plan to make future assessment exercises easier, quicker and better

Labour’s proposal to cut tuition fees will be funded by removing a perk from the UK’s super-rich, writes the professor of geography

Creative writing, often seen as a heretical branch of English studies, is split into sects. But such schisms are no sin, says Jonathan Taylor

Labour has given birth to its £6K tuition fees baby but doubts still remain about the costs and benefits of the policy

University examinations teach students how to compete but teamwork is the vital life skill, says Kevin Fong

Judith Ackroyd and Jill Robinson explain why they are dramatising material from confidential interviews with university leaders

South University of Science and Technology of China wanted to buck the system. Did it succeed? asks Hong Bing

A physicist on the ‘shameless exploitation’ of low-pay sessional lecturing that leaves his family officially classed as ‘poor’

As Ed Miliband announces Labour’s policy on university tuition fees, the shadow universities minister sets out his party’s plans for higher education

Les Ebdon explains the thinking behind a new strategic aim for the Office for Fair Access

Universities have a vital role to play in recognising complex sexualities, says Deborah D. Rogers

Discussions and activities on University Mental Health Day

The AQA decision to end a promising trial of the subject does a disservice to students, the discipline and the UK, says Joy Hendry

Deifying young fashion designers does them no favours and slights the many who make their work possible, says Sally Feldman

We need an honest conversation about unconscious prejudices and how they can hold back individuals and their work

John Warren and colleagues warn of the serious decline in graduates with sound identification skills

Paul Ashwin unpicks some cherished nostrums, from Hollywood-style star turns at the podium to the much-exaggerated death of the lecture

The University of Manchester could not have chosen a worse time to consider closing Middle Eastern language courses, writes Hugh Williamson

Nick Hillman’s knowing nod to punk in a Hepi report prompted a flurry of rock’n’roll quips on Twitter

Northampton is revolutionising financing by going to the market for the money it needs to ‘future-proof’ itself, says Nick Petford

Fear of offending makes a pig’s ear of free speech, says Christopher Bigsby

A summit in Qatar is a chance to determine the meaning of excellence in the Middle East and North Africa, says Cesar Wazen

Academics should be banned from damaging sexual liaisons with students, postgraduates in particular, argues Luke Brunning

The use of recruitment agents is rising, but are universities putting their reputations at risk as competition hots up?

A project at the University of Warwick is aiming to tackle huge challenges crippling South African schools, writes Laura Jackson

American football is a contemporary moral equivalent of war, says Alan Ryan

Has the Chinese government’s sophisticated message to its higher education sector come at the cost of clarity? asks Mike Gow

A report on university course changes by the consumer watchdog caused a stir this week

Their lack of protest over reforms means that universities have lost the chance to transform the sector, laments Anthony Kelly

The UK university sector’s digital network is unique in the world. It’s not just cost-efficient for subscribers but priceless, says Martin Hall

Public funding in these subjects would be better spent on teaching, argues David Oldfield

Institutions splashed the cash to stay competitive, resulting in a REF price tag that may be far higher than the official estimate

Attempts to shut down debate highlight a worrying trend on UK campuses, writes Yiftah Curiel