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Weekly transmissions from the blogosphere

Nicholas Boyle, the author of 2014: How to Survive the Next World Crisis, reflects on the predictions he made about the past 12 months

Union claims that conflict of interest means leader of a government body formed to help students caught up in a visa crackdown must go

Problems associated with the system of research assessment would be reduced by a move to annual reviews, Paul Grout argues

Communal, high-tech or under lock and key, lavatories reveal more than you think, says the emeritus professor of English literature

Universities told to help doctoral students explore wider career opportunities

Were new research stars born? Who was helped or hurt by impact? Times Higher Education dissects the results by discipline

‘Ethical and moral’ focus aids University of Notre Dame’s collaborative ambitions in officially atheist state

Some post-92s gain, but traditional research powers dominate 2014 research excellence framework rankings

The Erasmus programme presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover the perks of international mobility, says Brian Bloch

Coalition partner’s fees ‘betrayal’ could bring 2015 poll shifts in student-heavy constituencies. The campus political landscape assessed

New hilltop facility’s made-to-measure features aim to help biological research achieve liftoff

An inquiry has appeared to dismiss claims that student visa abuse is taking place at London branch campuses

Treasury also announces review of research councils to ensure ‘maximum impact’ from investment

Worries about funding do deter final-year undergraduates from progressing to postgraduate study, according a new analysis

Students and alumni of King’s College London have reacted with horror after the university announced it will change its name to “King’s London”.

University staff reveal their concerns ahead of research excellence framework

A new code for UK university governing bodies aims to be a “bulwark against over-regulation”, as governance tensions rise in the sector

Chair of PAC tells civil servant he is ‘failing’ to account for public money and says situation is ‘nothing short of a scandal’

By Scott Jaschik, for Inside Higher Ed

The impact of the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees at English universities is detailed in a new report

A London university has created a website to give the public information about its research on animals

Cherie Blair has been appointed a visiting professor of law at a Catholic university

The budget of the European Union’s flagship research and innovation programme should be ring fenced, an association of research funders has said.

Business secretary Vince Cable has called for an increase in funding for science in a speech at the Royal Academy of Engineering

Private providers have been asked to help prepare the government for a key hearing on private higher education just days before it happens

Manchester Metropolitan University has appointed a new vice-chancellor – at the second time of asking

Alfred Morris argues that alternative providers, criticised by the National Audit Office, aren’t the villains they’re made out to be.

The Welsh government has said it will “look at all the options” before deciding whether to follow England’s lead in introducing postgraduate loans

Times Higher Education reporters have won plaudits for their agenda-setting journalism at a national awards ceremony

The next vice-chancellor of The Open University will be Peter Horrocks, currently the director of the BBC’s World Service.

The arrest of several academics has raised questions about the nation’s research culture, says Hong Bing

Fears rise in the US that talented early career scientists are being driven out of the sector because of lack of opportunities

James Pickering, named 2014’s most innovative teacher at the Times Higher Education Awards, discusses making content accessible. Plus the latest higher education appointments

Opinions on campuses worldwide are just a click away

Agyness Deyn unflinchingly portrays a woman’s experience of epilepsy in this unconventional fairy tale

The chief architect of the philosophy of critical realism has died

UCU official attacks redundancy criteria at the university amid calls to reverse ‘dangerous’ process

We speak to the vice-chancellor of the University of Derby

Andrew McGettigan considers the findings of the National Audit Office’s investigation into alternative providers

Despite the introduction of postgraduate loans, the government’s education funding aims remain a puzzle, says Nigel Carrington

Uncertainty over how many students will apply for the loans and how much the scheme will cost

Dividing citation into six groups could improve the accuracy of metrics in research assessment, paper argues

Shunmay Yeung of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine describes her part in fighting the viral outbreak in Sierra Leone

The USS is being attacked from all sides over the methodology of its valuation and assumptions, claims UCU

As the results of the research excellence framework approach, Emma Rees’ sleep-deprived imagination runs riot

The number of people taking undergraduate-level vocational qualifications is largely in decline, according to a report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills

David Willetts calls for academics to work together during a debate on the REF and the state of higher education

University claims exemption from releasing details of board of governors meeting, citing ‘commercial interests’

Little change in uptake over past 10 years despite millions spent on initiatives to widen participation in STEM subjects

Plans to raise researcher numbers at risk if study is unaffordable, universities warned

South African v-c tells THE BRICS and Emerging Economies Universities Summit that rankings steer institutions away from vital local concerns

Seminar debates conflicting trends in the discipline as industry figures look beyond fluency

Landmarks, ‘starchitecture’, green reuse, city-centre strategies: Chris Parr on forces shaping the sector’s bricks and mortar

UCU argues that a rise in project-based grants fuel job insecurity and deter postgraduates from working in academia

The flawed research excellence framework is not a process of peer review in any meaningful sense, argues Derek Sayer, who appealed against his inclusion in the exercise