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From the advice you need (but rarely get) to pick the right PhD supervisor, to an extraordinary rant about the idiocy of the research excellence framework, we reveal our most-read stories of 2013

Hundreds of people have signed a petition nominating actor Peter Capaldi to be the new rector of the University of Glasgow.

A group of colleges at the University of Cambridge have collectively raised £150 million for capital projects through the private debt market.

Fewer sixth-form students want to attend a university near their home despite tuition fees rising to £9,000 a year, a new survey says.

Further education colleges are giving students a “unique” environment in which to undertake higher education, according to a new report.

An Indian private university has been given official backing by the Indian government for its off-shore campus in London.

Wearing of shirts depicting Prophet Mohammed and Jesus ‘did not amount to harassment’

Hepi head and HE analyst tell MPs that coalition sums don’t add up

Ideology and myopia threatens the future of some of the UK’s best humanities departments, warns Louis Goddard

Targets for financial support don’t know terminology, research finds

The alchemy between art and nature gives food for thought, writes Philip Hoare

UK research is punching above its weight in impact terms, according to a report prepared by Elsevier for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Expert points to lecturers’ low qualification levels

‘Manhattan Project’ that some think could pave the way for variable fees proceeds with Nuffield funding

The government doesn’t need to resort to violence to ensure foreign scholars’ compliance, argues Erin Jessee

Research council hopes to claw back cash to fund centres that missed out during initial bidding process

Emma Rees can’t wait for the holidays to start

UCU fears more support staff will be forced out to cover REF recruitment costs

In this season of festive goodwill and fantasy, John Gilbey meets the vice-chancellor of the publicity-shy but prosperous University of Rural England - and he begins to contemplate the possibility of living happily ever after…

Idea of borrowing to study is ‘totally alien’ to some students, so take-up may be low

Participation widens, but questions may be asked over falling entry requirements

Student leaders criticised over perceived failure to support grass-roots members joining in demonstrations

Publishing arm aims to disseminate research and ease budgetary pressures

Newcastle v-c gives international students the full flavour of a British Christmas

Beijing wants to supercharge its nation’s universities as it has its railroads, but might its ambitions falter for want of academic freedom and cultural change?

Reading v-c condemns Autumn Statement announcement as a purely political move

The year’s best reads for work and pleasure, chosen by scholars and senior figures in the sector

School Direct scheme diverts funding and input from university education departments

Border states a key battleground as the struggle for international income intensifies

I have had a good run with Henry V, but I think it is over now

Global competition prompts easing of curbs on commissions to student recruiters

The items shown here are all owned by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and are among the objects that appear in its online interactive 2013 seasonal calendar, with audio recordings and podcasts

We speak to the honorary visiting professor in the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool

The European Commission has announced the new president of the European Research Council.

The government’s plan to finance extra student places by the future sale of student loans is like a Ponzi scheme, according to a thinktank.

It is “perfectly possible” to fund the government’s plan to abolish the student numbers cap by selling off graduate debt, David Willetts has claimed.

By Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed

Work amassed over several decades by Khoan and Michael Sullivan

The Treasury has funded a £15 million pilot project to establish three to four University Enterprise Zones in England.

A leading activist has called on the academic community to do far more “to help promote and defend human rights”.

Controversial passage removed pending review as prime minister intervenes

Nobel laureate Randy Schekman has pledged to stop publishing in “luxury journals”, which he believes contribute to the “disfigurement” of science.

The government’s plan to fund extra student numbers by selling loans omits billions of pounds in lost repayments, the chancellor has admitted.

Universities UK has published legal advice which backs its controversial guidance on the segregation of men and women at campus events.

The government’s claim it can fully fund extra student places by selling loans is “wrong”, according to the MP in charge of examining public accounts.

The European Union officially adopted Horizon 2020 on 3 December 2013

Judgment says university ‘inadequately investigated’ misconduct case

Legislation a must after scrapping of student quotas

Data gathering can be a dangerous business, oceanographer Penny Holliday tells Paul Jump

Aldwyn Cooper takes aim at the coalition’s haphazard policymaking

Admissions standards have fallen to balance budgets, Adelaide chief argues

We speak to the professor of poetry at the University of Roehampton’s new Poetry Centre. Plus the latest higher education appointments

Two university leaders forgo increases as tensions over staff wage offer continue

Engineering body fears impact of post-16 maths and English workload

The diagram showing the flow of blood in the forearm is taken from William Harvey’s De Motu Cordis (1628), a pioneering exposition of how blood circulates around the body