World news

Australia’s big talk on science aspirations overlooks the skills needed to make it all happen, critics say

Campuses almost devoid of people nevertheless remained hotbeds of sexual harassment and assault

Canberra’s policy changes helped turn its big-ticket infrastructure schemes into pipe dreams, university-industry report argues

Penalties for student snitches and curbs on Confucius Institutes and Thousand Talents Programme among dozens of recommendations from security committee

New Zealand now perceived poorly on factors where it used to excel, survey finds

‘Task force’ to facilitate two-way flow of students and graduates

Parliamentarians clash on funding discretion and whether it should continue, but agree on need for ARC review

Ostensibly family-friendly work arrangements assumed to benefit women can have the opposite effect, a study of academics’ lockdown experiences suggests

Global horrors reverberate in far-off campuses, widening the gap between students and their prosperous surrounds

Grant reviewers should close the circle by evaluating final reports, and recipients should spend the money as they see fit

Slump in applications to country’s biggest tertiary admissions centre aligns with anecdotal reports that universities are struggling to find students

Vocational and higher education get equal billing, as Australian university groups unite in jobs-focused election spiel

Police, politicians, doctors, cleaners and school students share Southern Cross campus as an emergency base

Data useful ‘if considered in context’, Australian university says, but union insists its publication is ‘dangerous’

Australian study probes the difficulties facing latter-year students – and the ‘balancing act’ required of their lecturers

Authorities to debate changes to master’s and PhD enrolment systems

Dispute over indigenous knowledge ‘not amenable to resolution’, investigation panel finds, as New Zealand society pledges ‘helpful and constructive’ dialogue

Proposal to ‘link performance and funding’ the latest in an interventionist trend

Veto powers not unique to the ARC, medical research funder says – although they are not exercised elsewhere

IRU’s pre-election manifesto for university sector also recommends adoption of the UK’s Haldane principle

Top Australian university sidelined from rich fellowship scheme over ‘unacceptable’ lack of diversity in honorary doctorates

Industrial relations umpire overturns finding that information implicitly identifies individual staff

‘Big-picture thinkers’ would set national priorities, sidestep electoral cycles and deal with ‘boundary issues’ involving indigenous knowledge

University’s internal debate about the pros and cons mirrors live discussions elsewhere

Storms, flash floods and emergency services effort force students back online

While most submissions support legislation to end ministerial veto rights, some urge middle ground approach

Invasion of Ukraine ‘threatens the peace, freedom and democracy on which freedom of inquiry and academic collaboration is based’

Returning numbers underwhelming so far as isolated state casts off its shackles

Universities brace as hot labour market beckons locals who kept them afloat through Covid

If just one in 20 supported technologies hits paydirt, new fund will pay for itself, says STEM lobby

Swinburne says former councillor and union rep was not targeted, but he says redundancy criteria were written for him

Back-to-campus plans postponed as classes make way for crisis centres

A ‘dashboard’ of metrics for assessing science communication could help generate 100 million hours a year of evidence-charged ‘dialogue’

Researchers support drive for quality over quantity but warn of unintended consequences

And research job opportunities are booming outside universities, AI-fuelled study finds

No group should have exclusive ‘authority to speak’, New Zealand forum hears

Back-to-campus plans hit snags on both sides of the Tasman

Universities say they proactively uncover underpayments, but former casual claims they only acknowledge the obvious cases

Job insecurity has been exacerbated by legislation intended to end it, with universities facing spiralling recontracting costs and no extra funding

Vertical campus ‘well suited’ to small group teaching, as students navigate degrees one block at a time

Top-ranked institutions now have the autonomy to evaluate and confirm which of their own disciplines will qualify for the project

International community ‘should take in academics unable to continue teaching in Hong Kong’, say scholars

Canberra’s work rights strategy influences make-up of new arrivals, as Perth changes entry rules again

‘Vast majority’ of promised research commercialisation fund falls outside spending commitments, estimates committee also hears

Funding council statistics lend weight to anecdotal accounts that academics are self-censoring scholarship on superpower

University casuals less likely to win permanent employment than cleaners or bank workers, Senate inquiry finds

It’s a balancing act, as some crave company and others isolation, but most vice-chancellors want their people back ‘as often as possible’

Open access champion also proposes an IB for universities, as competition gives way to collaboration  

Belated data show that inexperienced, untenured and non-academic staff shouldered the lion’s share of job losses

Furore over political interference shows no sign of abating, as government presses ahead with research commercialisation agenda

There is no simple answer to entrenched inequities in research funding, Australian agency finds

Vice-chancellor criticises ‘bipartisan support’ for rules enabling ministers to intervene in grant awards

While 5,000 students could arrive in April, the rest will not be admitted until October, effectively ruling out campus-based studies before 2023

Pay, promotions and intellectual property protections set for ‘refinement’ under new action plan

No apparent health rationale for ‘impossible’ new deadline, as requirements rewritten for third time in a week

But critics say windfall won’t compensate for the money stripped from basic research

Academics nervous as most universities plan to maximise on-campus delivery amid record Covid death toll

With key funding scheme already months behind schedule, a Christmas Eve resolution could be optimistic

But new recruits and direct arrivals miss out under new Western Australian rules

Australia’s wealthiest university locks horns with one of its own academics, who says ‘the public has a right to know’