Politics

More than a third of the public now believe scientists are hiding information – confusion over masks and broadsides from a ‘populist’ microbiologist are blamed

A plan to put foreign students in supervised quarantine before studying could rescue international programmes, says Roger Smyth

Open letter signed by more than 100 UK-based scientists, many of whom work in infectious disease biology and immunology

If they learn how to engage more effectively, there could be ways for ethicists to bring their insights to bear on major policy debates

As annual lobbying spending drops to $75 million, bigger campuses take more control

A draft national security law raises concerns about academic freedom and a return to student protests

Move to reject Obama policy seen costing 200,000 borrowers some $11 billion

US-China research collaborations will continue despite politics, Harvard economist says 

The secretary of higher education for the state of New Jersey talks about her path to a career in policy, family history and handling racist attitudes at college

Former biotech chief cooperating in expanded investigation

With £7,500 tuition fees off the agenda, new strategies to rebalance English higher education could be introduced, says post-18 education review chair

£7,500 fees are off the agenda, but Covid-19 only increases the need to align state subsidies with economic need, says Philip Augar

Improving remote learning may be smartest move universities can make, quality chief advises

England’s main skills challenge is not over-education but preparing workers for the emerging economy, says Tim Blackman 

National move to reconciliation tests boundaries of academic freedom, say some observers

EUA policy expert warns against financially driven institutional mergers as solution in crisis

Academics recognise need but fear loss of attention on basic science

Accusations that China is stealing virus research could harm US vaccine efforts and overseas enrolments, experts warn

After more than a decade of federal spending increases, the country also looks set to overtake Japan on the proportion of GDP spent on innovation

Policy experts express fears that public and politicians will hold scientists responsible for the economic and social damage of lockdown

A 2017 speech by Emmanuel Macron on European identity has led to the creation of an initial 17 pan-continental consortia involving 114 universities. But do they amount to anything more than yet more vacuous memoranda of understanding? David Matthews reports

Protecting the European research budget offers better long-term hopes of saving the European project

Anticipating a renewed coronavirus outbreak, California State University plans for semester online

A renewed European Research Area can be a fresh call to arms for scientific excellence across the continent, says Jan Palmowski

Student wariness may deliver final blow to crisis-weakened institutions

Universities hardest hit by coronavirus crisis might need to accept merger or mission shift in exchange for state aid, warn sector leaders

With August goal in mind, diagnostic development could get TV-based model

As the tools of complexity theory prove crucial in responding to the pandemic, they must be taught far more widely in universities, argues former oil executive turned researcher

Universities warn of harm to victims and protest the quick implementation of controversial new measures

Impact usually originates in discoveries by smart people who could not possibly have dreamed of the application, says Douglas Kell

Universities are steering the country’s response to Covid-19 in the absence of political leadership, which is helping citizens value higher education, says rector

Minister promises to reward universities that go back to teaching as Bolsonaro’s administration battles with state governors over pandemic policy

With presidential elections looming, institutions are finding success from incorporating voter aid into campus operations

The initiative’s success means that higher education is expected to remain a focus of China’s next five-year plan, says Wu Zhaohui

After sex crime conviction, elite university gave financier-donor his own office

Stanford doctor warns extreme partisanship may taint future research

Education secretary Gavin Williamson pressed on whether government wants to ‘pick and choose’ which universities to save

Reeling from freefalling international enrolments, Australian universities now face renewed threats from geopolitical tensions

Myths notwithstanding, devolving research agendas to disciplines has a poor record of success, says Steve Fuller

New institutions will add nothing unless there is a greater emphasis on quality, says Eric Fredua-Kwarteng

Jeffrey Kennedy, Simon Pek and Graham Smith explore ways of involving students far more deeply in the decisions that affect them

Treasury’s opposition to Universities UK’s rescue package could be overcome if institutions offer extra assistance to graduates, Lord Willetts tells THE event

Emma Hardy calls on government to underwrite HE funding during ‘unprecedented set of challenges’ posed by Covid-19

Partnership approach during pandemic raises hopes of bursting scientific silos 

President, lawmakers allocate money then accuse Harvard and others of taking it

After rejection of virtual peer review, federal agency halts new awards, prompting concerns for younger researchers

Governments are prioritising reopening schools and businesses over campuses. But some academics fear the impact on disadvantaged students – and on their teaching

Continuing remote teaching in the autumn will be unsustainable for some institutions, warns leader of online college

Vice-chancellors’ group makes unprecedented appeal for government aid following dire financial forecasts caused by coronavirus restrictions

Reliance on formulas and philosophies giving way to complexity and case studies

The UK’s existing oversight by external visitors and professional bodies is the best way to safeguard standards, says Colin McCaig 

Such legislation could curtail academic freedom, say scholars

Pace of disruptive change is falling, claims book by Oxford geographer, who says virus crisis could herald a kinder form of politics

Six months of devastating and unprecedented destruction has brought home the reality of climate change to many Australians. But with time for mitigation short and some politicians still in denial, what more can universities do to save the ‘lucky country’ – and the rest of the planet? John Ross reports

Coronavirus crisis may make institutions more eager to please to students, but ‘tensions’ already in evidence

Slashing research will be a dangerous temptation for politicians desperate for savings, warns Jan Palmowski

Minister says overseas students and staff will not be penalised if their visa has expired or they take distance learning courses

Democratic frontrunner raises fear among private colleges after taking on Bernie Sanders’ plan

As their book about the deep links between education and well-being is published, Anne Case and Nobel laureate Angus Deaton tell John Morgan about their jaw-dropping discoveries of a sharp rise in ‘deaths of despair’ among white American people – and an unhealthy obsession with causality among journals

A belief that private colleges open more doors explains US voters’ lukewarm response to free public education, says Kate Eichhorn