Opinion

As they stand, university rankings do not make sense, says Alan Ryan

The conventions and traditions of academia make it especially difficult to pinpoint what constitutes bullying behaviour

Our desire, individually and collectively, to respect students, colleagues and universities is the best way to drive up teaching quality, says Tara Brabazon

Impatient editors risk upsetting manuscript referees, writes Tim Birkhead

The REF is moving in a direction that most of the sector is happy with, but there is still much at stake in the fine-tuning

Union confrontations will not help the sector achieve the financial stability that secures jobs, Bill Wakeham says

Fundraisers reap what university staff sow. Adrian Furnham explains why one alma mater will not receive a single penny from him

Universities ought to protect their lecturers by taking action against those who make unfounded allegations against them, argues Ian Greener

Patricia Lee, the wife of Simon Lee, former vice-chancellor of Leeds Met, responds to the media's slings and arrows

Gary Day asks what we can learn from Star Trek, enjoys a look at Wordsworth and laughs with women

Having been forced into the forefront of administration, Gloria Monday realises that, on the whole, the overload is self-inflicted

Felipe Fernández-Armesto salutes the US military's intellectual proving ground

David Robinson says Canada has much to teach us about the commercial imperative in academia and its dangers

Higher education standards are in the spotlight, but investigation has found no evidence of serious deficiencies, says Colin Riordan

An intimate learning relationship is much valued. UK universities cannot afford to lose it - despite the pressures of massification

Ann Singleton, Steve Tombs and David Whyte decry the insidious way in which academics are being used to monitor foreign students and staff

After years of battling the Nimbys, John Brooks formulated a campus plan that articulates Manchester Met's values

Gary Day on the injustice meted out to a whistleblower, medieval minds and meteorology

Stuart Hall supposedly asked one question that would determine whether a student joined the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. Tara Brabazon examines the importance of having passion for your subject

Student-scholar trysts are perilous affairs, writes Sally Feldman

Science and universities are vital to economic recovery, but the Chancellor offered them only budgetary sleight of hand

The internet is unravelling intellectual ownership, but without citation, academia's shared conversation will be lost, writes Kathryn Sutherland

The gap between further and higher education is still too wide, but the US model could bridge it, says Rob Wilson

All foreign students are now suspect in the current Salem-like xenophobic frenzy. We must stand firm, says Susan Edwards

Impact is central to the AHRC's mission, as the public demands. But that is not inimical to true research values, says Philip Esler

Elements of the national character are revealed to Gary Day through Hartlepool, horses and honeybees

If standards are vital, why is the select committee investigating dumbing down marked by spin, absenteeism and squabbling?

Funding for economics and other related disciplines is being cut just when we need their insights most and are warming to their popularisers, says Jon Adams

The world isn't made of equations - we should keep alert against mathematical seduction, says Michael Bulley

Most governance models allow v-cs to ignore academic opinions and freedoms. This must change, says Sally Hunt

Anthony Seldon and David James want universities to support a radical shift that puts learning at the heart of the curriculum

Gary Day on the dark side of Georgian London, the fallout from those who go missing, and Narnia

Kevin Fong narrowly avoids a kebab-stained diplomatic incident

Satirical news programme The Daily Show does more than poke fun at the powers that be. It condemns lazy and populist broadcasting, and urges us to question what we are told and what we choose to watch – lessons that go beyond a good laugh, writes Tara Brabazon

Peer review is no more or less subjective than metrics in measuring research quality. We abandon it at our peril, says Claire Donovan

University governors must do more than take a board meeting or two, they must also take the institution's mission to heart

The AHRC is so aligned with the government agenda of impact and knowledge transfer that it betrays its very raison d'etre, Peter Barry argues

Hefce's criticism of Cambridge's governance is plain wrong, says Alan Ryan

Gary Day on Henry VIII's appetite, the malaise of teenage drunkenness and pro-anorexia websites

For all that is spent on quality assurance, we get very little reassurance on things that matter, argues Allan Ashworth

Tanya Ovenden-Hope welcomes the Leitch report's model for higher education provision in further education colleges

In these days of low morale, universities will try anything to grab positive publicity. Gloria Monday just wishes there was a little less spin and a little more substance

The Government wants to dictate the trajectory of research and the funding bodies are complicit. This must stop, says Thomas Docherty

Tutorials are vital for a quality learning experience, writes Tim Birkhead

As an essential curricular element, poetry is on the critical list, but Greg Garrard has a plan to make students adore it

Scholars must engage with the vital creative support teams that underpin their work. They may even find some satisfaction in paperwork, says Dave Hall

The internet may one day hold the library of all knowledge, but not while Wikipedia predominates, says Martin Cohen