Opinion

Kirsty Williams and Julie James implore ministers to look beyond the Golden Triangle

Phil Newton looks at the case for making essay-writing services illegal

As with Moocs, virtual reality will not replace the physical university

The impact of the bill on Royal Charters is not the main concern, says Smita Jamdar

Virtual reality may be set to make an impact on learning, but can it reveal who will keep their resolutions?

Dame Athene Donald laments the lack of progress on gender issues

Fixing problems in the academic job market by reducing the number of PhDs would homogenise the sector, argues Tom Cutterham

The Higher Education and Research Bill is a chance for institutions to show they do more than research and teaching, says Graham Virgo

From respect and metrics to mistakes and biscuits, management scholar John Hendry offers advice

There really is no need for the Higher Education and Research Bill, says Anne Sheppard

John Tregoning has plans for the UK science budget

Matthew Reisz on when the worlds of higher education and graphic novels collide

More developed critical literacy skills can tackle fake news, say Philip Seargeant and Caroline Tagg

Vijaya Nath on what might be preventing women from climbing the HE career ladder

Trisha Craig on the changing face of study abroad programmes

John Morgan on how the EU used research programmes as a weapon to enforce free movement

The value added by a university matters more than how much its graduates earn, says Bahram Bekhradnia 

There will be thousands of people on campuses on Christmas Day this year, as Geri Ward explains

Brexit. Trump and his howling climate changers. A sector bête noire as PM. The TEF. Turkey. Ed Balls cutting a rug. It’s been a year, all right

Although the term still resonates with scholars, it means less and less in today’s academy, says Bruce Macfarlane

Trump’s election and Brexit constitute a Great Event, which presages dark days ahead, argues Nicholas Boyle

Short of goodwill after a bruising year? Mark O’Thomas prescribes a viewing of Elf for some much-needed seasonal joy and optimism

Study into the experiences of universities’ top teaching faculty is revealing about the real priorities, says Holly Else

James Stirling on how Imperial College London is not shying away from reform

Reflections on event held at the University of California, Berkeley

Jack Grove asks whether Father Christmas could learn from recent ‘Santa studies’ research

Sir Keith Burnett reflects on the future of academia and innovation in the UK and China

Recent university rankings results provide some much-needed discomfort in Japan, says Devin Stewart

Glen Wright reveals the best #AcademicsWithCats of 2016

A ‘professionalised’ police needs to maintain core skills, says this police constable

Billy Bryan and Josh Berlyne are not convinced by the UK government’s doctoral loans plan

Mark Readman offers a guide to help selfish academics ensure that everyone at a conference knows they are very special indeed

For the first time, says the UK’s universities minister Jo Johnson, academic freedom and institutional autonomy will be enshrined in UK law

To help manage their expanding activities, institutions require new corporate leadership personnel, Sarah Shaw says

That students debate how to treat campus memorials to figures linked with unsavoury historical events is perhaps a fitting legacy

Off to an academic conference? Helena Ledmyr offers some tricks to getting the most out of attending a scholarly gathering

Positive discrimination helps students more than it hinders them, find Dennis Epple and Lowell Taylor

Martin Hall on how Brown University is confronting its controversial past

Kate Williams looks at the latest figures and concludes that much more needs to be done

Speaking a foreign language remains vitally important in the Brexit era, says Wendy Ayres-Bennett

Despite concern about the use of predicted grades, Mary Curnock Cook believes the way students apply for university works well

Junior academics can access services without physically visiting premises, writes Holly Else

It’s folly to make my language modules obligatory, says a grande école lecturer confronting students’ boredom and contempt

Martha J. Kanter on making equality of opportunity a reality for ‘the top 100 per cent’ of students

Physical stores on and off campus are facing down threats such as Amazon’s Berkeley book ‘hangar’ by evolving, argues Andrew Thacker

Few disagree that more higher education is a good thing, but it’s tricky to balance universities’ costs and manageable fees

Overleaf’s John Hammersley on what drove his doctorate and transition from universities to industry

Stereotypes and myths around sexual violence still hold currency among students, says Stephen Pihlaja

Measuring entrepreneurialism must take account of individual academics, say Robert Tijssen and Alfredo Yegros 

University staff may often write letters of recommendation in a very gendered way, warns Dame Athene Donald

Exploitative employment model is UK higher education’s ‘dirty little secret’, says Sally Hunt

On-campus support for those in crisis is desperately underfunded, dangerously limited and even offputting

Sandy Grant urges educators to support students’ rejection of prejudice – and call out language that defends the indefensible

For British science to thrive rather than just survive, EU partnerships and global recruitment remain key to fruitful collisions of concepts, says Ian Walmsley

The male chauvinism faced by female political leaders is not worlds away from that too often encountered in academia

Sir Keith Burnett asks if criticising your country means academics are unpatriotic

Fabrizio Trifirò explores the difficulties of quality assurance across borders

Web 3.0 could revolutionise the way higher education is delivered, but will it be used as a force for good, asks Martin Hall

If the government won’t demonstrate the value and importance of university, then vice-chancellors need to step up and do it, say Paul Woodgates and Mike Boxall

We have all the elements needed to make online courses succeed, but institutional inertia at well-established universities stymies progress, argues Laurence Brockliss