Opinion

An assessment boycott has been dropped, but fair pay is still a long way off, says general secretary Sally Hunt

Susan Bassnett wonders why PhD examining is still so amateurish and inconsistent in English universities

Which countries are steaming ahead in scientific output and power? Simon Marginson analyses the worldwide data

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Look to Ireland, not Australia, to see the damage caused by unfettered recruitment, says Bahram Bekhradnia

Racist government policies hurt the higher education sector, says Kevin Fong, but the harm doesn’t stop there

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Universities have to balance meeting students’ pragmatic expectations with delivering a satisfyingly rounded experience

Leaving the Union will help a world-renowned sector to further extend its reach, argues Michael Russell

Ferdinand von Prondzynski stresses the importance of improving university-industry links, whatever the result

Discoveries by laypeople are rare but free access to research results would increase the likelihood, says Richard Price

The impact of transnational education on host countries is overwhelmingly positive, according to a major research project

Hate meetings? You need them more than you think, says Sally Feldman

Alan Ruby asks academics at Florida State College at Jacksonville what they have to offer that an online course does not

David Kemp and Andrew Norton call for state cash for all institutions and pre-bachelor’s courses

Sector-endorsed routes aid publishers, not scholars, say journal editors Harvey Goldstein and John Bynner

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A concordat aimed at ending secrecy in animal testing will allow for debate that should benefit researchers and subjects

The Higher Education Academy must regain sight of its original priorities and reconnect with its members, says Sally Brown

Listen to reporter Chris Parr’s interviews with keynote speakers at the event in Miami

Australian education minister sets out vision during UK visit

Campus lifestyles and easy access to guns can create the perfect storm, say Deborah D. Rogers and Howard P. Segal

Ryan Shorthouse argues that institutions should play a greater role in financing undergraduate students

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I’ve had it with university enterprise: beam me up, Scotty, says Christopher Bigsby

Emma Rees on the self-absorbed musings of Adrian Mole, the much-loved creation of the late Sue Townsend

Academics have internalised research assessment to such a degree that the effects may be irreversible, fears Thomas Harrison

Postgraduate study is a financial struggle for most, and low pay for graduate teaching assistants does nothing to alleviate it

Review of the demand-led system right to address the “sameness” that bedevils Australian higher education, argues Warren Bebbington

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If faith in the comparability of standards is not maintained across UK higher education, the system will be devalued

US institutions, students and athletes must strike the right arrangements to stay afloat, says Alan Ryan

The performance of the domestic press has fallen short of expectations, says Hong Bing

Universities can improve their procedures by studying themselves instead of others, says Stephen Yorkstone

The academy’s greatest gift is in cultivating a critical citizenry who cannot be treated as fools, argues the former Archbishop of Canterbury

It’s misguided to think the tactic used in 2006 will succeed in today’s altered environment, says Paul Curran

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Years after Thatcher, says Simon Marginson, commerce is marginal to the sector. True competition would destroy its essence

The minister hopes to sink his teeth into higher education but his political stock is falling, argues Christopher Prendergast

Vice-chancellors and those who select them might learn from the successes – and notable failures – of politics

Ferdinand von Prondzynski ponders possible outcomes should Scotland opt for independence

A course from the UK can’t simply be transplanted overseas even if the language used is the same, says Rebecca Hughes

Felipe Fernández-Armesto bristles at the stifling effect of peer review

Universities won’t be sustainable or fulfil their missions if they manage academics using research metrics alone, says a senior manager