Junior scholars are urged to do all they can to build bridges with the people who can give them jobs and promotions. But how calculating should they be about who to approach? How should they do it? And isn’t it all a bit grubby? Six established academics explain their perspectives
Marking every minor triumph inculcates a motivated mindset of appreciation for your effort and the process of scientific discovery, says Valerie Horsley
Speculation over imagined backstabbings and betrayals is rife but the joining of two of Australia’s universities is more of a meeting of minds than clash of clans, insist vice-chancellors Peter Høj and David Lloyd
On-site childcare is seen as vital for meeting equality and access goals, but with funding squeezed and demand unpredictable, many institutions are deciding the costs outweigh the benefits
The importance of senior faculty advising junior colleagues on their career trajectories is increasingly emphasised. But is guidance – and the giving of it – being fairly shared? Should mentoring schemes be formalised? And are they really enough? Seven academics have their say
As the celebrated children’s historical sketch show marks its 15th anniversary, Jack Grove speaks to its head writer, history producer and PhD researchers on how scholarly sleuthing has been crucial to its long success
A radical new manifesto for science communication is warning about the dangers of making arrogant claims that academic knowledge can explain the mysteries of the universe. Matthew Reisz meets its authors
The redundancies and course closures proposed at many struggling UK universities follow a decades-long drift away from the idea of higher education institutions as charities whose non-commercial public benefit needs to be supported by profit-making activity, argues Martin Mills
Libraries no longer accept donations, but targeted giving to colleagues and students is a way for retired academics to keep teaching, says Harvey Graff
The feted urban sociologist Richard Sennett tells Matthew Reisz about how his former career as a cellist inspired his latest trilogy of books, why his ideal university would be more night school than Oxbridge college and why it helps him to imagine his readers as female biologists
When adjunct faculty contribute so much to US academia, why are they denied basic benefits such as health insurance and medical leave, asks Josh Hiller
While UK universities are starting to address the challenges faced by new mothers, combining parenthood and academia remains a difficult task. Five writers give their experience of what institutions are getting right and wrong in supporting academic mums
From satirical novels to US sitcoms and cop shows, academics have proved to be rich source material across many genres. Four writers argue the case for who can claim to be fiction’s greatest scholar
In John Gilbey’s seasonal tale, the sharks are circling the vice-chancellor of the University of Rural England. But the fishing village to which he flees is not as innocent as he depicted it in his doctoral thesis. And its power-brokers are every bit as terrifying as those on the Regional Economic Regeneration Committee
With academics feeling the strain from higher workloads, the days when scholars had time to write novels or run businesses seem increasingly distant. Lincoln Allison suggests that universities have far more to gain than to lose by allowing their academics to broaden their experience and earn extra income
The American University in Cairo’s first Arab leader on helping people reskill, serving the community and taking on the ‘necessary evil’ of administration
From dedicating time for brainstorming to taking inspiration from their dog, five writers explain how they are changing their approach to academia and life as another academic year begins in the northern hemisphere
Over the past century, capitalism, relativism, egoism and social advocacy have fuelled the decay of traditional academic commitments, says Bruce Macfarlane
