Opinion

The how and why of conducting transparent, rigorous, ethical research must be explicitly taught, say Madeleine Pownall, Charlotte Pennington and Flavio Azevedo 

The only question is how to do so in ways that are legally sound, institutionally durable and worthy of renewed trust, says James S. Bridgeforth

Higher education has seen alliances launch with broad declarations and fade with little to show. But we are structuring this one differently, says Noah Pickus

Chinese academics, students and partners bring great benefits that the UK would be very foolish to spurn, says Michael Spence

The Supreme Court’s suspension of the regulations highlights contention about when equity efforts tip into reverse discrimination, says Mukhtar Ahmad

We must better explain to school-leavers the intellectual, technical, creative and social benefits of higher education, says Brooke Storer-Church

A globally open Horizon Europe could play a key role in realising Mark Carney’s vision of an alliance of middle powers, says Jan Palmowski

If we still believe that science is a vocation grounded in argument, curiosity and care, we can’t delegate judgement to machines, says Akhil Bhardwaj

The downturn in overseas student numbers shows the folly of relying on a small number of volatile markets, say George Pavlakos and Estelle Zinsstag

Universities, states and lenders all need to step up when limits on lending from federal sources are implemented in July, says Josh Farris

Universities can produce commercially viable projects while giving the industry the sustainability and freedom to take risks on new talent, says Chris Nunn

Meeting public expectations demands careful design of statutory and regulatory arrangements, not rhetorical commitment, says Emma Roberts

During times of austerity, when trust and cooperation are needed most, their absence results in division, secrecy and vengeance, says a UK academic

The pandemic showed the benefits of a system based around reviewing preprints. Why was eLife the only journal to respond, asks Damian Pattinson

Industry experience offers a unique perspective based around practical systems thinking, operational realities and trade-offs, says Jianyang Geng

With a thoughtful strategy, Greece could become a leading Mediterranean destination for those seeking European qualifications, says Ianis Matsoukas

We haven’t always got it right, but we should not apologise for trying to build a better society, no matter how powerful our detractors, says Keith Burnett

We surveyed US scholars last year; the fact that we cannot identify ourselves as authors of the study speaks volumes, say two academics 

Ever more processes rely on artificial intelligence, yet our governance is still stuck at the level of ‘is it OK for students to use ChatGPT in essays?’, says Tom Smith

The claim that AI can’t make meaning contradicts what researchers are finding when they put these tools to careful, critical use, says James Goh

Students may not have started the current uprising but they are seizing what might be a last chance to remake the country, says Roohola Ramazani

Across schools and universities, students must be taught how the scientific method reveals workable policy options – not diktats, says Peter Calow

It is vital to examine what chatbots’ behaviour reveals about their underlying structures – and human responses to them, says Agnieszka Piotrowska

Our symposium illustrates the contribution that students outside the scientific mainstream could make if given the chance, says Iván Moya

Many of the lessons I’ve learned about community, grace and letting go are transferable regardless of subject or health, says Alexandra Dufresne

Maybe I need to drop the illusion that I can spot AI-written text and, instead, devise assignments that AI can’t help with, says David Mingay

Academia is inherently competitive but we can reduce the debilitating sense of constant threat, say Catelijne Coopmans and Catherine Montgomery 

Trump-imposed economic pressures should prompt us to confront the mismatch between PhD admissions and academic jobs, says Joshua Snider 

Many graduates are catapulted into health leadership roles without the necessary perspective, vocabulary or skills, say Meike Schleiff and Kabir Sheikh

As chair of a women’s network, I see first-hand how the gap between policy and lived experience still shapes how careers unfold, says Xiaoran Xu

If 2025 was about establishing stability, in 2026 our focus must turn to building for the future, says UUK president Malcolm Press

What kind of experience isn’t lived? Are all systems really ecosystems? Why do we keep inventing pointless new jargon, asks Ron Iphofen

It might be an extreme example but elsewhere, too, universities are being reimagined as state safeguards, say Maguatcher Jeremie and Chen Bateer

We need a holistic approach that teaches students not just to use AI but to survive its psychological terrain, say Sean McMinn and Nick McIntosh

The various reactions to my recent article on universities’ tardy AI adoptance underlines their allergy to internal transformation, says Ian Richardson

The fact that now-established academics survived a system built on overwork does not make it fair or well designed. We must change it, says Yu Tao

Universities have 10 years to prepare for China’s demographic crunch. They need to start now, say Craig Jeffrey, Michael Simmonds and Donald Speagle

To give the law teeth, the government must commit to promptly implementing the promised mechanism for flagging breaches, says Abhishek Saha

Universities need to create environments that value every learner’s cognitive diversity as a source of creativity and innovation, says Imran Mir

Disney’s latest film highlights that behind symbolic progress on ‘complex’ issues often lies a fear of genuine change, says Éile Rasmussen

If a student feels remembered by a machine but overlooked by humans, something in the educational contract has broken, says Agnieszka Piotrowska

Without exemptions for commercial as well as academic data mining, the government’s AI for Science Strategy will fall flat, says Benjamin White

The pragmatic response to misunderstandings around the word ‘culture’ will ensure that grassroots momentum is not lost, says John-Arne Røttingen

Reject calls for passive ‘neutrality’ and develop integrated plans to promote student voting, say Jonathan Becker, Erin Cannan and Yael Bromberg

An Australian ministerial delegation’s visit to India is the perfect opportunity to highlight the research potential of branch campuses, says Paul Harris

Employers in many industries may soon conclude they can train, assess and credential employees more effectively than universities can, warns Ali Hindi

Aggressively tackling intruders is best avoided, but a security guard should always have a ready supply of animal-themed plasters, says George Bass

The targeting of a Netherlands-based online Persian university represents a state grappling with limits on its control of knowledge circulation, says Roohola Ramezani

Many students in Australia struggle to afford enough food, and expensive campus outlets are not helping, say Jane Dyson and four colleagues

Fear of reprisals and stigma leads doctoral students to stay in unhealthy supervisory relationships, says Johan Kristian Andreasen 

Undergraduates are choosing silence over dissent given the high price paid by scholars advancing controversial ideas, says Yashraj Garg

Misuse of ‘cumulative PhDs’ should prompt debate over whether stacking research papers is really equivalent to writing a dissertation, says Brian Bloch

Universities must ensure procedures for handling sexual misconduct complaints are fair, transparent and supportive for all parties, says Jo Nuckley

After a shambolic Budget day, it is hardly surprising that universities have been landed with a costly and overcomplicated international student levy, writes Nick Hillman

Refusal to accept the scale of discrimination faced by Jewish scholars and students reflects a blind spot in academic thinking, argues Noam Schimmel 

The government needs to signal its demand for elite foreign language skills before more universities leave provision to inferior alternatives, says Ian Proud

We need memorable concepts targeting specific types of problematic AI output or use, not blanket moral judgements, says Andrew J. Routledge

When Mashreq’s campus was shattered and then occupied by soldiers, we were forced to strip education down to its essentials, says Gihad Ibrahim

The global collaboration enabled by associating to the world’s largest research funding programme is critical to national impact, says Cecilia Hewlett

As public attention focuses on unrest, South Africa’s universities are bearing the hidden costs of a broken system, says Pikolomzi Qaba