Features

Why has the idea of publicly funded higher education crumbled so quickly in England? James Vernon explores the origins of an academic culture that has internalised market rationalities and traces the concept of education as a personal investment back to the playing fields of Eton

Think you can tell which students are destined to be heroes or zeroes? Think again: as Geoffrey K. Pullum shows, his career and that of an old school chum demonstrate that potential can be difficult to spot

From mindless diversions to gripping, critically acclaimed dramas, what is it about box sets of television series that appeals to academics, asks Roger Luckhurst. Obviously, first-hand investigation is required

That sentiment may be shared by many in the communities in which universities are located. But if the institutions disappeared, how much of a loss would it be to those cities? David Matthews weighs the benefits of having a higher education establishment on the doorstep

Professors should provide intellectual leadership, but some incumbents have other priorities or misunderstand their role. Bruce Macfarlane asserts that universities must find a way to get the best out of the best

'Transnational' education isn't dying, but it is changing. Jon Marcus reports on Western institutions' moves to mitigate the risks of foreign outposts, thanks to a little help from their hosts

As officialdom's demands for meaningless Transparency and Information multiply, Thomas Docherty asks: has clandestine scholarship become the only way to carry out real research and teaching?

Every discipline has quirks invisible to its insiders. Intrepid scholars who venture into a related field will discover a host of idiosyncrasies that shine new light on the oddities of one's own academic clan, says Adrian Furnham

Science affects everyone on the planet, so how and to what extent should the public help set its agenda? Jon Turney looks to the notion of vox populi research for some ideas

Well, they’re not doing badly. But in a world in which capitalism is in crisis, the Left is moribund, activists are slick professionals and rebellion drives sales, Alastair Bonnett envisages a new type of dissident institution

To judge by the gleefully bull-headed ignorance shown by politicians, bloggers and others, scientific evidence and scholarly analysis may soon count for nothing. Jon Marcus considers where this anti-intellectual climate leaves the academy

Ahead of Lord Woolf’s report on the scandal of the LSE’s links with Libya, Christopher Davidson examines the issue of UK university funding by Gulf autocracies in the light of the Arab Spring

Academics from physicists to experts on Scandinavian culture are crafting stand-up comedy routines based on their work. But this is no joke. Matthew Reisz finds that a crowd's laughter is not the only payoff

Independent 'citizen scientists' have always existed, says Darrel Ince, and our networked age of fast computing and open access is helping them to flourish - to the greater good of research

Funding cuts. Fees. Privatisation. Old institutions versus new. Ministerial (re)visions - and withering letters-page retorts. John Morgan journeys through 40 years of our back issues

Matthew Reisz talks to the movers and shakers of the past 40 years who made Times Higher Education what it is today

Despite exhortations to academics to collaborate, jointly authored research still draws some suspicion. Co-authors Janet Beer and Avril Horner are adamant that, with the right chemistry, such efforts can repay huge professional and personal benefits

A year after the Browne Report's publication, Fred Inglis excoriates the application of a bankrupt neoliberal ideology to the academy, and calls for scholars to rise up and free the truth from the market's clutches

Characterised by creativity and attuned to the needs of their age, the first European universities have important lessons for higher education today, says Miri Rubin

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, the academy and the NHS all fall far short of their research potential. John Martin prescribes a radical plan to revive UK life sciences while funding universities in their broadest mission

Circling hilltop castles and seeking out thermals, occasionally shadowed by a sociable buzzard - Paul Nurse attests to the joys of taking to the skies on the slenderest of wings

W.G. Sebald, stifled by the culture of silence in post-war Germany, by ‘people’s ability to forget what they do not want to know’, settled in 1960s England and wrote groundbreaking literary works to great acclaim. Ten years after Sebald’s untimely death, Uwe Schütte, a former student, reflects on his life

Excitement, anxiety, shaking in your boots. Academics experience mixed feelings as term starts, says Jon Marcus

The provocative 'Blue Labour' and 'Red Tory' visions for renewal put forth by two academics have the ears of their respective party leaders - and a good deal in common, says A.W. Purdue

When Jorge Cham adapted his hugely popular PhD cartoon for film, he eschewed animation and hired real Caltech students and academics for his comically true-to-life doctoral tales. Paul Jump reports

While the public fixates on tabloid phone hacking, the real crisis threatening the survival of newspapers goes unnoticed despite its dire consequences for public affairs, says Tim Luckhurst

When an anthropologist and her partner were arrested on the eve of the royal wedding for planning an anti-monarchy mock execution, the incident ended up on YouTube - and the footage revealed concern over who would feed Flopsy, their pet rabbit. Here, Camilla Power explains that our long-eared friends are not just cuddly, they're cat-taming, fox-outwitting, police-baiting natural born rebels, too

A typographical slip gave Lois S. Bibbings an authorial sex change, and while she pondered textual 'gender reassignment', her alter ego made off with her kudos. Still, she can't help liking the roguish Louis

A coalition of the willing is battling legal, logistical and technical obstacles to archive the riches of the mercurial World Wide Web for the benefit of future scholars. Zoë Corbyn reports

They're here, they're square, they occasionally look like Brian Cox: Alice Bell and Adam Corner on the new-found cool of the science-minded, big-brained, increasingly self-confident geeks

Increased tuition fees could dramatically alter the flow of students around the UK, with many choosing not to travel outside their home country. David Matthews considers how the devolved nations might be affected

The A-level results are here again: cue the usual laments that exams are getting easier and the scramble for places is becoming ever more intense. But is any of it true? Jack Grove finds out

It's neither ghoulish nor foolish to hold tutorials over one's own coffin, philosopher Peter Vardy insists. Students like to tackle the big questions in life - and none is bigger than death

Instead of sermonising about the need for more contact hours, ministers should stop infantilising students and listen to what they actually want, argues Paul Ramsden

An outsider's perspective can spark innovation, but many refugee academics struggle to rekindle careers. Matthew Reisz shares the setbacks and successes of scholars set on rejoining their peers

Just penning a book isn't enough - academic authors want people to buy it and read it. Promotion is the publisher's domain, of course, but Dale Salwak is convinced that writers can make a big difference by taking an active role in spreading the word

The PhD by publication offers an alternative path to the traditional PhD by thesis, but it is viewed by some as inferior. Richard Willis refutes the argument that it is second rate, and Christopher Cowton looks for clearer regulations

Helen Fulton is unrepentant about her addiction to Glyndebourne, where high-end opera meets country-house garden to the delight of those of the English bourgeoisie who have secured tickets

Apps created by and for the academy could turn smartphones into essential academic tools for everything from teaching and citations to social-science fieldwork. Sarah Cunnane reports

Is this a godless age? No, say 'post-secularist' academics, who argue that the world outside the liberal West is 'furiously religious'. But such scholars overstate the number of believers, contends Alastair Bonnett, and ignore support for secularism worldwide

It is not just the prayerful who can be religious; by scholarly definitions, they can include fans of football teams and celebrities, says Robert Segal

Professional coaching - a common tool in business - is just starting to make inroads in the academy. Matthew Reisz speaks to advocates of tailor-made tactics for defeating stress, stasis and discord

Its higher education sector appears healthy, but will Australia's new demand-led system enable it to recruit enough domestic students to beat a drop in overseas recruitment and chronic underfunding? Simon Baker looks for lessons for England in an Antipodean challenge

...lecturers must be able to impart what they know. Craig Mahoney, head of the HEA, believes training can make any academic a more effective and inspired teacher

Treasury wonks may disagree, but Roger Luckhurst argues that his AHRC-backed study of superstition is not a waste of public money. The fears of the past inform the politics of the present, the mummy's curse simply a reflection of ambivalence towards Egyptian self-determination

Watching sport is an intellectual pursuit, contests football fan Stephen Mumford - but only if you don't mind which team wins

Having made a pig of university funding, the government had to dress it up. But who will be seduced by a brazen shade of 'Student Experience' lipstick or the White Paper's other blandishments? wonders Simon Blackburn

Thom Brooks is living the American Dream, not in the US itself but among the Geordies. And unlike Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee, coming to the UK feels like a journey to the future, not the past...

Competence in mathematics is desirable for everyone but vital for scientists, yet there is a widespread, deep-rooted fear of the subject. Stephen Curry insists that this can be overcome by making maths an integral part of science education

A gruelling four-year battle with her institution over a gender pay gap was ultimately empowering for Liz Schafer, who hopes it will help other women in the fight for parity

It is time to extend R.H. Tawney's 1922 vision of universal secondary education to universal access to tertiary study, argues Simon Szreter, and also to reject the coalition's fatally misguided economic policies

With scholars exploring digital platforms to make their work more available, Matthew Reisz looks at possible replacements for the monograph

At a Unesco forum, Matthew Reisz hears about the hunger for libraries, corporate creep, and what should and should not be archived on the net

In their haste to prepare students for a career, universities have lost sight of the true meaning of education, argues Steven Schwartz

As the UK looks to private companies to stimulate competition, the US for-profit universities are taking on their critics. Jon Marcus reports

The truth is in here, but so too are countless myths: Colin Higgins on the strange world of the academic library, where cod-antique book curses jostle for shelf space with thieves, tourists and treasures

Could robots offer our ageing populations care in their dotage, even love? Can machines genuinely become social beings? Will androids one day dream of electric sheep? Kathleen Richardson examines the history and development of the robot and evaluates the possibilities

A Dance to the Music of Time offers profound insights into life's contingencies and the nature of Englishness in the 20th century, writes Vernon Bogdanor

A postdoctoral position was once the passport to a research post for life. But the inexorable growth in numbers of postdoctoral researchers means competition for academic careers is fierce. Paul Jump asks what should be done to help early career scientists looking for a lab to call home

The narrow focus of 'profane' media studies on semiotics and consumption ignores the extent to which culture is rooted in our deep yearning for the sacred, argues Eduardo de la Fuente