From the Victorian slum-dwellers whose lives were transformed after they found a warbling rodent, to the jazz-like sound of mouse music, Richard Sugg says that if you take strange stories seriously, you may find something beautiful
Economists’ stock plummeted with the financial crash. The authors of a new book suggest that reading novels could sharpen their insights, while four academics consider how the field might need to change
The universities of China, Singapore and South Korea are among the world leaders in some STEM fields, but will they expand their strength into other disciplines? asks Simon Marginson
Simon Baker explores the mechanics of the teaching excellence framework to determine if it was fair, if universities will attempt to game it, if it will win public favour and if it will change in future iterations
Stephen Mumford tells Matthew Reisz about his desire to bring his discipline to a wider audience, why Norway was the perfect place to write his Cartesian debut novel and why insights into causation have more practical relevance than might first appear
International education is Australia’s third-largest export industry, worth more than A$20 billion, and is set for further growth driven by current geopolitics. Jack Grove reports on how international recruitment is playing its part in Australia’s embrace of the Asian century
Texas-born scholar Angelia Wilson talks to Matthew Reisz about the changing face of political studies, Trump and the Christian Right, and a Bible Belt road trip
In our annual survey of vice-chancellors’ pay, which reveals double-digit hikes for some and more modest rises for others, Simon Baker examines how remuneration committees make their decisions amid calls for greater transparency over the ‘arbitrary’ nature of salary increases
Some MPs turned out of office might turn to academia for employment. But what do former political high-flyers bring to a university, and what are the potential downsides? Jack Grove reports
Despite all that’s been done to improve doctoral study, horror stories keep coming. Here three students relate PhD nightmares while two academics advise on how to ensure a successful supervision
Moves to privilege community service in university admissions will create even more social justice warriors when what we need are more deep thinkers, argues Alexander Zubatov
The need to accommodate foreign students undermines domestic practices, says Lincoln Allison, spying parallels between UK universities and global sports bodies such as Fifa
Seven academic leaders share their experiences at the departmental helm along with their tips on how to squeeze the best out of sceptical staff and meagre budgets – and still find time for research
Students are being hoodwinked into enrolling on ‘trendy’ new degree programmes that are, according to one concerned academic, little more than a marketing exercise
Agnes Bäker and Amanda Goodall have found that academics who are happiest at work have a head of department who is a distinguished researcher. How can such people be encouraged into management?
Witnessing the work of military surgical teams in Afghanistan caused conflicting emotions in an academic author and a sense of the futility of war and of his own profession
On the eve of the first round of France’s presidential elections, Matthew Reisz considers its complex higher education sector and the appetite among politicians, institutions and academics for reform
With overcrowded lecture theatres the norm in undergraduate education today, online delivery has entirely replaced lectures and seminars in some institutions. So where to in the coming decade? Warren Bebbington outlines a survival strategy for the increasingly unaffordable traditional university
What should have been a straightforward application for leave to remain in the UK turned into a Kafkaesque nightmare for University of St Andrews’ lecturer Emily Michelson, whose research trip to Italy proved too much for visa administrators to handle
As the THE Young University Rankings 2017 highlight rising stars, Jack Grove looks at six institutions – recently launched or still in the planning stages – built on bold notions and innovative approaches
‘If we don’t know how we learn, how on earth do we know how to teach?’ says L. Rafael Reif, who tells Ellie Bothwell how the research giant is working to improve teaching practice
Conducting clinical trials during an epidemic for the first time, researchers fast-tracked the creation of a vaccine for Ebola, but not before 11,000 people had died
What will the landscape look like 10 years from now? David Matthews examines the demographic trends, social shifts and technological advances that look set to shape the sector’s future
Academics enjoy teaching. What they don’t like is the lack of preparation time, bureaucratic burdens, unprepared students – and the TEF. Jack Grove reports
Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania deploy a host of financial and intellectual resources to help locals build richer, healthier, more inclusive cities. John Morgan reports
Institutions displaced by war in the country’s east have relocated campuses and adopted distance learning techniques to continue teaching. Hilary Lamb reports
With Africa’s campuses beset by religious zealotry, Wole Soyinka suggests universities provide a year of materialist induction to free students of dogma and extremism
It is written in stone that Scottish students will not pay fees, but Chris Havergal reports on worries that this stance is bad for access and sustainability