News

BUE seeks extra British backing in competitive environment. David Matthews reports from Cairo

The Medical Research Council has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan's main science funding body to pool resources on projects of "mutual strategic importance".

This 19th-century stuffed cyclopic piglet and plaster cast of a rattlesnake - brought to Scotland by Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1904 - are among the strange and sometimes shocking natural history treasures of the Bell Pettigrew Museum at the University of St Andrews.

The growth in the proportion of young people participating in higher education has stalled after years of steady increases, according to new figures.

By Susan Woodward, for Campus Review

Lecturers from post-1992 universities in London are joining school teachers in a walk-out to protest against changes to their pensions.

Plans for students to apply to university after getting their grades have been abandoned in the face of opposition from schools and universities.

Universities have once again seen a rise in philanthropic donations, but there are warnings that a cap on tax relief announced in last week’s Budget could stop this progress “dead in its tracks”.

The National Audit Office has called for tougher action against overseas students who are breaking visa rules, prompting Universities UK to warn that “legitimate concerns about immigration” should not be allowed to cause “irreversible damage” to the nation’s higher education export industry.

By Kaustuv Basu, for Inside Higher Ed

Higher fees for UK master’s courses are deterring students from continuing their studies and the deterrent is strongest for those from poorer backgrounds, according to a new study.

Four learned societies have written to the prime minister to protest against plans to reduce the resources of the Lords Science and Technology Committee.

David Willetts has declined to offer any support to a University of Cambridge student who was suspended for two and a half years for heckling him.

Academics fear that 'provision of teaching will be seriously diminished'. Matthew Reisz writes

Jack Grove hears how a chance encounter propelled Arthur Gibson from Bradford's slums to Cambridge's high table

Afghan politician strives to promote equal opportunity in divided land. Lianne Gutcher writes

Save all, read all? Matthew Reisz on the archivists devising protocols for preserving born-digital data

Palestinian universities are determined to expand despite limited resources. Matthew Reisz writes

Scholars' remuneration packages fail to match pay in many other professions. Jack Grove reports

Tensions between publishers and funding bodies over open access to research papers have flared up again after the Publishers Association accused Research Councils UK of riding roughshod over publishers' concerns in a new draft policy on open access.

House of Lords report advises Europe to ‘prioritise other activities’. Jack Grove writes

An English university has become the first UK higher education institution known to have had its licence for sponsoring international students suspended since rules were toughened.

Subject heads to quiz Rylance over signs support for postgraduates will fall 27%. Paul Jump writes

Developing countries wanting to improve their universities should emulate the success of Pakistan in retaining top academics by paying them hefty salaries, according to the country's former science minister.

This stained-glass triptych of saints, including St Agnes and St Hilda, has been restored to its original splendour in the former chapel of what is now the University of Chichester.

Female academic leaders tend to get stuck in bureaucratic middle management roles rather than reaching top university posts, a study has found.

Build bridges closer to home to stop best minds going West, conference is told. Jack Grove reports

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced investment worth £100 million for universities in a bid to boost private-sector investment in research.

Almost one-quarter of students in the UK receive less lecture time than they thought they would get before they started university, a new report has revealed.

Removing international students from official immigration figures would reduce government statistics to “nonsense”, the head of a migration pressure group has claimed.

King’s College London has received the largest donation from an individual in its history - a £20 million gift for its School of Law.

The University of Warwick and Queen Mary, University of London, could share lecturers as part of a new programme of research and outreach collaboration.

Arab uprisings push US students from Egypt to Lebanon

Students at Cardiff Metropolitan University have voted against plans to merge the institution with the University of Wales, Newport and the University of Glamorgan.

The need for further “university-led research” to track the contribution of design to UK businesses and the economy came up for debate at a forum organised by the Design Council last week.

A group of scientists involved in public discussions about nuclear power have written an open letter to David Willetts protesting about the European commissioner for energy’s “bizarre” talk of an apocalypse in relation to last year’s Fukushima disaster.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is to step down at the end of the year to become the head of a University of Cambridge college, it has been announced.

A government scheme to reward top state-school pupils with a visit to a Russell Group university has been branded “tokenism” by a university mission group.

UUK 'positive' about Regent's membership, but critics demand proper scrutiny. John Morgan writes

Classroom-based activities may be a rarity in the university of tomorrow. Jack Grove reports

Presidential hopefuls' attitudes to sector range from indifference to hostility. Jon Marcus reports

The judges for this year's Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards have been announced, as the deadline for entries draws closer.

Working-class students are less likely to study physics or mathematics than other subjects at university, research has found.

Sussex unit to investigate ways to keep politicians honest. Matthew Reisz reports

Inside a Hackney sixth form, a mini Oxford gives pupils an appetite and an aspiration for higher study. Joseph Lee writes

The Chinese government's budget for basic research is set to increase by more than a quarter this year.

Hefce-backed teaching programme failed to raise standards significantly. Jack Grove writes

Quartet abandon 1994 Group for new home among elite body. John Morgan reports