With free speech act revised, will Arif Ahmed find his voice? Cambridge philosopher appointed to oversee free speech in English universities has been unusually quiet since starting the role. Might changes seen as ‘clipping his wings’ force him to be more vocal? By Tom Williams 20 January
Stop ‘micromanaging’ courses and let students decide – Willetts Government intervention in university degree programmes ‘getting worse’ despite erosion of public funding, complains former universities minister By Tom Williams 20 January
Leicester has sights on India branch campus as research hub opens Midlands university is seeking to deepen its ties to India as it opens new health research centre in Andhra Pradesh By Jack Grove 20 January
REF 2029: ‘metrics-lite’ research culture assessment welcomed Universities ‘relieved’ by balance of qualitative and quantitative data in environment evaluations By Jack Grove 18 January
University autonomy fears as Scotland mulls new oversight powers Bid to hand funding council ability to intervene amid worsening institutional finances could be open for abuse, critics fear By Tom Williams 17 January
England’s foundation years funding cut will deepen inequalities Why harm high-quality provision at established universities because of a small number of providers with questionable motives, asks Mark Clark By Mark Clark 17 January
Researcher fired for refusing to fly awarded payout Climate academic who refuses to travel by plane promises to donate €75,000 from settlement to climate activism By Juliette Rowsell 16 January
REF 2029: volume measures to avoid ‘census cliff edge’ confirmed Details provide more clarity on which research staff will need to enter the next Research Excellence Framework By Jack Grove 16 January
Thousands back call to save Sheffield East Asian studies degrees Petition opposes merging of Japanese, Chinese and Korean into combined programme amid fears of ‘significant’ staff cuts By Juliette Rowsell 16 January
Hillman: don’t apologise for raising tuition fees, celebrate them Hepi director argues that England’s funding system is ‘not broken’ but just needs to catch up with inflation – and that ministers should get behind it By Chris Havergal 16 January
Advance HE chief executive Alison Johns to retire Founding head of UK super-agency calls time on 34-year career in higher education By Chris Havergal 16 January
Universities’ expert input is needed far beyond government departments Policy institutes’ lack of strategic variation risks overheating the competition for airtime with national policymakers, says Diana Beech By Diana Beech 16 January
