Europe

Ex-adviser to UK government praises global scientific community’s ‘remarkable’ response and criticises ‘false narrative’ that he was ‘responsible’ for lockdowns

French scholars, accused of fostering terrorism, fear escalating rhetoric could curtail freedom of research

Ethnic minority students twice as likely to be assaulted in teaching space as white classmates

English and Welsh ombudsman willing to admonish universities over Covid-related disruption only if they have not made effort to deliver quality online learning, case summaries reveal

Picking winners at random helps back risky research, boosts niche subjects and curbs nepotism, recipients say

Universities are now committed to ‘celebrating success’ and to treating every failure as just a stepping stone on the way to further success. Yet this, argues Joe Moran, is a betrayal of what really matters in the academy

The movement to ‘decolonise’ university curricula has leaped into the political and educational mainstream in the wake of George Floyd’s death, dividing opinion on campus and beyond. Anna McKie examines how scholars are handling difficult discussions and where the agenda goes next

Ucas signals that admissions body has moved towards supporting post-qualification offers

Chancellor’s spending review research boost leaves questions around earlier promises, as funds committed for Erasmus replacement

Plan seems to unite various factions after acrimony, but could hinge on Whitehall’s post-Cummings appetite for research ‘levelling up’

Prestigious journal group seeks to spread cost of publishing across a greater number of authors than those accepted for publication

Universities UK guidance says institutions must introduce training on concepts such as microaggressions and white privilege