France’s university elite is anointed – but excellence still needs work The 10-year Idex process to reconfigure French universities and make them more internationally visible has reached its conclusion, writes John Ludden By John Ludden 11 March
UK strike action disruption limited, employers claim Union announces new ballot as disputes over pay and pensions remain unresolved By Chris Havergal 10 March
ERC grants ‘could be exit strategy’ for researchers leaving UK Uncertainty around UK’s future in EU research, plus shortage of domestic funding beyond Oxbridge, drove ERC grant holder to swap Southampton for Bergen By John Morgan 10 March
PQA’s demise doesn’t mean England’s admissions system can’t be improved Students need help to make better course choices and lifelong learners need a flexible application system, says Graeme Atherton By Graeme Atherton 10 March
Doncaster sets ‘paradigm shift’ for ‘sticky’ lifelong learning South Yorkshire town without university plots recovery from deindustrialisation via innovation and skills ‘ecosystem’, winning OECD praise By John Morgan 9 March
OfS puts 10 providers on ‘enhanced monitoring’ over ‘viability’ National Audit Office says regulator must do more to ‘build trust’ with sector and DfE should clarify level of ‘tolerance for provider failure’ By John Morgan 9 March
Do academic boycotts work? The Ukraine war has led to unprecedented curtailment of academic ties, but could breaking off all relations with Russia cause further problems? By Simon Baker 9 March
Is the World Bank’s intervention in Ukrainian HE too little, too late? The attempt to improve the country’s universities was stuttering even before the war broke out, says Ararat Osipian By Ararat Osipian 9 March
Freeze in Russia relations ‘end of era’ for science cooperation Sweeping sanctions suggest international collaboration could become fragmented into regional power blocs, says sector leader By Ben Upton 8 March
Ex-minister warns against admissions ‘micromanagement’ via caps Student number controls idea seen as response to ‘handing over levers’ to shape English provision in 2010 switch to loans-based system By John Morgan 8 March
Sigbritt Karlsson: struggling to get women into STEM The president of KTH Royal Institute of Technology discusses the fallout of a scientific scandal and immigration rules in Sweden By Rosa Ellis 8 March
Russian rectors’ union echoes Kremlin propaganda on Ukraine Heads of learned institutions back Putin in the ‘most difficult decision in his life’ By Pola Lem 7 March
