Australian reef research sceptic loses appeal against sacking Peter Ridd judgment may encourage universities to hide behind ‘confidentiality’ veil, transparency advocate warns By John Ross 13 October
Deakin cuts 200 jobs as Australian redundancies roll on Union queries necessity, as sector braces for the loss of hundreds more positions By John Ross 12 October
Australian academics hunker down as pandemic rages Scientists less likely to risk switching jobs despite rising fatigue, flagging morale and gender equity going backwards By John Ross 10 October
Australasian experts: no overseas student influx before late 2022 While Australasian international education leaders are upbeat about vaccination, few expect ‘meaningful’ student arrivals any time soon By John Ross 7 October
Searching English publications only ‘misses vital research’ Huge study busts notion that everything worth knowing can be found in English-language journals By John Ross 7 October
Beware ‘kidnap diplomacy’ in China, universities warned Sector should be ‘cyber-savvy’ but embrace Chinese STEM PhDs, conference hears By John Ross 7 October
Confusion for overseas students as Australia opens state by state International students ‘look at Australia as one nation’, state-based education advocates stress By John Ross 6 October
‘Long Covid’ for Australia and New Zealand international education Northern rivals have stolen a march on sectors Down Under, whose recovery could be a long time coming By John Ross 6 October
Pandemic ‘postpones rather than prevents’ international study Australian surveys reveal primacy of vaccines for both inbound and outbound students By John Ross 5 October
Fewer Australian doctoral graduates finding employment after PhD But employment rates for bachelor’s graduates ‘stabilise’ despite pandemic By John Ross 5 October
University stress levels worse than ever, says New Zealand union Institutional leaders ‘don’t listen’, leaving line managers to provide little more than ‘palliative care’ By John Ross 2 October
Australia opens door to Chinese students with Sinovac approval Prospect of international student arrivals boosted by Sinovac approval and reopening of borders to Australian travellers By John Ross 1 October
Canberra told to backpedal on cybersecurity intervention MPs tell Australian government to consult more on onerous aspects of its ‘critical infrastructure’ power push By John Ross 29 September
International exposure ‘a bit player’ in Australian finances Australian universities’ 2020 financial fortunes were little influenced by their dependence on overseas students By John Ross 28 September
Flawed preprints ban ‘not grounds for appeal’ Australian researchers’ funding hopes hinge not on whether rule was wrong, but on whether wrong rule was applied correctly By John Ross 28 September
More Australian universities mandate Covid vaccinations Mood among academics, students and administrators swinging behind compulsory jabs By John Ross 27 September
Yale-NUS guarantees impossible to fulfil, academics claim University ‘keen to engage’ staff and students on ‘merger’, while sidestepping inconsistencies in proposal By John Ross 27 September
Students’ role in skilled migration ‘ignored’ in Australia Policies geared to a ‘low-skilled guest worker society’ belie Australia’s pretensions to recruit the ‘best and brightest students’ By John Ross 21 September
La Trobe is first Australian university to require vaccination Melbourne university cites occupational health obligations and students’ desperation to return to campus By John Ross 21 September
Female Australian doctoral graduates ‘out-earn men’ Rare example of a reverse gender pay gap suggests that at least early on, female and male PhDs are on a level pay pegging By John Ross 20 September
‘Kowtowing v-cs’ denounced by former Malaysian education minister University leaders would not exercise freedom even if the state did not have them under its thumb, says Maszlee Malik By John Ross 20 September
Population shift gold mine for Australia’s regional universities Non-metropolitan campuses in the box seat as pandemic escalates exodus from the cities By John Ross 18 September
Reach out to Chinese alumni, Rudd tells Australian universities Nuclear submarine announcement elevates importance of universities’ soft power influence, says former PM By John Ross 17 September
Yale-NUS closure ‘nothing to do with academic freedom’ College’s defenders say its demise will dilute free expression, but education minister says its original critics opposed it for the same reason By John Ross 17 September
Chinese facial recognition scholar ‘ignored questions, went home’ AI expert re-emerges at top Chinese university as former employer finds Uighur study breached Australian research code By John Ross 15 September
Bite-sized courses provide sustenance in Australia Despite scepticism about the business model, short courses prove an earner for cash-starved institutions By John Ross 15 September
Australian Research Council abandons preprints ban But thousands of Australian researchers remain in limbo, with reviled rule still in force for grants under consideration By John Ross 14 September
Crunching the Covid crisis: ‘everybody was in the same boat’ Technologically proficient teachers ‘struggled just as much’ in pandemic-induced online stampede By John Ross 14 September
Pandemic job losses ‘accelerating’ in Australia Permanent rather than casual staff now being targeted, report suggests, but expert queries data underpinning the analysis By John Ross 13 September
University of Sydney underpaid staff by millions, review finds Acknowledgment comes days after apology from Melbourne By John Ross 13 September
‘Old farts’ get no favours from research’s new epsilon index Researcher rating tool ‘corrects for most biases’ and allows comparisons across disciplines By John Ross 11 September
Australian regulator signals doubts about Turnitin-Ouriginal deal Buyout could remove ‘particularly innovative competitor’, watchdog warns By John Ross 10 September
Fears for future of pan-Pacific university Observers worry that treasured institution could fracture, just like the region’s political partnership By John Ross 10 September
Researchers target choke point in RNA revolution Melbourne team focuses on ‘unsexy’ end of the next big thing in biomedicine By John Ross 8 September
Nauru hits back as Fiji withholds USP funding South Pacific nations trade barbs as unique pan-national university enters world stage By John Ross 8 September
RMIT chancellor steps down over casino appointment Long-time leader’s departure amid casino furore follows withdrawal of Newcastle’s coal-aligned appointee By John Ross 7 September
More Australian universities turn to property speculation With land prices and Covid costs both ballooning, universities are selling up and retreating on to campus By John Ross 7 September
Australian sexual abuse survey ‘more robust’ Methodological issues in 2016 study will be addressed, representative body says By John Ross 5 September
Want better student engagement? Turn your course into a game Gamification is not a magic bullet and it will not magically make the most boring task exciting, but it can be a catalyst for change By John Ross 4 September
After Yale-NUS divorce, can liberal arts survive in Asia? Fait accompli shutdown ‘a metaphor for the decline of Western liberalism in Asia’, say experts after Singapore decision By John Ross 3 September
World University Rankings 2022: Australasian universities hold firm While Antipodean institutions have fended off competition from Asia, the full impacts of Covid are yet to flow through By John Ross 2 September
World Academic Summit: indigenous reconciliation ‘can get in way of action’ Notions of reconciliation and treaty should be treated as ongoing journeys rather than destinations, summit hears By John Ross 1 September
Australian universities ‘need prudential oversight’ Economist says scrutiny could boost transparency of university accounts, provide benchmarking advice and avoid risky excesses By John Ross 31 August
New Zealand academic freedom ‘in crisis’ Management blamed for ‘constraining of voice’ that corrals public interventions into academics’ disciplinary areas By John Ross 31 August
Self-confessed cheats ‘the tip of the iceberg’ Australian research suggests swapping assignments is more prevalent than buying or selling them By John Ross 31 August
Hindu nationalism fears spur US scholars into action A recently formed group and an attendant conference hope to bring greater attention to issues being faced in India By Joyce Lau 30 August
Hijacked journals ‘siphon millions of dollars’ from research International action needed to eliminate ‘cloned journals’ that prey on early career researchers, says Indian research integrity adviser By Jack Grove 30 August
‘Slow’ thinking key to winning the ‘infodemic’ battle, says study Australian findings on receptiveness to Covid misinformation have implications for teaching as well as engagement By John Ross 29 August
China and Japan keep borders shut as new term starts Hundreds of thousands of foreign students continue to be left out as classes resume in September By Joyce Lau 27 August
Ryerson University to change name over indigenous abuses Regents accept task force recommendation that namesake is a ‘symbol of colonialism’, although exact legacy less clear By Paul Basken 27 August
Toll of ARC’s preprints rule revealed Fears for physics pipeline as 32 researchers relinquish up to A$22m for citing preprints By John Ross 26 August
Australian ERA probe ‘kicked the can down the road’ Review of Australia’s research assessment exercise focused on known problems and left inadequate time to fix them, critic says By John Ross 26 August
Australian Senate intervenes on research grant eligibility Government told to disclose impacts on academics as outrage escalates over preprints rule By John Ross 24 August
Civil servant to run Charles Sturt University Australia’s largest regional university the latest to choose a leader from outside academia By John Ross 24 August
Fears for science as Australian university sheds more staff Proposed redundancies target science, engineering and IT – disciplines supposedly favoured by funding reforms By John Ross 24 August
Recruitment rebounds in Australian academia Analysis of Australian job advertisements points to recovery, particularly in non-traditional research By John Ross 23 August
Famed Duke expert on human dishonesty suspected of fraud Manipulated data in study of truth and behaviour threatens career of popular TED Talk star Dan Ariely By Paul Basken 23 August
Article offers rare look inside a North Korean university Former foreign students recount memorable experiences in world’s most isolated country, including being openly spied on by their hosts By Joyce Lau 23 August
US medical schools found to be falling short on equity promises Series of analyses in JAMA concludes that a promise to achieve greater racial balance in training doctors remains largely unfulfilled By Paul Basken 20 August
Academics under threat here too, Australians stress While the dangers can be extreme in autocracies and war zones, nowhere is immune By John Ross 19 August