Opinion

Universities, states and lenders all need to step up when limits on lending from federal sources are implemented in July, says Josh Farris

Universities can produce commercially viable projects while giving the industry the sustainability and freedom to take risks on new talent, says Chris Nunn

Meeting public expectations demands careful design of statutory and regulatory arrangements, not rhetorical commitment, says Emma Roberts

During times of austerity, when trust and cooperation are needed most, their absence results in division, secrecy and vengeance, says a UK academic

The pandemic showed the benefits of a system based around reviewing preprints. Why was eLife the only journal to respond, asks Damian Pattinson

Industry experience offers a unique perspective based around practical systems thinking, operational realities and trade-offs, says Jianyang Geng

With a thoughtful strategy, Greece could become a leading Mediterranean destination for those seeking European qualifications, says Ianis Matsoukas

We haven’t always got it right, but we should not apologise for trying to build a better society, no matter how powerful our detractors, says Keith Burnett

We surveyed US scholars last year; the fact that we cannot identify ourselves as authors of the study speaks volumes, say two academics 

Ever more processes rely on artificial intelligence, yet our governance is still stuck at the level of ‘is it OK for students to use ChatGPT in essays?’, says Tom Smith

The claim that AI can’t make meaning contradicts what researchers are finding when they put these tools to careful, critical use, says James Goh

Students may not have started the current uprising but they are seizing what might be a last chance to remake the country, says Roohola Ramazani

Across schools and universities, students must be taught how the scientific method reveals workable policy options – not diktats, says Peter Calow

It is vital to examine what chatbots’ behaviour reveals about their underlying structures – and human responses to them, says Agnieszka Piotrowska

Our symposium illustrates the contribution that students outside the scientific mainstream could make if given the chance, says Iván Moya

Many of the lessons I’ve learned about community, grace and letting go are transferable regardless of subject or health, says Alexandra Dufresne

Maybe I need to drop the illusion that I can spot AI-written text and, instead, devise assignments that AI can’t help with, says David Mingay

Academia is inherently competitive but we can reduce the debilitating sense of constant threat, say Catelijne Coopmans and Catherine Montgomery 

Trump-imposed economic pressures should prompt us to confront the mismatch between PhD admissions and academic jobs, says Joshua Snider 

Many graduates are catapulted into health leadership roles without the necessary perspective, vocabulary or skills, say Meike Schleiff and Kabir Sheikh

As chair of a women’s network, I see first-hand how the gap between policy and lived experience still shapes how careers unfold, says Xiaoran Xu

If 2025 was about establishing stability, in 2026 our focus must turn to building for the future, says UUK president Malcolm Press

What kind of experience isn’t lived? Are all systems really ecosystems? Why do we keep inventing pointless new jargon, asks Ron Iphofen

It might be an extreme example but elsewhere, too, universities are being reimagined as state safeguards, say Maguatcher Jeremie and Chen Bateer

We need a holistic approach that teaches students not just to use AI but to survive its psychological terrain, say Sean McMinn and Nick McIntosh

The various reactions to my recent article on universities’ tardy AI adoptance underlines their allergy to internal transformation, says Ian Richardson

The fact that now-established academics survived a system built on overwork does not make it fair or well designed. We must change it, says Yu Tao

Universities have 10 years to prepare for China’s demographic crunch. They need to start now, say Craig Jeffrey, Michael Simmonds and Donald Speagle

To give the law teeth, the government must commit to promptly implementing the promised mechanism for flagging breaches, says Abhishek Saha

Universities need to create environments that value every learner’s cognitive diversity as a source of creativity and innovation, says Imran Mir

Disney’s latest film highlights that behind symbolic progress on ‘complex’ issues often lies a fear of genuine change, says Éile Rasmussen

If a student feels remembered by a machine but overlooked by humans, something in the educational contract has broken, says Agnieszka Piotrowska

Without exemptions for commercial as well as academic data mining, the government’s AI for Science Strategy will fall flat, says Benjamin White