World news

Recession-driven domestic surge more than compensates for loss of international students at some institutions Down Under

Departures of Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell has prompted academics to ask if they should reconsider links with the technology giant

Debates around transgender rights illustrate why intellectual freedom rules must be in place before touchy topics arise, say authors

Unlike Dutch universities, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research cannot pay a ransom to attackers because it is a public body

Superficial thinking in Canberra is squandering transformative opportunity for higher education, Brisbane forum hears

Beijing follows Shenzhen and other cities in seeking to attract laureates, but experts question whether initiative will have trickle-down effect on basic science

As classes resume on Australian campuses, anxieties persist about the year ahead – domestically, and particularly internationally

Students who ‘strategically’ jettison subjects early are among the least likely to complete courses, Australian research finds

Universities must develop their own cultures of academic freedom rather than borrowing them, according to Australian authors

Academics and public health officials quit Covid-19 research or need police protection after attracting threats

Liberal politicians glorify Robert Menzies but few share his love for universities, says former Melbourne v-c Glyn Davis

Postgraduate admissions assessments may have digital element despite falling number of Covid cases

Campaigners say tight-knit elitism, boozy initiation weeks and a lacklustre administrative response have led to a culture of silence in grandes écoles

Top-ranked Melbourne the latest to declare a surplus in the face of pandemic

While notching up a leadership position can make a woman a role model, her treatment can be equally influential, professor says

Chinese ministry sanctions Australia’s joint programmes even though analyses highlight endemic problems in foreign teaching collaborations

Students share in small permanent increase to welfare payments

But Frédérique Vidal admits the term ‘has no scientific definition’, and it remains unclear who will conduct the investigation

Australian reviewer who proposed benchmarks before the crisis must now decide how and when to apply them

Australia’s post-Covid employment ‘circuit breaker’: casual professors, a revised 40/40/20 split and no more 18-month payouts

Organisation charged with leading probe says term has no ‘scientific reality’ and is being used to shut down academic discussion of race and colonialism

Industry operatives’ worst fears could cost universities thousands of staff and country tens of billions of dollars

Author of a comprehensive appraisal of university finances says officials want universities to keep money flows on the straight and narrow

Education department asserts right to approve language course closures while insisting that it ‘does not intervene’

Australian department ‘erroneously’ removed protection for former education minister’s pet courses

Warnings that some universities could become master’s-free zones overlook progress during the pandemic, vice-chancellors say

Study says academics should highlight unreviewed papers’ uncertainty

As military overlords revert to type, concerns mount over fate of detained Australian economist

Crisis precipitated by proposal that could have shifted pan-Pacific university’s headquarters from Fiji, embattled leader says

Peter Høj insists he is not Mr Fix-it, after taking over his second crisis-struck university, but acknowledges need to listen to staff concerns

Expulsion marks escalation of long-running crisis at the University of the South Pacific

Universities and government dispute magnitude of sector’s losses as it braces for worse in 2021

Danish-born viticultural scientist arrives with strong accolades and a reputation for cosiness with China

Accelerating trend adds to nightmare scenario for admissions staff and forces universities to lift their game on student experience

New South Wales sidesteps call for more reporting of universities’ foreign fee fix

With scientists forced to work from home, many now conduct experiments from a distance, and the continent’s biggest research facilities think this change is here to stay

Covid-19 proves both a stimulant and restraint on the jettisoning of long-form lectures

University leaders harnessed an ephemeral income stream to realise ‘ambitious’ institutional strategies

‘No-cost’ administrative changes would save money and heartache, Australian researchers tell new minister

British oncologist announces departure from Sydney institution, citing family pressures

International student flows kept on drip feed as politics, fear and logistics trump large-scale influxes

University Hospital Institute Méditerranée Infection, under leadership of ‘populist’ microbiologist Didier Raoult, continues to push hydroxychloroquine in the face of evidence

Australian study suggests academics’ recruitment habits exacerbate their workload problems

While Greg Craven warns competition for business and law students could bankrupt some universities, colleagues disagree

OECD finds science rose to the challenge of coronavirus, but this led to cancelled projects elsewhere and academics working outside their expertise

Reassessing operations through an institutional mission lens will prove more palatable than business-driven decisions, says ex-Adelaide boss

Institutions with overseas links seen to be acting ‘on behalf of’ foreign interests

Appointment of Melih Bulu, a former ruling party political candidate, has triggered days of protests from staff and students at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul

Student demographics will guide whether universities retain or discard large-scale lectures, administrator says

Agricultural agreements between Australian universities and government agencies could overhaul farm profitability

Defence controls, research fields and New Colombo Plan in the frame, as bureaucracies flag foreign interference risks

Sector leaders question viability even when people can again gather in big crowds, with Australians leading the sceptics

Perfunctory guidelines tell Australian universities little they did not already know, but herald welcome dialogue

If the UK wins more money from the EU’s flagship research programme it will have to pay it back – but only if the imbalance is structural

Turing scheme will not cover tuition fees, travel costs to the UK or staff exchanges, leaving UK universities to negotiate fee waivers

New minister’s old work on online education could be revived to encourage tertiary sector integration, experts say

With just a few notable exceptions, it’s no surprise to find that this year’s most popular stories were dominated by one particular topic

Queensland institution spies ‘opportunities’ beyond Java

Overruling of funding recommendations, apparently over security concerns, divulged following minister’s departure

Australian incident could reflect exasperation at ‘spike’ in misconduct detections