Social science

Gauging achievement as distinct from ability has always been a vexed question, says Wendy Johnson

Social scientists fear ethical concerns may impede their ability to mine the internet, says Zoe Corbyn

A surgeon says policing will improve by adopting medicine's research-led approach. John Gill writes

Study finds pockets of success for £300m scheme to raise standards. Rebecca Attwood reports

Barbed wire, dispossession and fear: Laleh Khalili on liminal lives spent in an ever-shrinking ghetto

Joanna Bourke praises a 'must-read' on rape

Galvanised by last year's inaugural league table, universities across the UK have been busily redrafting environment policies and cutting energy consumption - but there's still a long way to go. Hannah Fearn reports

Putting staff on insecure fixed-term contracts is a false economy that harms research, says Sean Wallis. Let's recycle their expertise instead

Academic faces censure for giving his time to run extracurricular revision class. John Gill reports

The author of a revisionist study of Irish republicans defends his research against critics who claim inaccuracy. John Gill reports

Beliefs about global insecurity of all kinds are the focus of new cross-council fellowships. Zoe Corbyn reports

Diplomas offer the skills and knowledge a competitive economy needs, so the CBI's predilection for A levels is puzzling, says Michael Arthur

In the heyday of campus radicalism, protests took place at the drop of a hat and Marxism ruled. Today's young are quieter and as likely to vote Tory as for the Left. There's still commitment but, as Tariq Tahir finds, now it's to getting a good job

While wrestling, crime, sex and tulipmania spice up popular books on economics, the academic discipline often remains impenetrable. Matthew Reisz considers the costs and benefits of complexity

Spectator columnist says politics department delivers propaganda. Melanie Newman reports

UK universities claimed to be suffering through lack of institutional research. John Gill reports

'Living' multipartner programme to tackle climate change nets £1bn in funding. Zoe Corbyn reports

Aid 'labouring students' to bring knowledge to life, urges Leeds Met pro v-c. Rebecca Attwood reports

Strategies to deal with global warming must embrace all disciplines and approaches, not merely the technological, says Mike Hulme

Clumsy questions and dodgy data bedevil claims that high IQ leads to atheism, says Denis Alexander. A closer look offers a different picture

Helen Haste reflects on neuroscience's latest insights about the male and female of our species

Sam Gosling pokes around people's homes, into their cupboards and under their beds. But it's not voyeuristic - such off-the-wall research is delivering crucial insights into personality, Matthew Reisz discovers

The new principal of St Andrews has made history. Olga Wojtas meets a terrorism expert from Harvard

Fewer students from state sector stems from poor schooling, study finds. Rebecca Attwood reports

Western approaches to learning can be alien to students from other cultures, who learn to a different 'script'. Thushari Welikala explains

Robert Gillett on Erika and Klaus Mann's bittersweet relationships with family and country