With image

Students today face a “triple-dip recession” consisting of a lack of jobs, opportunities to study and future prospects, according to the president of their national union.

Margaret Thatcher’s “revolutionary” reforms helped to transform an ailing university system into a world-leading higher education system, a vice-chancellor has said.

National Union of Students’ president Liam Burns has called for “sensitivity” and “respect” after some delegates at the union’s annual conference were heard to cheer news that former prime minister Baroness Thatcher had died.

Salaries for full-time faculty members at US colleges and universities are slowly recovering after years of below-inflation rises, although higher education institutions are increasingly reliant on part-time staff, a report has revealed.

Part-time study needs “unprecedented support” to help kick-start the UK’s flagging economy, Labour peer Baroness Bakewell has said.

In a further sign of the growing scientific prominence of data sets, Nature Publishing Group has launched a new open-access platform that will peer review and publish detailed descriptions of their contents.

The British Library – and the nation’s other legal deposit libraries – have officially taken on responsibility to archive UK web content, opening up immense opportunities for researchers.

Three unions at the University of Sussex have begun the process that could lead to strikes over outsourcing plans at the university.

Canadian human-rights case highlights disquiet at practices of Beijing-funded centres up on foreign campuses

Experiences highlight potential risks of overseas ventures for UK universities

Several bodies could carry out university inspections simultaneously to cut the administrative burden

Watchdog ‘is not putting enough pressure’ on elite universities to widen participation, says report

Academics prefer to publish their research under the most restrictive forms of copyright, a survey has suggested

‘Social engineering’ might be needed to help integrate international students, Sheffield pro v-c says

For-profits welcome delay but may have to get ready for quality assessment, John Morgan writes

Scholars downplay regional accents to avoid prejudice, Newcastle University study shows

Publication ethics committee issues new guidelines for peer review

Cases of serious cheating fall by 60 per cent, company says

V-c aims for more international and postgraduate action

Forum hears doubts about uncollaborative and ‘imperialist’ initiatives

Dale Salwak on the sudden realisation that knowledge of his subject had become intuitive understanding and lecture notes could be put aside when teaching

Episciences Project offers new publishing formula

Historian invites former students to dinner as part of ‘retirement odyssey’

Universities are required to be open to scrutiny because they are publicly funded. But how far should it go? When it comes to their internal business, David Matthews discovers that competition may be a stumbling block to transparency

Universities must address perception among staff of institutions’ ‘mediocre performance’, hears David Matthews

Universities should vet research outputs before they get to the publishing (and scandal) stage, say Roger Watson and Mark Hayter

The continent’s burgeoning economies could prove a major source of future student recruitment, says Marguerite Dennis

The UK must build work experience into higher education with the same vigour as it did in the 1950s, Quintin McKellar argues

Duncan Wu savours the cadence and nuance that a superb cast bring to this portrayal of the relationship between art and life

Archive’s historical material will be lost unless sector offers it a home

An occupation of the Bramber House conference centre at the University of Sussex has ended following a High Court ruling.

By Ry Rivard, for Inside Higher Ed

Universities should seek inspiration from Germany when looking to involve business in their school outreach programmes.

Many students will “defend to the death” the need for traditional campus-based lectures, and will only delve into the world of free online educational resources if instructed to by their teachers, a conference has heard.

Recent comments about initial teacher training made by education secretary Michael Gove and Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools, constitute a “concerted political attack” on universities that has “no basis” in evidence.

Speculation mounts that reform has diminished leadership role

Alexander Massouras on an exhibition of key works pointing to the sculptors’ shared fascination with organic forms

State lowers pay hurdle for overseas graduates as mandarin backs student migrants. David Matthews writes

But business may have to pick up bigger cheque, shadow minister signals

Dean looks to humanities future after Hefce funding renewal

Jonathan Hart was in two positions at the same time - literally

Senior humanities and social science academics come out in support of move to ‘take knowledge out of silos’

Ex-president of British Sociological Association argues for renewal of disciplines

Open-access terminology needs to be employed accurately, argues Cameron Neylon

These are just two of the plant samples, now held by the Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University in Sweden, that Carl Peter Thunberg brought back from his pioneering expedition to Japan in 1775.

Without a shot in the arm for commercial drug development, our science base will suffer, argues David Nutt

Spending on defence research and development in the UK has declined by 57 per cent since 1989, data from the Office for National Statistics show.

British Council discussions are under way, reports Donna Bowater from Rio de Janeiro

Nicholas Royle on the rise of creative writing and the need for fresh forms of ‘creative reading’