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A powerful union, weak teaching and outmoded curricula are hampering progress. Matt Krupnick reports from Oaxaca

With a few exceptions, vice-chancellors’ remuneration did not rise vertiginously in 2011-12 - a good thing politically. But are they still paid too much compared with their peers?

The public-private balance of funding sources needs to be adjusted to protect the public interest, says Roger Brown

The OECD’s Ahelo project aims to compare graduate quality internationally

Better regional R&D strategies needed to access structural funds, sector told.

REF factor may explain growing wage differential

But implementation delayed over ‘serious concerns’

Colin Hay insists that work as chair of politics subpanel will be unaffected by new Sciences Po job

A Jewish academic who claimed the UCU’s policy on Palestine constituted harassment has been rebuked by an employment tribunal for misusing the legal process

The University of Sussex has been granted an injunction that it says will pave the way towards ending the seven-week occupation of its Bramber House conference centre.

Students from ethnic minorities are less likely to gain places at top universities than white pupils with the same A-level grades, a new study has claimed.

Unions representing higher education staff are asking for a pay rise in 2013-14 that is likely to be worth more than 3 per cent.

By Ry Rivard, for Inside Higher Ed

The University of Oxford is set to review its policy on postgraduate admissions after a college reached a settlement with an applicant who claimed it discriminated against poorer students.

Regent’s College will become the latest private provider to gain university status, with the charitable institution hoping to boost its international prospects and join Universities UK as a result.

Teams from six universities will make up the UK’s second cyber security research institute, it has been announced.

Universities should teach undergraduates how to start up companies, the prime minister’s enterprise advisor has said.

Students and academics need to be much more involved in the management and improvement of universities if the future of higher education is to be safeguarded.

Tim McInnis, the former director of the alumni relations office at Durham University, has left the institution to join a cancer charity.

Academics have been making their voice heard on Twitter after education secretary Michael Gove mocked 100 university professors who had criticised his plans to reform the national curriculum.

Michael Gove has reiterated his desire to move initial teacher training towards school-led providers by pledging an extra £10 million for schools to train the next generation of teachers.

Outspoken MP George Galloway has tabled an early day motion calling for a University of Oxford college to reinstate a library invigilator who was sacked for failing to stop students film an internet dance video in her library.

Obama’s State of the Union address draws line in sand, QAA conference hears

Founder of free online university confident despite Mooc competition

Scholars tired of ‘constant’ data requests. Frances Mechan Schmidt writes

Nobel prizewinner Sir John Gurdon, who famously did not have his potential recognised, and five other scholars recall their school days and the characters that inspired them one way or another

Master of Trinity says technology transfer offices can be more hindrance than help

UK women made up 40 per cent of A-level maths students in 2011 but just 6 per cent of professors in the subject, data collated for the London Mathematical Society show

Ministers advised to reverse ban on second degree funding

Lisa Downing explains to Matthew Reisz how society’s unspoken prejudices are given voice in the discourse surrounding killers

Further shrinkage as funding reforms take fuller effect

Justice has been poorly served by the bloody-minded determination of the state to prosecute anti-fees demonstrators, argues Martin McQuillan

The sector should take the lead on the mooted national widening-participation framework, says Graeme Atherton

Foreign students struggle to gain recognition for Oxford Brookes’ distance-learning qualification.

Austerity a greater threat than Moocs and private providers, writes John Morgan

Premium route to highly trusted sponsor status will cost £8k a year. David Matthews reports

Christopher Higgins details academy’s cost burden to Booksellers Association conference

Simon Nelson brings BBC experience to the launch of the UK’s first course platform. Chris Parr reports

Publication not always relevant to business success, industry and sector figures argue

Proposal for government to directly fund universities could ‘damage reputation’, say respondents to White Paper consultation

Despite hard times and fruitless protest, there is still power in a union, argues David Reed

Bonnie Greer pledges to champion entrepreneurs and tackle race and gender inequality. Matthew Reisz writes

Tutor warns of efforts to ‘sucker’ applicants as institutions game system

Felipe Fernández-Armesto calls for clearer protocols in cases of suspected abuse

Secretary general points to body’s valuable support for the developing world

Steve Sarson’s first-years were tasked with a CV exercise on study time, so he reminded them of the alternatives to the market

Campaigners at the University of Sussex plan to host a national demonstration against privatisation in higher education.

George Osborne’s budget has revealed that the government appears to be scrapping plans to grant VAT exemption to for-profit higher education providers, a move that was aimed at exposing universities to greater competition.

Universities will not be asked to admit more students from deprived backgrounds in their new access agreements, the director of fair access has indicated.

The chief executive of the Higher Education Academy is to be the new head of the University of the West of Scotland.

In a further demonstration of the lure of the so-called golden triangle, pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has announced plans to relocate its UK-based research and development activities from Cheshire to Cambridge.

The University of York has unveiled Belgian cognitive psychologist Koen Lamberts as its new vice-chancellor.

Five engineers who laid the foundations for the modern internet have won the inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.

By Ry Rivard, for Inside Higher Ed