Head of school/department

Caring duties and environmental responsibility do not signify a lack of commitment to scholarship, says Danielle George

As governments around the world increasingly look to follow US states’ lead and link university funding to the recruitment, retention and employability of students, Paul Basken surveys the results of the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education US College Rankings 2020 for clues about the strategy’s effectiveness 

A new humanities-based major focused on how global commerce, businesses and societies shape one another points the way forward, says Karen E. Spierling

One in 12 students now pays to go private in Germany, attracted by ‘niche’ courses, smaller classes and flexible learning schedules

Algorithms may simply lead to ‘self-fulfilling prophecies’ and do not give reasons for their decisions, Oxford researcher warns

Using free online teaching materials instead of textbooks lessens student debt and sparks pedagogical innovation, says Steven Murphy

The pursuit of impact remains controversial, but it has opened doors to more varied careers, says Andrew McRae

International students want to know that they are studying in a country that can set them up for a successful career, says Seema Kennedy

Poland’s authoritarian government is routinely compared to its widely criticised counterpart in Hungary, and its university reforms sparked a wave of protest by students and academics fearful of political interference. But, one year on, are those concerns being realised? David Matthews travels to Warsaw to find out

International education is not just about personal transformation – it also delivers better core academic outcomes, says Kent Anderson

John Brinnamoor’s floundering doggy-paddle is no match for the voracious jaws of his university’s antiquated data-gobblers 

In an age of vast team-science projects, it is more important than ever that leaders be properly prepared, says Matthew Flinders

Tuition comprises less than half the cost of attending US universities, but taxpayers may be unwilling to cover it, says Anthony P. Carnevale

The live unveiling of Germany’s Excellence Strategy institutions is greeted by champagne, confetti and a changing of attitudes

Students’ talents wear many guises, depending on the person, the field and the judge. But instilling ethics is also crucial, says Howard Gardner

More must be done to understand and help students who register for courses but then fade into the ether, says Bret Stephenson

The ‘best’ scientists lack time for peer review, and academics should be rated for ‘worthy’ papers, argues Dan Shechtman

A Times Higher Education survey bears out the growing difficulty of finding time for research

Summer is upon northern hemisphere academics. But its cherished traditional identity as a time for intensive research is being challenged by the increasing obligations around teaching and administration that often crowd out research entirely during term time. So is the 40/40/20 workload model still sustainable? Respondents to a THE survey suggest not. Nick Mayo hears why

Calls for critical thinking from their students are rarely reflected in academics’ own writing or institutional behaviour, says Alex Wright

Leiden University acted unlawfully, a court has ruled, in using anonymous letter to discredit an applicant for a professorship

Evolutionary processes are slow, but University of Oxford research shows the scheme is improving gender equality, says Pavel Ovseiko

Several years on from Rhodes Must Fall, the hoped-for revolution in South African university teaching has not happened, says Saloshna Vandeyar

Nesta finds proportion of female AI researchers was higher in the mid-1990s – although universities fare better than tech firms

Efforts to make college cheaper should not detract from attempts to improve the other side of the value-for-money equation, says Kevin Vanzant

Human beings can only work at full capacity for so long before they become incapable of doing any work at all, says an anonymous university employee

Newly arrived undergraduates are typically too immature to be trusted with the conduct of their own lives, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto 

With such wide disagreements in grading, the research excellence framework’s gravity for careers is unjustifiable, says Philip Moriarty

Promotion criteria requiring top researchers to also be good teachers and managers undermine the nature of universities, says Andrew Oswald

Universities in most nations are now obliged to prioritise graduate career prospects, but how it should be approached depends on your view of the meaning of education. Academics need to think that through much more clearly, says Tom Cutterham

Brexit or no Brexit, scientists across the continent have an obligation to keep standing up for ideals such as integrity, trust and cooperation, writes the European Union’s former director-general of research, Robert-Jan Smits

Gradual changes to lifestyles will not save the planet. Universities need to go beyond Cambridge's recent lead and think bigger, says Peter Harper

Use of of group-level indicators to identify disadvantage will limit the impact of Oxford’s embrace of contextual admissions, says James Robson

The UK’s TEF experience should be a warning to Australia’s re-elected government not to settle for empty accountability, says William Locke 

The panel have skilfully avoided some potential elephant traps and have come up with a sensible and wide-ranging view that deserves political attention – even if it doesn’t get it, says Nick Hillman

Consumerism, technology and the culture wars threaten to render critical thinking an unwanted skill, worries Victor Ferrall

Transparency, plentiful leadership opportunities and the need for self-motivation all benefit blue-collar scholars, says Thomas Anker

Colleagues’ failure to fully grasp the more hostile lived reality for EU nationals post-referendum is furthering alienation, says Jawiria Naseem

Artificial intelligence may be threatening employment but it could also be key to helping humans find alternative jobs, argues Shigeru Miyagawa 

Successful publish-or-perish operators should look in the mirror before writing their next diatribe about marketisation, says Mike Marinetto

Matthew Reisz reflects on the advantages and disadvantages of detachment for those pursuing ghostly research

A review following the latest iteration of the PBRF could lead to radical changes that undermine the gains made, warns Roger Smyth

Dutch universities are conspicuously and consistently successful. Yet their funding is declining and their embrace of internationalism has put them on a collision course with the populist right. John Morgan assesses the mood in Leiden, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Maastricht

System expansion is not enough. Admission to higher-tariff institutions must somehow be opened up, says Paul Jump

International conferences are a huge boon to academics, allowing them to hear about new findings, make new connections and, above all, enjoy the physical manifestation of their virtual global community. But is all that footfall worth the huge carbon footprint it leaves? Joanna Kidman is increasingly unsure 

Better outreach and greater involvement in exam boards could raise expectations and standards for disadvantaged would-be students, says Martin Stephen

A small but engaged audience for his reminiscences convinced John Brinnamoor that the future is in safe hands

The US admissions scandal notwithstanding, Australian university history reveals a variety of approaches to allocating university places, say Gwilym Croucher, James Waghorne and Hamza Bin Jehangir

Analysis of nine European universities finds the ‘innovation’ agenda has taken root – often pushed by students who want to solve the world’s problems

Politicians seeking to quell discontent about inequality and pre-empt populists could turn on elite institutions, observers predict

Australia’s vice-chancellors must wake up: China's munificence is all motivated by its vast geopolitical ambition, says Nick Forster

Opponents should learn from Chinese candidates’ successful and potentially formative forays into democratic politics, says Salvatore Babones

Western countries’ determination to tackle the migration crisis without taking any risks with their own personnel is wasteful and counterproductive, the Oxford anthropologist tells Matthew Reisz 

Philosopher calls on universities to take AI debate ‘out of the hands of the industry’ and end ‘ethics washing’

US universities might be world-leading in research terms, but there is scant evidence that this has any bearing on their prowess as educators. Why do institutions of higher education show so little interest and aptitude in instilling genuine learning, asks John Tagg 

The recent US scandal is a symptom of the crucial importance of prestige signalling in highly unequal systems, says Gavin Moodie

A Labor victory in May’s election could still see funding conditional on universities’ employability, diversity or research records, says Andrew Norton

After more than doubling its spending since the financial crisis, Germany’s long budget boom is set to come to an end

Tributes paid to victim of Ethiopian Airlines crash

A greater willingness from facilitators to listen to feedback could transform collective decision-making, say Liana Kreamer and Steven Rogelberg