Professor

Radical changes may be on cards after stock market crash and interest rate cuts, say experts

Project delays, as universities and labs shut down, prompt grant flexibility – but levels of leniency vary

Concerns raised over proposed UK open access rules that would require researchers to surrender copyright

Tributes paid to ‘visionary researcher’ who won 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

The UK government is determined to make good on its manifesto pledge to crack down on substandard university programmes. But what is quality? Is it best measured by graduate earnings, learning gain, a national university curriculum – or something else entirely? Anna McKie ponders the options 

As labs shut, researchers in Milan fear losing months of work – and urge colleagues abroad to prepare now for similar restrictions

The sudden closure of university campuses across China and elsewhere has necessitated the virtual delivery of vast numbers of courses. And while there have been inevitable teething problems, observers are wondering whether the future might just have become the present. Joyce Lau reports

Universities are wrong to assume that they are entitled to use recordings of lecturers however they please, says Robert Cluley

Historian says he has been unable access notes and part-written books, but Swansea says it has been providing files

Robert Zaretsky is troubled by his students’ refusal to see any nuance in a historical text that contains racial slurs  

We should not be apologising for the way the humanities have been used in the Trump era, but striving to harness their force, says Sara Guyer

A recent posting on bioRxiv may have been erroneous, but the mistakes were picked up within hours, notes Kristen Sadler

Moving overseas is often the best way to further an academic career, but the transition to a new system and culture can be painful. Six academics recount their experiences and offer their tips

As the monumental follow-up to his best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century is published, the celebrated French economist speaks to Matthew Reisz about why a detailed historical analysis of inequality boosts the case for redistribution – and why academics should join the public debate

Even women with identical performance ratings to men suffer large pay deficits. This must be fixed, say Ann Brower and Alex James

Removing biases in the system may not be enough to achieve a truly equal gender balance, says Sun Young Lee 

Canada’s excess of directive funding programmes risks hobbling scientific imagination and progress, says Jim Woodgett

With visiting academics’ visa offers suddenly being withdrawn or delayed, one professor says they are being ‘targeted’ by the US government

Mary Beard’s recent admission that she is a ‘mug’ who works 100 hours a week caused a Twitter storm. But how hard is it reasonable for academics to work? Who should decide? And should the mugs be obliged to keep quiet? Seven academics have their say

Online conferences can engage new audiences but present significant organisational challenges. Jack Grove speaks to a scientist to find out how it is done

Proposals to mandate open access monographs from 2024 will make it harder to publish and will limit career chances, says professor

Professors ride a wave of ‘public anger’ over coronavirus outbreak in airing anti-government views

In 1920, psychologist John Watson described his infamous experiments on an infant in a bid to show that the human mind is a blank slate. A hundred years on, Antonio Melechi examines the rise and fall of behaviourism, and the utopian – or dystopian – reflexes that it conditioned

University president who became a New York ‘Living Landmark’ remembered

Politicians, funders and university leaders all intone the mantra of interdisciplinarity. But what does the concept really mean? Will it really yield the insights it promises? And how best can it be fostered? Ellie Bothwell reports

Excessive focus on teaching and research is undermining a key function of academia, inquiry to hear

Tributes paid to ‘one of very few business academics who truly changed practice’

Excessive criticism reflects a dearth of research funding and space in top journals. But peers needn’t play ball, says an anonymous academic

Australia’s teaching and research relationships with China are becoming increasingly overshadowed by rising geopolitical tensions. But the long, deep personal links between academics in the two countries will not be easily broken. John Ross reports from Suzhou

A feudal approach to intellectual property has turned the academy into a modern police state, says Steve Fuller

Lincoln Allison looks back to an age of tougher marking and considers what, if anything, we need to do about the historically inevitable slide towards grade inflation

With careers riding on young scientists’ position in author lists, friction is all too common. A snowballing initiative to list authors’ contributions aims to make sure credit is always given where it is due. But will it be enough to ease the angst? Jack Grove is first author

As the UK finally leaves the European Union after years of turmoil, Simon Usherwood says it is time for remain-supporting academics to focus on the future. But Tanja Bueltmann says that for EU academics the scars are too deep

Impostor phenomenon is real, but its ubiquitous, misnamed cousin invites accusations that it is a fad or fantasy, says Theresa Simpkin

The Buckingham education professor’s musings on educational decline are a mainstay of the British press. But is academia right to be dismissive of his views and unusual modus operandi?

Reversing the relationship between authors and publishers would ease perverse incentives that impede progress, say Hilal Lashuel and Benjamin Stecher

Inability to begin reruns of experiments highlights the problem of weak methodologies of journal papers, say Center for Open Science director

As we enter REF submission year, Nicholas Stern and David Sweeney urge universities to broaden their conception of a good submission

Questioning the BBC’s agenda in highlighting the problem in Ghana and Nigeria does not make it any less serious, says Eric Fredua-Kwarteng

Overseeing an Athena SWAN application convinced an anonymous academic that if tasks cannot be properly resourced, they should not be attempted at all

In an era of anti-expert populism, it is more important than ever to stand up for scientific truth. But it is also harder, coming with a high risk of personal attack. Anna McKie speaks to those who have paid a high price for their advocacy, and draws out the lessons for those who want to take up the cause

To preserve its appeal, the subject needs to overcome its reputation as a mere feeder for the oil and gas industries, say four geologists

Environmentalist praised by Al Gore as ‘eloquent’ and ‘passionate’ authority on oceanic climate change 

Critics claim that only ‘congenial’ researchers get access to ride-hailing company’s data, while academic co-authors have potential conflicts of interest

Academics’ battles with impostor syndrome reflect the difficulty of becoming truly accepted into the cult of academia, says Michael Marinetto 

Home Office will nearly double number of fellowships where visa applications are fast-tracked, while ‘MIT of north’ plan is also floated

The season of goodwill is upon us once more. But in an era of hyper-competition, does academic kindness extend beyond passing round the nuts at the departmental Christmas party? Six scholars recount their own tales of collegiate benevolence

Craig Poku was the only black PhD student in his department. He reflects on how black British doctoral students can navigate the challenges they face

Strikes notwithstanding, more pay restraint and greater pensions contributions from UK staff seem unavoidable, writes Bernard Casey

Tributes paid to a pioneering feminist scholar and mentor who brought greater focus on gender to the study of politics

Economic and Social Research Council may provide four years of PhD funding amid concerns over stress caused by three-year model

Reporting procedures were woefully inadequate, while senior managers frequently enabled intimidatory behaviour, says an anonymous UK academic

Study finds that overseas scholars in former communist countries work there not out of deliberate choice but often due to ‘happenstance’, love or to escape poor job prospects at home

Tributes paid to ‘superb scholar’ whose achievements as a historian of science matched his prowess as an engineer

Prince Andrew’s fall from grace a full decade after Jeffrey Epstein’s conviction underlines academia’s failure to probe modern power, says Jason Lee

Jonathan R. Goodman is wrong to blame bibliometrics for stifling academic debate, says Craig Aaen-Stockdale

Growing numbers of academics struggle to combine work and personal care responsibilities, according to research by Marie-Pierre Moreau, who explains how universities can help

Critics fear initiative could widen social inequalities

Uta Frith says limit would force academics to focus on quality over quantity

In a fraught political climate, it is even more difficult than usual for researchers to grab the attention of ministers. Diana Beech imparts her insider’s tips