Professor

Drug-related crime, rising unemployment and low salaries are all contributing to a postgraduate shortage that indicates an uncertain future for Mexico’s higher education system, finds Rachael Pells

Book of the week: this book offers PhDs sound advice, Jennifer Rohn says, but it skirts the improbability of making it

Submissions invited across 18 categories

Literary studies offer us vital tools for understanding the roots of Brexit and forging new styles of community, argues new book

Imperial College London academic Abbas Edalat has been detained on security charges since mid-April 

Sarah Churchwell hopes her research can help people rethink the ‘American dream’

Big hikes in visa, right to remain fees bring ‘under the radar’ issue to fore and prompt post-Brexit worries for EU staff

Professor of government rose from poverty in childhood to become leading expert on British public policy

The Wolfson History Prize-nominated professor discusses how China’s past shapes its nationalism and why the Communist Party’s ‘historical nihilist’ label suits him

Universities cannot become Gardens of Eden without losing their key purpose, writes Hanna Holborn Gray

Book of the week: Rachel Moss praises a study that peels back the skin of a misunderstood era often defined by death

Joe Moran enters another dimension, one marked by the absence of sound. Next stop, the quiet zone

Abigail Williams enjoys this demonstration of the many ways in which publications make meaning

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

If microcredentials could only gain the trust of employers and workers, platforms would have a golden goose on their hands, says Chris Fellingham

Universities in the former East Germany are now on a par with those of western Europe while others in the former Soviet bloc still lag. David Matthews visits Poland to explore why

Speakers at THE summit worry that structural funds have become ‘part of the problem’ for new member states

While one group of publishers takes academic network to court over copyright, another strikes deal

Academics establish deal with social network that will allow ‘insider’ scholars to filter data given to researchers

Combining egalitarian access, prized vocational education and elite research universities, the ‘Swiss paradox’ may offer international lessons

If the legislative requirements to respond to gender pay gaps are perceived as weak, the moral imperative for universities to act is strong, argues Anthony Forster 

Struggle to engage effectively highlighted by study comparing Twitter use with other disciplines

But government data predict that share of black and ethnic minority students on campuses will rise

It’s time for students to step in and end the political stalemate on stopping gun violence on university campuses, says Sarah Kenny

Universities must be vigilant in age of social media and sneaky technology, researchers warn

After publishing a collection of narratives from women of colour in academia, Deborah Gabriel has seen how personal experiences of whiteness can make progress towards racial equality 

Emma Briant defends actions over exchanges with key figures from Leave.EU and Cambridge Analytica parent

Politicians’ disparagement of historian’s research signals that alternative interpretations of the city state’s past will not be tolerated, says Linda Lim

A lack of intellectual and cultural willingness to open up historical discussions about the UK’s imperial past make it a difficult subject for students and scholars to get to grips with, argues Scott Anthony

Recent calls for more ‘useful’ degrees ignore their patchy record in improving the workplace or society, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Book of the week: Weaponised offers to spur development took a toll on politics and growth, Priyamvada Gopal writes

Sinophiles will find much to admire in this deeply learned treasure trove, writes Jonathan Mirsky

Shahidha Bari on an idiosyncratic book that attempts to understand the politics of textile culture

A. W. Purdue ponders a historical comparison of advisers to the world’s movers and shakers

Joanna Lewis considers a work that follows the lineage of a British foreign policy that focused on promoting economic and cultural ties with other English-speaking nations

The inaugural provost of Hereford’s new engineering university on moving from Mexico’s industrial heartland to the UK’s Steel City and life as a gay woman in a male-dominated profession

Legislation making its way through Parliament could help address ‘brand confusion’ overseas

Growing up working class meant Michelle Deininger was more worried about money than academic aspirations, but after a second chance she managed to complete her PhD 

Figures on student numbers suggest that 2012 funding reforms in England have already fundamentally changed the OU 

Centre will combine basic research with practical solutions to grand challenges

Universities may close centres or be forced to register employees as foreign agents as a result of investigations, say experts

Leading pianist who spent more than four decades at the University of Miami remembered

Peter Williams concerned by requirement for English universities to deliver ‘successful outcomes’ for ‘all’ students

Growing discontent among University and College Union members about leaders’ handling of negotiations

Academics at British institutions make one in four successful bids in 2017 funding round, underlining risks of Brexit

Lynda Mugglestone ponders what Dr Johnson might have made of an exposé of philologists’ limitations

Excluding local people from conservation is not the way to preserve vital vegetation, as it is they whose practices produce the ecologies we value, finds Steven Yearley

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Universities will need to think hard about how they will respond to the growing popularity of the qualification, says Elizabeth Miller

New work attempts to address aspects of politics difficult to capture in words

The home of the US novelist and social critic offers a lens through which to explore his politics, writing and sexuality, says Kalwant Bhopal

Tributes paid to anthropologist who specialised in study of modern Egypt

The learning analytics expert discusses the potential of his research, his victory at the World Transplant Games, and what the Dutch can teach us about life

The French thinker Simone Weil’s focus on teaching students to attend to reality is crucial in the social media age, writes Robert Zaretsky

Efforts to convince modern undergraduates to study hard and accept their grades need constant reinforcement, say Raj Persaud and Adrian Furnham

Qualified actuary and academic Nick Foster says the case for university pension reform cannot be ignored despite a brilliant anti-cuts PR campaign

Elite Japanese universities are renowned for their strength in research, but does their reputation also reflect quality in teaching? Times Higher Education’s student-focused Japan University Rankings and student experience survey offer some fascinating insights

This strike’s momentum is unprecedented because the proposed pension cuts are a symbol of the UK’s flawed higher education system, says George Letsas

The Oxford physicist on his appreciation for nature, renewable energies and the importance of not being afraid to fail

Casualisation and treating academics like feckless children who can’t be trusted have also taken their toll, says Sarah Colvin