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Peter Doherty warns scientists about being ‘used’ by journalists with a predetermined story to tell

In a world transformed, we need a radical new blueprint – for a flexible, less centralised network of scholars and students, says a former Berkeley chancellor

Robert MacIntosh explains what to expect when staff enter the little-known world of the university exam board

When the alt-right made highly dubious claims about historical Irish slavery, Natalie Zacek realised that a rebuttal from an expert would make no difference

There is no holding back the king tide that is the Asian country’s higher education ambition – yet while the torrent carries some riches, what will it sweep away?

Some commentators have urged the UK to replicate German universities of applied science. It’s not that simple, says Neil Shirtcliffe

Overseas students seen as key buffer against rankings drop and demographic decline

‘Verbose’ language, bad English and unexplained abbreviations all figure highly in reasons for rejection

Increasing research investment could see country lead the region in higher education, but experts say it needs to balance capacity with culture

Cambridge researcher dreams of returning home to war-stricken country

Nobel laureates call for early career researchers to be freed from ‘publish or perish’ mentality

At a gathering of young scientists and Nobel prizewinners, David Matthews detects a whiff of mutiny in the air stirred by the pressures of a modern research career

Submissions will be published alongside reviewers’ comments and author responses

Book of the week: A. W. Purdue on an argument that relocates the roots of modern Britain in the post-war period

Delve beneath the title and this portrait of four utopians has its rewards, writes Richard Howells

A new perspective on Lenin suggests that the power shift to the Politburo originated not with Stalin but because it was often more expedient for ministers to go direct to the Politburo for a speedy decision rather than grappling with Sovnarkom bureaucracy

Chemistry laureate Michael Levitt also warns younger scientists are now far less likely to be awarded grants

In the wake of Malcolm Anderson’s death, universities need to wake up to the need to take better care of their senior lecturers, says Andrew Oswald

The geriatrician and television star on hitch-hiking to Paris, the secret of ageing well, and how an elderly man’s rectal prolapse helped him realise his vocation

Scholars keep feelings of inferiority well cloaked yet self-doubt can strike any of us and only disclosure alleviates the pain of this hidden epidemic

Book of the week: memoirs of the Weimar generation are formed into a powerful social history, writes Hester Vaizey

Neve Gordon lauds a forensic examination of the Palestinian territory and its 2 million inhabitants

This study of God and country could ask more questions of its subjects, says Angelia Wilson

Cat Zero, a novel by Jennifer Rohn, an infectious disease researcher, shines light on the backbiting and tensions of lab life as an unlikely team of scientists work to save the cats of Kent from a mysterious virus

Open prejudice against his sexuality has seen the career of one academic slowly wither

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

An insider’s view of the 2016 US election that lacks insight frustrates Lennard Davis

The Oakland Promise, like a number of local schemes in the US, aims to be a ‘cradle to career’ programme moving more of the city’s children into higher education. John Morgan visits California to assess it

Do you feel you’re just winging it, waiting for the day when your incompetence is exposed? Six academics show that you’re far from alone

Calls for additional funding to help colleges police controversial events

Female economists less likely to collaborate widely, study finds

National strategies also debate merits of basic versus applied research in rapidly expanding field

A university career can be lonely, anxious and narrow. But those who learn from their regrets can avoid unnecessary stress, says Michael Marinetto

The best of those universities founded since the year 2000

Our data visualisations show how institutions were established in three distinct waves, and the global distribution of ‘Golden Age’ universities

Young universities appreciate diversity and are particularly adept at responding to the needs of society, says Judy Genshaft

We unveil the top 250 universities under 50 years old and explain our generational and nuanced approach to young institutions

This year’s ranking showcases a much greater range of Golden Age universities and has been expanded to include 200 universities

Because the passing of a year is an arbitrary measure of maturity, we have added more gradation into our rankings, says Phil Baty

Bold by nature, young institutions are tailor-made for ambitious projects such as the EU’s plan to create disruptive ‘super-networks’, says Anthony Forster

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Book of the week: the lonely and anxious men devising and sharing pick-up techniques misidentify women as the root of their problems, writes Katherine Angel

This impressive account of the Russian empire draws on several disciplines, writes Lara Douds

Papal infallibility became dogma only when Pius IX sought a means to shore up his authority as the Church’s power waned, writes John Cornwell

With more data from more institutions, our 2018 Young University Rankings explore the growing higher education sector. Here we explain the methodology that underpins the tables

As a Brit leading HKU, Peter Mathieson had no baggage. The University of Edinburgh’s new v-c tells Ellie Bothwell about academic freedom, internationalisation and being treated to taxi drivers’ views on students

Focusing on values and priorities while learning from failures is the key to maintaining scholarly well-being, say Alexander Clark and Bailey Sousa

The new UK home secretary must reinstate workers’ right to participate in industrial action regardless of national origin, says Shreya Atrey

A critique of the political class; overcoming groupthink; the father of fractal geometry; the golden age of American teen car culture and a theory of cultural evolutionary psychology

Depictions of sick human bodies were valuable in advancing medical knowledge, says Helen Bynum

Richard Joyner on a heartening collection of accounts by more than 40 people who participated in worldwide demonstrations for science

A trio of dissenting voices echo through history in this timely, vivid book, writes Fred Inglis

Book of the week: life is full of inescapable sorrows; dealing with them takes grace and grit, K. E. Gover learns

The #MeToo movement has cast historical behaviour and curricula in a new, shadowy light. Four writers give us their perspectives

A transparent account of elites’ views makes compelling – and depressing – reading, finds Heather Savigny

Crackdown leaves professors needing to pay back almost €250,000 each on average

Campaigners fear a huge increase in EU military research spending will lead to development of autonomous weapons

These engaging essays about violence could have broadened their scope, writes Jeffrey Meyers

An environmental biologist’s examination of the books we read during childhood is in equal parts charming and irritating, writes Shelley King

This analysis of an attack on Russian Jews paints a grim, important picture, writes Geoffrey Alderman