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

Book of the week: this careful analysis shows cognitive science can be a critical literary tool, writes Gail Marshall

Investigation discovers that three-quarters of advertised posts are filled by an internal candidate

Clive Marsh tunes in to the rock on which evangelicals built appeals to widen their flock

Helen Fulton ponders whether romantic quests can lead readers to revelations

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Via clear, vivid storytelling, Simon Mitton takes an engaging learning journey from Mother Earth out to the farthest galaxies

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

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

A lyrical memoir of a writer and psychoanalyst’s romantic and intellectual relationship with Lacan shows that psychoanalysis is very much the art of the enigmatic vignette, says Benjamin Poore

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

Nathan Abrams admires an impressively researched, behind-the-scenes look at a science fiction classic

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Muddled brains and mortality; angry white men; the illustrated Ada Lovelace; and going without God

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

Head of QAA says a wave of allegations against alternative providers shows need for action on academic malpractice

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

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 

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

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

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

From MI5 recruiting, to students spying on each other and intelligence agencies funding research, Matthew Reisz explores the long and often uneasy relationship between espionage and the academy

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 

The protests against pensions reforms reflect not just self-interest but also anger about working conditions and a sense that universities are losing their way. Jack Grove explores how proposed changes to the USS strained and broke bonds of trust

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

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

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

Tributes paid to expert on the Scottish Enlightenment

Academic sleuths have used investigative skills and Twitter to tell the real story behind proposed pension cuts, says Sherrill Stroschein

With state intervention back in vogue, and publishers’ profit margins still sky-high, journals could be the next monopoly to come under scrutiny

Radical ideas required to cut research grant waste

The internet impedes human interactions, warps civilised discourse and aggravates misunderstandings, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto 

Their emphasis on cultivating understanding makes universities natural homes for those at war with their societies, says Shahidha Bari

We answer some of your questions about the forthcoming Times Higher Education Innovation Rankings

THE survey reveals how work pressures shape researchers’ decisions around relationships and family

Simon Baker, THE’s data editor, charts some of the different strengths and weaknesses among Asian countries’ universities

Just as the ‘little red dot’ city state has made an indelible mark on the global stage, president of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Subra Suresh examines how his institution has garnered attention

China’s Southern University of Science and Technology puts an overriding emphasis on knitting together talented people from all regions and levels, says its president, Shiyi Chen

Futao Huang considers the five nations trying to compete with China, Asia’s higher education superpower

China has put itself atop the rankings and set the model that others seek to emulate, says Phil Baty

Ellie Bothwell compares two Beijing universities, Tsinghua and Peking, to explain the former’s rise

Singapore has the continent’s best university for the third year in a row but China’s stars are in the ascendant, says Ellie Bothwell

Universities must do more to tackle the class privilege that is still rife in the ranks of academia, says Louise Morley

Explore the latest offering in our teaching-focused rankings portfolio, says THE’s data and analytics director Duncan Ross 

‘Trained observers’ can help selection committees stamp out implicit bias against women, Europe’s biggest highest education institutions say

The Imperial College London stem cell biologist discusses her Italian roots, the search for a cancer cure and dealing with a crowded commute

Research suggests that students learn better in their native tongue, and English fails to prepare international students for a job after graduation, says Michele Gazzola

Pushed to break away from the established Turkish academy by increasing government control, Bilim Akademisi has now been accepted into the European fold

PhD failure can have disastrous consequences for overseas students bonded to their funders, says Andrew George

Academic warns universities need to take impact of accent on credibility seriously as it has ‘demotivated’ overseas lecturers

Budapest-based institution says negotiations between Hungary and New York State have created ‘basis for an agreement’

Intense polarisation of Turkish diaspora, plus online harassment, means refugee scholars feel they are being watched

Multinational research teams can now bid for money in any scientific area, although funders do not expect security-sensitive projects

Downplaying the vital role that universities play in encouraging creativity could endanger the main engine of economic growth, say Luca Cacciolatti and Soo Hee Lee

Inaugural UK-US science deal will include investment in two major projects Stateside

Firm steps up collaboration with university as world’s biggest tech companies race to harness quantum physics

University leaders frustrated by lack of clarity on higher education in party manifestos