Researcher (junior)

The entanglement of the university and tech worlds faces increased scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Could joint positions in industry and academia offer a workable and ethically defensible way forward? David Matthews reports

What is it like to be a bat?; writing about yourself; when safety compromises freedom; a pioneer of the history of medicine; and rethinking the Garden of Eden

The EU’s proposal for its next research and innovation funding framework focuses too narrowly on technology, say Gabi Lombardo and Jon Deer

Driverless cars are limited in their understanding and inherit their coders’ biases, warns John Gilbey

If you want to learn to argue better, don’t ditch emotion, argues Tony Mann

What separates the maverick from the herd? Helga Drummond wonders

While Vieno Vehko empathises with millennials’ burden of tuition debt, she also finds it hard to respect a group that neither reads critically nor takes responsibility for its learning

Book of the week: the values of research must be preserved despite political and economic pressure, says Harry Collins

Results from the European Student Survey underpinning the rankings reveal key differences in teaching across the Continent

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

Is the 4* researcher who is also a stellar teacher a realistic expectation? Times Higher Education surveyed academics to find out. Jack Grove reports

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

Major study may reflect how the most stressful part of higher education in China is actually the entrance exam

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

Report says early career academics should be given more opportunities to lead their own research teams to foster independence and improve job security

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

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

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

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

A home-grown alternative to the research assessment exercise would better reflect local practice and sit better with the special administrative region’s new political reality, says Michael O’Sullivan

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

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

To what extent can universities drive economic development – or vice versa? Rachael Pells explores the ways in which higher education and economic success interact

Legal action should not be required to convince universities to do more to help expectant mothers graduate without delay, says John Kaag 

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

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

For insight into the ‘pervasive dislocation’ of people’s lives today, the sociologist Jeff Ferrell rode the rails across the US. He tells Matthew Reisz about life on the road and the limits of mainstream research

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

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

The former gay porn star turned academic on what lecturers can learn from the adult entertainment industry

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

Doctoral student takes performance poetry to academic conferences and university council meeting

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

Convincing universities to divest from fossil fuels and use only green energy is a better strategy, says Thomas Smith

There are now more women than men in higher education worldwide. While it would appear to be a victory for gender equality, this imbalance also highlights boys’ educational underachievement. Ellie Bothwell reports

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

Regional students and research facilities claim the spoils in a benign budget for universities

Women are less likely to become principal investigators than equally qualified male scientists, Yale University researchers claim

UK expertise pulls far ahead of Europe in terms of output, but collaboration will be vital if sectors are to remain competitive with US and Asia, experts say