Researcher (junior)

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

Objections to the suppression of ‘sensitive’ articles should not be based on outmoded claims about consumption, says Michel Hockx

Relatively liberal eras cannot restrain subsequent authoritarian regimes, but we can teach societies to see through propaganda, writes Paul Jump

Submissions invited across 18 categories

Embracing immersive content would aid public engagement and bring research and teaching closer together, argue Vincent Tong, Sam Smidt and Matilda Katan 

Study suggests doctorates are now seen as a test of character rather than intellect

Maastricht study finds less hard-working students benefit when taught with more persistent peers

But Grattan Institute report urges government, institutions to steer those unlikely to finish towards cost-saving early exit

Regional institutions, facing uncertain funding future, build case for more federal support ahead of budget

Hollywood legend’s backfiring legal action offers lessons for universities on essay mills, says researcher

Study reveals feedback on social media sites closely correlate to measures of quality such as England's TEF

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

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

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

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 

Evidence from German Excellence Initiative suggests elite status rubs off on student perception – even if this is irrational

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

NAS calls for US lawmakers to bring change also brings warning that crisis talk may ultimately ‘stifle frontier discoveries’

Efforts to reclaim imperial history from so-called ‘politically correct’ professors have little to do with genuine academic debate, argue James McDougall and Kim Wagner

Reluctance to shame those who breach editorial ethics has dented confidence in research integrity, argue Adam Cox, Russell Craig and Dennis Tourish