Vice-chancellor/principal

System president says new academic hiring programme and innovation network will boost university following financial issues

Falling UK graduate wages reflect not too many students but a flexible labour market’s post-crash adjustment, argues David Willetts

System expansion is not enough. Admission to higher-tariff institutions must somehow be opened up, says Paul Jump

The unfettered pursuit of knowledge is every university’s core value – even if management doesn’t always see it that way, says Dennis Hayes

Dutch universities are conspicuously and consistently successful. Yet their funding is declining and their embrace of internationalism has put them on a collision course with the populist right. John Morgan assesses the mood in Leiden, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Maastricht

Proposals for delayed report have to be judged in the round – including implications for those who don’t go to university, says David Robinson

The country’s recent judge-led review is another instance of the global misperception of institutional censorship, say Ian Jacobs and Susan Dodds

Tributes paid to a leading biochemist who went on to become the third vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Analysis of nine European universities finds the ‘innovation’ agenda has taken root – often pushed by students who want to solve the world’s problems

Politicians seeking to quell discontent about inequality and pre-empt populists could turn on elite institutions, observers predict

Australia’s vice-chancellors must wake up: China's munificence is all motivated by its vast geopolitical ambition, says Nick Forster

The quality of Indian higher education outside a few elite institutions is notoriously poor, and a slew of initiatives aimed at addressing it have made little impact so far. Simon Baker analyses the data to assess the scale of the challenge and asks what more could and should be done

Nation’s egalitarian culture, policies on widening access and Asia-Pacific location seen as key to success in THE University Impact Rankings measure

The world’s most gender equal universities, according to THE data, cite data-informed recruitment methods as a key factor in their success

Max Lu defends Surrey’s collaboration with Chinese giant, suggesting that UK government would ban ties if it had evidence of espionage

University aims to create 100 new academic and 50 new professional posts at a time of overall gloom about UK university finances

Philosopher calls on universities to take AI debate ‘out of the hands of the industry’ and end ‘ethics washing’

The Group of Eight chair on serendipity, widening access and why running marathons is a metaphor for almost everything

US universities might be world-leading in research terms, but there is scant evidence that this has any bearing on their prowess as educators. Why do institutions of higher education show so little interest and aptitude in instilling genuine learning, asks John Tagg 

Shin Sung-chul, who is under investigation by the Korean government, says state is starting to provide more freedom to universities but progress is slow

Candid interviews with Chinese university presidents and government officials reveal widespread doubt that institutional freedom has increased

The UK’s research excellence framework is slow, expensive and disruptive. The time and technology is ripe for a better alternative, says James Tooley

Big datasets linking higher education participation to a range of socio-economic factors are useful and fascinating, but their translation into policy remains fraught 

The advent of datasets linking graduates’ income to their student records has fuelled calls for certain courses and universities to be excluded from public funding. But, ahead of England’s Augar review of post-18 education, the minister who commissioned the longitudinal education outcomes project, David Willetts, warns against such abuses of the data

A Labor victory in May’s election could still see funding conditional on universities’ employability, diversity or research records, says Andrew Norton

Robert MacIntosh considers how university staff should approach the management merry-go-round of vice-chancellors, pro vice-chancellors and department heads

Questions have been raised over appointment as design school head of academic who is being sued for alleged age discrimination

After more than doubling its spending since the financial crisis, Germany’s long budget boom is set to come to an end

Lancaster University head will succeed Sir Christopher Snowden in October

US university president tells THE summit that institutions need to ‘rethink’ their operations

Tough stances on grade inflation, unconditional offers and senior pay will help maintain global excellence, says Michael Barber 

The higher education experience shapes students’ capacity to contribute to the world as ethical, compassionate and civic-minded global citizens, says Barney Glover

Indian scholar explains why she thinks guidelines on ensuring PhDs focus on ‘national priorities’ are dangerous and wrong

Institutions must retain neutrality and academic freedom while working with businesses, says Max Lu

The Turner prizewinning artist on being part of the UK’s Black Art movement and promoting the contributions of women

If Americans lose faith in alternative routes to success, entry to top universities could become as cut-throat as it is in South Korea, says Stephanie K. Kim

All campus life is here

Market-like mechanisms within higher education are unpopular with academics but can have positive effects, say Rebecca Natow and Kevin Dougherty

Switzerland’s flagship university has always been international, but has never been more in need of its global outlook, says Sarah Springman

Sal Jarvis identifies the catch-22 universities can find themselves in as they aim to widen participation and tackle grade inflation

As universities become ever more wary of negative publicity, leaders who speak out on contentious issues are increasingly finding themselves in hot water. Ellie Bothwell reports

Complaints about depictions of contentious historical figures should be met with sensitivity and a firm grasp of the facts, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto 

Cutting the number of people who benefit from a university education will do nothing to improve the lot of those who do not, says Graham Galbraith

Recruiting a five-year, full-time president could transform the umbrella body’s ability to defend the sector, says Sir Anthony Seldon

Ministers love talking about grand government-directed projects, but Philip Hammond must reaffirm tomorrow the UK’s support for open-ended research using quality-related funding, says Stephanie Smith

Degree apprenticeships are helping to alter perceptions of earn-as-you-learn courses, but universities must demonstrate their value to students and employers, says Jane Turner

Analysis of THE World University Rankings data shows no progress in number of women leading highest-ranked institutions

Universities’ vocal opposition to government plans for vastly increased international fees has yielded only minor concessions, says Juliette Torabian 

Marketisation, precarity and global competition have combined to create a vast market for academic ghostwriting, says an anonymous scholar

Robert Zimmer explains why the US president’s threat to deny federal funds to colleges that fail to protect free speech is a bad idea

Education secretary Damian Hinds’ call for more scrutiny of decision-making behind vice-chancellors’ ‘high pay’ may lead to problems, experts warn

Negotiations on €100 billion Horizon Europe scheme delayed by East-West tensions and could be slowed further by European elections

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

David Green says exposing pay disparities within universities may encourage removing lower-paid staff from direct payroll

Strides have been taken since the destruction wrought by the US-led invasion, but funding and standards remain unacceptably low, says Mohamed Al-Rubeai

The difficulties even of obtaining a scholarship to study in the West amount to systemic exclusion, says Rudrani Dasgupta

Many presidents have pursued their careers just at one institution, raising questions about management skills, report finds

The recent exodus of vice-chancellors from UK universities raises questions over what is going on in the sector. Is inadequate governance the root cause?