From today's UK papers

Oxford don leads science force
Baroness Greenfield, Oxford professor of pharmacology, is to head a government task force to improve women's careers in science and engineering. The group will report to Patricia Hewitt, trade and industry secretary and minister for women, in the summer. (Financial Times)

Academics face court clash with tobacco giants
A fierce debate over academic rights is nearing a showdown as the deadline approaches for nine US universities to hand over 50 years of research notes and personal diaries to American tobacco conglomerates. (Guardian)

College fee incentive to gap-year volunteers
Thousands of young people who volunteer for community service during their gap year would have their university fees paid under a scheme to be unveiled by the Social Market Foundation think-tank today. The £110 million plan would be aimed at teenagers from working-class backgrounds in an effort to increase participation in higher education. (Independent)

Ivy League still means business
It's all in a name, or so it would seem when selecting the best business school for an MBA degree. In both the US and the UK it is the universities with gilt-edged brands that top this year's annual ranking of full-time MBA programmes. (Financial Times)

Jewish women still treated as inferior
The Jewish faith treats women as second-class citizens and alienates those in Orthodox communities, a report says. The report, based on research carried out in London over the past two years, comes seven years after chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks recommended sweeping changes to social rules governing women. (Independent)

Britons turn a blind eye to fraud
Most people believe that fraud is on the increase and blame a decline in public morality, a survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers says today. But despite disapproving of dishonest conduct, many also admitted that they would turn a blind eye rather than report offenders. (Daily Telegraph)

Women want a man who smells like dad
Scientists may have come closer to solving one of life's eternal mysteries: Mr Right? The answer could be that he smells like her father. A study has shown for the first time that a sexual preference for particular people can be influenced by genetic inheritance, according to Martha McClintock, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago. (Independent)

Minds boggle and tongues wag at brains list
A list of the world's supposed top 100 public intellectuals is provoking very uncerebral rows over the dinner tables of American academia. Richard Posner, a US federal judge, compiled the list, entitled Public Intellectuals : A Study in Decline , using the internet to count the number of media mentions of anyone who expressed themselves on matters of general public concern between 1995 and 2000. (Guardian)

State schools better value for money than private
State schools give 50 per cent better value for money than the independent sector, according to research published by an advocate of the traditional teaching methods normally associated with fee-paying schools. John Marks, director of the Educational Research Trust, contrasts performance in the two sectors to show that extra funding will not automatically lead to better results. (Times)