Academic life

Oxford scholar aims to complete London Marathon in under three and a half hours – if he can keep the mortar board on his head

Former head of music school says decision not to revisit his complaints shows system ‘worse than useless’

While decline in insecure employment precedes anti-casualisation law, swelling workforces at most institutions contradict claims of ‘tight cost control’

The former education secretary’s throwaway line arguably fired the starting gun for a new era in which scholarly expertise could be dismissed and social media sages exalted. Ten years after the notorious putdown, Patrick Jack caught up with Michael Gove and his critics on the legitimacy and legacy of his infamous barb

Lacking profile or career reward, higher doctorates are being mothballed by UK universities. That is a pity for a credential that helps scholars build on the research potential of their PhD, says Andrew Shenton

How we describe research groups can shape how we lead them. It’s time we abandon images that normalise exploitation, says Anders Bach-Mortensen

Female scientists less likely to use comedy in conference presentations, finds study that highlights ‘absence of humour’ the norm

With supercomputing and other AI-related spending prioritised, Research England has told institutions to focus on maintaining existing facilities instead of building new ones

Before the Taliban’s return, many Afghan academics went abroad for PhDs. But the collapse in their prospects has left many in limbo, says a scholar

Experiences in Hungary, the US and the Netherlands make threats like autocratic legalism and oligarchic capture feel existential, says Ferenc Laczó 

Worries over admitting ChatGPT use for editing and drafting may explain extremely low disclosure rates, study suggests

Scorned for their employability metrics and students’ experimental outputs, Britain’s art schools should be seen as seedbeds of innovation that can help graduates thrive as white-collar jobs are replaced by AI, says J. Harry Whalley

Lauded bench scientist-turned-administrator Anne Kelso reflects on gender balance, ‘keeping it real’ and why she left her ‘happy place in the lab’

Findings outline need for systemic whole-of-sector reforms, commissioner says

Scholars still inside the country describe administrative purges, censorship, exclusion and fear as merit-based systems collapse under Taliban ideological controls

As a first responder to thefts, attacks and student house parties gone wild, the prospect of faster emergency help sounds great, says George Bass

High-pressure environments the norm, as staff shoulder pressure of constant restructures and productivity overdrives

Outpouring of grief, love and laughs at commemoration ceremony for leader who was ‘still in the making’

Scholars criticise lack of progress on restoring repository of 600,000 PhD theses more than two years after it was felled by cyberattack

Adelaide ‘throwing everything’ at resolving enrolment hitches as students and staff protest

The £2 million recently awarded to a whistleblower by a US court is a rare reward for the volunteers who trawl the scientific literature for error and fraud. Yet their numbers continue to grow. So what drives them? And can their efforts ever cleanse more than a drop in a troubled ocean? Jack Grove reports 

Many of the lessons I’ve learned about community, grace and letting go are transferable regardless of subject or health, says Alexandra Dufresne

Academia is inherently competitive but we can reduce the debilitating sense of constant threat, say Catelijne Coopmans and Catherine Montgomery 

What kind of experience isn’t lived? Are all systems really ecosystems? Why do we keep inventing pointless new jargon, asks Ron Iphofen

Professors from UCL and Plymouth Marjon University receive damehoods, while four vice-chancellors commended

Times Higher Education journalists name the change-makers at the heart of the sector’s biggest debates over the past 12 months

New analysis shows complete takeover of senior administrative positions since 2021, turning universities into ‘highly authoritarian institutions’

Nineteen higher and further education institutions announced as recipients of newly renamed UK honour

Beijing’s drive for technological self-reliance blamed for high-pressure academic environment as data suggest more academics are struggling to cope

Professors who moonlight as puzzle-setters for major newspapers discuss importance of ‘letting the mind wander’ after busy day in the lab

Measuring researchers’ output mass against their body mass will incentivise even harder running on the academic treadmill, says Dariusz Jemielniak

Teaching missions would be easier to fulfil if academics did not have to seek so many permissions to do their jobs, says Akhil Bhardwaj

Georgiann Davis’ gripping account of growing up intersex and obese in a dysfunctional provincial family is a ‘queer’ response to J. D. Vance’s celebrated Hillbilly Elegy. But will the Trump administration’s opposition to gender studies spoil her happy ending? Matthew Reisz reports 

An open approach to knowledge and a kind, enabling manner help students go their own way but never feel alone, says Andrew Chadwick

Academic life was a lot simpler in the humanities and social sciences when simply finding a document guaranteed originality, says Disha

The flexibility and insightful observation that cultural ‘outsiders’ are forced to develop confers several advantages for academics, says Adrian Furnham

Videos of glamorous scholars sipping coffee portray a lifestyle far removed from the toxic culture of overwork faced by academics, says Rituparna Patgiri

Risk-averse mindset, fervour for meetings and ‘time sink’ labour-saving ploys leave everybody overburdened, finds Melbourne study

Cultural studies academic Rachael Gunn’s breakdancing performance at the Paris Olympics went viral for all the wrong reasons. One year on, she tells John Ross that although processing the ridicule has had to take priority over her academic career, she would do it all again

If the UK doesn’t want skilled migrants any more, maybe my contributions would be better appreciated in the Global South, says Meron Wondemaghen

As academics fear being replaced by AI, the security staff who wave them through every morning are being replaced by strangers, says George Bass 

Applications for professional service posts decline as appeal of working in universities ‘fades’, but academics face more competition than ever

Facing a thesis whose bibliography alone was longer than any essay I’d ever written, I was convinced that this time I’d gone too far, says Polly Penter

When student complaints were made against a high-achieving female scientist, her institution launched a one-man inquiry that found her blameworthy merely ‘for doing my job’, she writes: a ‘textbook case of institutional gaslighting’ that was a betrayal of scientific standards

Excess work hours ‘consistently’ correlate with ‘moderate to severe’ anxiety and depression, Australian survey finds

Genetics expert and failed union presidential aspirant removed from sessional academic duties over call for ‘Zionists’ to be ‘executed’

Australian employee representatives say universities are too ready to surveil workers, while higher education regulator suggests additional methods

Honours also bestowed on Oxford emeritus professor Ursula Martin and Science Committee chair Chi Onwurah

Satisfaction with pay and benefits lags well behind other sectors but career development improving, survey finds

Once praised as key workers, low-salaried university employees dedicated to student safety are increasingly seen as redundancy fodder, says security guard George Bass

Race lacks obvious front runner, with Mohamed El-Erian largely unknown outside academia and Sandi Toksvig proving divisive

European universities urged to re-evaluate structures and support for employees after ‘profound’ shifts in jobs market

Using jokes where appropriate can build trust, diffuse anxiety and enhance learning, says doctoral supervision award winner

Blanket bans on the amount of time staff can spend out of the country reflect ‘compliance-first’ mindset of UK universities, say critics

When classes move outside, we all know that half as much will be learned but twice as much will be remembered, says Zachary Michael Jack

Guidance on facilities, accommodation and equality monitoring may need to be redrawn after landmark judgment, gender-critical scholars insist

After the furore of Oxford’s election, no obvious frontrunner has emerged to take the high-profile role at Cambridge. Some say the institution needs a politically engaged figurehead, others want someone who can sort out internal fractures

Survey of first-generation scholars finds many struggle with ‘unwritten rules’ of academic life

Overly cautious institutions pushing ‘bullshit jobs’ on their staff ‘destroying academia from within’, says neuroscientist

With US academia under siege from the Trump administration, universities elsewhere are contemplating offering ‘asylum’ to disaffected researchers. Here, four former US academics now established abroad reflect on the potential culture shock that awaits US émigrés