Academic life

University staff may often write letters of recommendation in a very gendered way, warns Dame Athene Donald

US study finds biomedical PhDs from certain ethnic minorities are less likely to understand the ‘hidden’ rules of succeeding in science

The Universities Superannuation Scheme’s stake in former cluster bomb manufacturer Textron is an inappropriate use of savings, campaigners say

Momentum is building for fossil fuel divestment in UK and US universities, while American institutions are cutting ties with ‘racist’ private prisons industry

Five top European academics offer advice on how to mentor, manage and expand a research team

We talk with this year’s winner of the THE Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award about the decline of student politics, what Michael Gove is getting wrong and bacon sandwiches

Renowned chemist and administrator, known for his financial acumen and attention to detail, oversaw the creation of Cardiff University

Curt Rice's election night party turned sour, but the morning after provided much-needed reassurance

China's university sports body hopes to convince parents and students that play teaches valuable life lessons

Researcher sent thousands of emails trying to get paper published

Male scholars turn to alcohol to stave off impostor feelings

Our experts reveal how they seek to choose the right person for the job when faced with a pile of flawless CVs and glowing references

We talk about armed police, rowing and challenging stereotypes with the first police officer to head an Oxbridge college

Funding conference attendance out of your own pocket? Don't worry – there are ways to make back the cash through other academic activities. Catherine Fletcher explains.

Fictional professors from film, TV and literature have been reported to new watchlist of 'anti-American' academics

One year shaved off time to degree under new national framework

Requesting a log of daily activity means that trust between the institution and the scholar has broken down, says Toby Miller

Make appointing a chief scientific adviser on the EU ‘a priority’, Westminster committee tells the government

We talk with the UN medal winner about the commercialisation of research, the merits of transnational scholarship and why scientists are like used-car dealers

Claire Taylor wants ‘education is never wasted’ to become the mantra for a higher education sector that is struggling to communicate its value to the public

Scholars share what the title means to them and offer the newly promoted advice on handling the status update

In the first of a new series of articles, leading academics and university administrators will share tips on how to get ahead in higher education. Here, those involved in hiring explain how to handle a Skype interview

We talk women’s equality and emancipation, the necessity of HE investment in developing countries and eureka moments in the Himalayas with the new head of the Asian University for Women

What links the anxious, fearful undergraduate and the anxious, fearful academic? Pervasive precarity, argues Matthew Vernon

As push-pull factors exert their force on scholars in the UK, the Article 50 ruling buys universities more time to argue their case against a shifting EU backdrop

A UK university has been criticised for cancelling a guest lecture after a British academic refused to produce his passport

Politics scholar angered by what he claims was ‘ruthless’ attempt to discredit him by citing non-inclusion in UK’s research excellence framework

Doctoral students who downplay their part-time status forget that they excel in key ways, says Rebecca Gelding

Assessment, timetables and module weighting could be altered to reduce pressures for students who travel a long way to university each day, says study author

We talk blue-sky thinking, academic mobility and not ‘sweating the small stuff’ with the new Australian Research Council funding director

Anonymous interviews explore how scholars use gossip to warn others of wrongdoers – but it may not always work

Myths about the impact of having a surname starting with a letter late in the alphabet have been debunked by a new analysis

When a UK politician questioned the value of academia, scholars were quick to respond, finds Tommaso Grant

The Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire is wrong to say that academics lack ‘real world’ experience, says Emma Sheppard

Peer review publications remain a key stage in the quality assurance of new research, but some comments can be the stuff of nightmares, says Kingsley Purdam

More helpful advice from Zachary Foster on how to successfully overcomplicate your writing

What price eternal life? Matthew Reisz meets a scholar who uses economics to explain our belief in the hereafter

We talk to the renowned crime author about the challenge of writing, professorial aspirations and how long it takes to finish The Times crossword

Student artists at Staffordshire University have transformed academic research on graduate debt into a full-length comic

We talk about growing up in the North East of England, alcohol consumption advice and international cricket aspirations with Newcastle University's new head

Plugging a multibillion-pound deficit exacerbated by June’s poll result may require ‘drastic measures’, analysts have warned

UUK must help advance equality at the front of the lecture hall through loan write-offs and conferences, says Geraldine Van Bueren

Scholars and their significant others share the good, the bad and the ugly

Students are too often micromanaged and policed while on campus, and it needs to stop, writes Frank Furedi

Would you prefer to live as a badger, an otter, a swift, an urban fox or a deer? We speak to the academic who did all five

Johannes Angermuller is a linguist in the UK, a sociologist in Germany and a mixture of both in France. How do you define your academic self?

We all need good advice – the problem is making sure you know where to find it, and how to accept it, says John Tregoning

We talk doctor supply, the importance of medical research and impostor syndrome with the new Medical Schools Council chair

Academic science still operates on assumptions that have failed to catch up with the realities of today’s family lives, argue scholars

The country’s learners and academics are more thoughtful, engaged and generous than their UK counterparts, says Sam Gilchrist Hall

We speak to the head of Nanyang Technological University about the rise of Asia, what it’s like being a European leading a Singaporean institution, and barbecue chicken

Peer reviews created by self-generated text machines are the latest threat to scientific integrity

Large-scale quantitative analysis of university grades confirms the existence of slump in second-year marks first observed in the 1950s

The historic UK referendum result is a challenge to the core beliefs of those attending this year’s EAIE annual conference, says Jack Grove

We talk civic engagement and the dream of all academic subjects incorporating the arts with St Andrews' new theatre chief

Why are postgraduates and postdocs so expendable and professors so untouchable, asks a geneticist subjected to a paranoid boss’ abuse

A new report suggests standards by which departments may consider social media and other public communications in promotion decisions

Humorous tribute to academia’s unsung heroes will be based outside a Moscow university

Is enough being done early on to prevent under-represented groups from leaving philosophy, asks Briana Toole

As THE’s HE and Me interview section passes a special landmark, John Elmes looks back over three years’ worth of laughs, tears, and a whole lot of column inches