Academic life

Academia often treats leavers as failures, but some of our smartest scholars are starting to see walking away as liberation, writes Inger Mewburn

Getting innovations to market can be a conundrum, but help and support is available for those limbering up for the knowledge exchange framework, says Siraj Ahmed Shaikh 

Hollywood and Westminster have been rocked by tales of sexual assault and abuse. Is academia similarly plagued by misuse of power and sexual misconduct? Five scholars offer their views

Academic warns universities need to take impact of accent on credibility seriously as it has ‘demotivated’ overseas lecturers

Observers hope scrapping financial audits could lead other funders to cut down on research grant bureaucracy

US scholars' tendency to award extra credit for attending non-core lectures hastens the academy's slide into transactionalism, says Robert Zaretsky 

Getting universities’ houses in order may well mean publicly dismissing some very eminent academics, say Graham Towl and Kelsey Paske

Modern universities do not always allow the necessary time for scholars’ intellectual pursuits, but slow philosophy can help address this unhappy situation, says Michelle Bolous Walker

Efforts by granddaughter of William Carlos Williams to persuade the Nobel Foundation to acknowledge the US poet could open door for other disciplines

Kingsley Purdam on the relentless need to gather feedback – and why the results of doing so are not always of much value

Long-running legal saga involving US academic and Sir Peter Scott concludes after court verdict

Bone cutters, a trepanning tool and a cloth used to wrap King George II are among the discoveries on a Halloween tour of St George's in London, explains Carly Manson

Stephen Halliday used to hate pointless meetings until he found a way to exploit the tedium

Turkey’s president was unwise to evoke Animal Farm when his attack on academics has eerie echoes of George Orwell’s novel, says Umut Özkirımli

Professor allegedly demanded ‘superhuman commitment’ from doctoral students, allowing them barely any holiday and setting meetings that ran past midnight

Robert MacIntosh explains how academics should tackle their first university administrative role

UK researcher who travelled to predatory conference in Denmark calls for greater awareness of problem

The scholarly better halves of literary sleuths flatter academic readers’ egos with their virtue, says Emily Michelson

Universities not doing enough to protect staff from harm, researchers say

New Zealand-based academic and Australian citizen Vicki Spencer on being refused entry to the US – despite complying with all visa regulations

Focusing on your own priorities makes it possible to enjoy an easier and more productive working life, says Mark Reed

Academic work is typically all-consuming, but some scholars still manage to combine some eye-catching sidelines with their day jobs. Here, five tell their stories

Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture recognises lifetime achievement in philosophy and public service

From neuroscience to philosophy and economics, seven scholars relate what work in their disciplines reveals about the search for #HEhappiness

A hurricane strike last year brought home to Zachary Michael Jack the academy's failure to live up to its compassionate values  

However you handle them, emails are a source of stress. But there are ways to minimise it, says Emma Russell

Having caused a scandal over research assessment back in the 1990s, Lincoln Allison is well placed to give an overview of its impact, and still finds it wanting

What brings joy? This week, as part of our week of articles on #HEhappiness, academics from five disciplines address this most difficult of questions

What brings joy? This week, as part of our week of articles on #HEhappiness, academics from five disciplines address this most difficult of questions

What brings joy? This week, as part of our week of articles on #HEhappiness, academics from five disciplines address this most difficult of questions

The necessity of regular publication curbs the freedom that can make scholarly work original and important, says Shahidha Bari

The Coventry chancellor talks about being inspired by protest, managing a rap artist and being a pioneer as a black woman in law