Research

Neil Dagnall and Ken Drinkwater tell Matthew Reisz about the rare pleasures of teaching and researching belief in ghosts, alien abductions and conspiracy theories

Senator suggests that universities might want to keep more of their findings to themselves

Advocacy groups demand action from next government

CBI warns country will not spend 2.4 per cent of gross domestic product on research and development until 2053

Data on the growth of scholarly collaboration across Asia, the Middle East and eastern Europe suggest Beijing’s grand strategy could be having an impact

A review following the latest iteration of the PBRF could lead to radical changes that undermine the gains made, warns Roger Smyth

Peter Ridd’s victory in unfair dismissal case raises questions about limits of scientific consensus

Fragmentary, first-person accounts are challenging the staid traditions of the monograph, event hears

Leading professor who backs creation of ‘Cern for AI’ calls lack of decisive government action ‘disturbing’

Facilitating flexible working hours and showing gratitude towards team members are among the musts for all labs, according to Fernando Maestre

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

International conferences are a huge boon to academics, allowing them to hear about new findings, make new connections and, above all, enjoy the physical manifestation of their virtual global community. But is all that footfall worth the huge carbon footprint it leaves? Joanna Kidman is increasingly unsure 

Improving the culture surrounding mental health for postgraduates and PhD students also crucial to maintaining a healthy research system, Chris Skidmore tells leaders

Academics say evaluation conducted to decide distribution of Performance-Based Research Fund is no longer helpful

Kelvin Droegemeier tells researchers that openness is ‘part of our value system’

The use of VR in psychology experiments is being driven not just by increasingly affordable technology but also by concerns about the reproducibility of many real-world studies. But do humans really behave in the virtual world as they do in reality? And does it matter? David Matthews investigates

Minister tells THE summit that space project on which she works typifies national priority to diversify economy

Research agency stresses workforce risk in low number of emerging researchers

When credible concerns emerge about research validity, universities and journals must move quickly, writes John Ross

Survey of non-native English-speakers suggests that, even in natural sciences, other languages play key role 

The expert on ancient Syria was forced to flee his homeland – but has been able to continue his work thanks to a German scholarship

Matthew Reisz discovers what anthropologist Ruben Andersson learned behind bunkers in Bamako

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

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

Western countries’ determination to tackle the migration crisis without taking any risks with their own personnel is wasteful and counterproductive, the Oxford anthropologist tells Matthew Reisz 

National Institutes of Health asks 55 institutions to check behaviours of international researchers on campus

Academics fear global reach of new Singaporean legislation could result in censorship of international academic journals

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

The relationship between PhD students and their supervisors is often said to be the most intense in the academy, with huge implications for student success. Yet most supervisors receive little if any training. Here, six academics give their take on how to approach it 

Conference windfalls alone justify the membership costs of global scientific community, analysis finds

The Chinese tech giant’s challenge for universities will be far from an isolated case and universities are not prepared for the nuanced reaction required, says John Ross 

First-of-its-kind study indicates at least one in three research-intensive institutions in North America lean on citation data in decisions on promotion and tenure

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

Members of the public will be able to run their own experiments, producing data that could be valuable for scholars

‘Cloud cuckoo land’ to think British-based academics will be partners of choice after exit from European Union, conference hears

YS Chi claims publisher’s shift to recognise research quality over quantity left a void that has been filled by others happy to publish insubstantial work

Political scientists typically see politics as an exercise in consensus-building. But Chantal Mouffe tells John Morgan that the left must learn from right-wing populists’ exploitation of “them and us” narratives if it is not to be vanquished by them

Survey finds that European institutions have open access policies in place – but far fewer have specific targets systems to check their progress

Bias would be reduced if grant applicants’ capabilities were considered only after assessment of their anonymised proposals, says David Sanders

Agreement that EU research funding should continue to be distributed according to quality is an important step forward, writes Jan Palmowski

Bin Yang tells THE summit that Chinese universities lack ‘original, innovative ideas’

But study authors stress that research environment at Chinese universities is quickly catching up with US

With no link to funding, critics say that the Excellence in Research for Australia assessment is little more than a cripplingly  expensive quality assurance tool

Librarians welcome new European rules on copyright, which also secures right for researchers to mine text and data

What are university leaders and chief technology officers doing to meet future challenges?

Elevated output has not come at cost of excellence, research assessment exercise suggests

But funders still need to create standardised data repositories for all fields, says Magdalena Skipper

Editorial in journal special issue says ‘arbitrary’ p-value threshold for analysing results has become ‘meaningless’

A large world-class university may eclipse a less renowned neighbour, but an education ecosystem rich in diversity can benefit all in the area

For those reliant on EU funding, seeking appointments at continental universities is the only sensible course, says Peter Coveney

Lack of detail, not due process, is at the heart of concerns about medical research handouts in Australia, writes John Ross 

College of Arts and Law tells scholars to spend more time on grant applications as quality-related funding dwindles

Understanding animal behaviour presents many challenges in the field. Matthew Reisz meets Rory Wilson, a biologist who has won awards for his innovative methods of tracking everything from albatrosses to sloths

Data on research output in South America paints a stark picture for the troubled nation

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

Experts question whether new National Science Project will have wide impact beyond creating ‘a few islands of research excellence’

Protesters allegedly called researchers ‘dirty Jews’ and ‘traitors’ in latest intimidation of scholars who emphasise Polish role in the Holocaust

New group of eight universities, joined by MIT and Stanford, sees lack of private investment in ‘niche’ university research as a key barrier

ARC insists allegations of political subversion are ‘baseless’

Two dozen agreements signed in whirlwind tour Down Under