Stuck in the middle
How do you solve a problem like REF selection? Research-active status may be defined by formal or informal means, but is there a realistic alternative?

How do you solve a problem like REF selection? Research-active status may be defined by formal or informal means, but is there a realistic alternative?

The official weekly newsletter of the University of Poppleton. Finem respice!
Higher education policy in the UK has long since passed the point at which even the estimable Laurie Taylor struggles to satirise it. If any further proof were needed, it can be found in the comment...
In the news story “Kept down by menial tasks? Black scholars and the ‘neoplantation’” (16 March), Lamar Johnson, an assistant professor in Michigan State University’s department of English, argues...
The article “Income-contingent loans ‘could solve US student debt crisis’” (14 March, www.timeshighereducation.com) contains a significant error. US federal education loans, such as the Stafford Loan...
Despite acknowledging the importance of contradictory examples in the study of the humanities, James Nikopoulos (Opinion, 9 March) remarks on a society’s skill sets relevant to the “passions of their...
The feature on Harry Collins (“Authoritative testimony”, 9 March) says: “Building on the role of government scientific advisers, Collins and [Robert] Evans propose a detailed set of mechanisms for...

Steven Rose enjoys a philosopher’s deep dive with some uniquely intelligent company

David Wheeler on how public higher education in the UK has strayed from its ideals, and how it might regain them

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Setting pre-seen exams can bring out previously unsuspected abilities among students, say Nicholas Morton and Natasha Hodgson