Publish and be crammed
Hugh Willmott believes that under the guise of improving efficiency the research assessment exercise has produced a Kafkaesque nonsense of product degradation. "Well, I've already got my four (...
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Irks at Birkbeck
Contrary to what was stated in your story "Science fears for Birkbeck" (THES, December 13), compulsory redundancy notices were not, and have not been, issued to four members of staff. Birkbeck's...
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Irks at Birkbeck
Mat Gilman and Sally Whitaker's defence of Birkbeck's performance on University Challenge (THES, December 13) is an attempt to shift the blame from where it really lies, with Gilman himself, as...
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Exquisite melting moment
An open letter to those universities deducting 1/260th from the salaries of those who went on the one-day strike on November 19. Dear vice chancellors, I am delighted to see that with your...
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Pay later
The annual report of the Universities Superannuation Scheme reminds us that academics permit their pensions to be invested in a scheme with no stated ethical criteria. Unethical investments are...
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Rail against expectations
Rail transport ("Tunnel vision", THES, December 13) has traditionally been viewed as the safest form of transport since its designers subscribe to the concept of "failure to safety", that is, when...
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Overseas franchise warning
BRITISH universities and colleges involved in a burgeoning multi-billion pound overseas partnerships and franchising market have been warned to tighten their controls on quality. Most students on...
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Towers of strength
The quality and volume of research throughout British higher education has risen over the past four years, this week's results from the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise show. Former polytechnics and...
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Teaching formula flak
THE HIGHER Education Funding Council's proposed new funding method for teaching will mean cuts and departmental closures, academics are complaining. Geographers and psychologists have led a chorus of...
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An exercise in dexterity
INSTITUTIONAL outcomes from this year's Research Assessment Exercise show the importance of being able to work the system. Universities that used such skills, in particular by excluding non-research...
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O come all ye faithful
A scientist Christian, a retail management expert, a Jew and a Muslim tell The THES what Christmas means to them JOHN POLKINGHORNE, recently retired as president of Queens' College, Cambridge. His...
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Report criticises Soton's rule of fear
A DIFFERENT style of leadership is needed at Southampton Institute to help it improve quality, extend research, and consolidate following rapid expansion, a report published by the institute says. "...
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Dark side of the RAE
THE RESEARCH Assessment Exercise has destroyed attempts to raise the profile of teaching in universities, delegates at a conference on working in higher education heard this week. Maurice Kogan of...
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Santa clues
Nice to see the Christmas message of peace and goodwill has not yet taken over: this week's young people's lecture from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow was an illustrated talk...
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Weighty matters
It seems the research assessment exercise can leave those visited by panel members reeling in more senses than one. Martin Dodsworth, chairman of the English literature panel, said the weight of...