Opinion

Alan Ryan on the dystopian and utopian aspects of MOOCs

Educational fundraising is a young profession that needs to be better defined to attract candidates, says Shirley Pearce

Overreaction to the London Met case has exacerbated institutional racial harassment, Scott Poynting and Ann Singleton argue

University food is not what it used to be, laments John Gilbey, but perhaps it is not too late to make it glorious once again

Clegg voiced doubts about scrapping tuition fees before the election but failed to sway party activists, says Philip Cowley

As the party's conference looms, Mary Evans asserts that keeping its earlier pledges on education would help to combat societal divisions

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Budget forecasts suggest that higher education is still at risk from a government needing to find further savings

Freedom and Liberty are not the same, finds Felipe Fernández-Armesto

If universities aren't spared the local council levy on new development, their communities will suffer, warns John Cater

As party conference season begins, Adam Corner asks what it means for a discipline if its practitioners are overwhelmingly left wing

Joining Greek colleagues in Athens in a forlorn protest against cuts to the academy prompts Dennis Smith to wonder who may be next

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With student admissions down 54,000 on last year, even elite institutions are facing severe financial hardship

Susan Bassnett says that many play fast and loose with foreign students

Research data published online must be accessible to allow scrutiny by other academics if we are to prevent fraud, says Geoffrey Boulton

The journal review system's lack of transparency worries Stephen Mumford

Aspiring journalists must learn to ask probing questions of digital data as well as people, recommends Louise Byrne

New College of the Humanities' pedagogic model has only a passing resemblance to the ancient universities' teaching, argues Julia Horn

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In education as in nature, feedback should lead to change, says David Boud - and courses must be reshaped to allow it

The UKBA's revocation of London Met's licence to accept non-EU students is detrimental to our global reputation, says Eric Thomas

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Fear of losing students to the for-profit sector is driving some institutions to try beating private providers at their own game

Removing the cap on student numbers does not imply a collapse in standards, argues Steven Schwartz - just look at Australia

Sally Feldman on the pros and cons of a consultative management style

Academics worldwide face economic and political attacks that restrict their freedom to challenge convention, says Jo Glanville

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Christopher Bigsby on plagiarism in the cut-and-paste era

Fellow humans, pay attention: algorithms are reshaping research from the inside out and we have barely noticed, warns David Beer

To work best, the market in outreach work needs a balance of competition and cooperation, says Graeme Atherton

With Adrian Smith leaving BIS, former Whitehall insider David Bell considers the qualities his replacement will need

Surprise gave way to empathy when Terran Lane gave up a tenured post, full of anger and sorrow at the erosion of an institution he loved

Christmas can come early if universities tap the wisdom of the emeriti, argues Angela Thody (with help from Charles Dickens)

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Alan Ryan on the benefits of emigration for the UK’s huddled student masses

Universities see the value in having more say in A-level design, but questions remain about the organisation and scope of reform, says David Bell

Lars Fischer on why losing round one in the REF impact fight means it's time to get off the ropes and hit back

Unpaid research posts represent the latest step in the 'proletarianisation' of the academy, argues Ross Perlin

Ken Pounds ponders whether the Mars Science Laboratory's success will revive public interest in going boldly where no one has gone before

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Press a button and someone’s reputation dies, warns Felipe Fernández-Armesto

New gatekeeping needed for real choice and access, says Malcolm Gillies

Flawed policy levers forced Salford to charge £9K fees to retain its widening participation aims, Martin Hall argues

The examiner examined: Martin Cortazzi on the day a UK university asked him, rather apologetically, to show them his passport

Queen Mary can best serve its local community via the pursuit of global excellence, Simon Gaskell tells critics of recent 'restructures'

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Despite the demise of Lords reform, fundamental changes to the academy are still unlikely to receive parliamentary scrutiny

Transnational initiatives pay dividends far greater than a share of the overseas student market, Paul Greatrix insists

Reform of the high-stakes A level is an inherently risky business, says Mary Curnock Cook, who sees the value in a number-based scale