Research

A leading sociologist has attacked the application of so-called “‘evidence’-based policy” – and much of the research lying behind it – to education

Involving patients in research programmes increases the likelihood of recruiting a target number of people, a study has found.

Cows may have an unfortunate reputation for being slothful, but even long hours on their pins do not increase the likelihood of them lying down.

US academics are more likely to work with peers outside the US than European researchers are to link up with those outside Europe, a new study says.

Fewer than half of those new to research can expect long-term academic careers

Committee points to ‘gaps in qualitative and quantitative evidence’ for Finch report recommendations

Humanities and social sciences in Australia could lose A$100 million (£60 million) in funding following a change in government, it is feared. 

The Academy of Social Sciences has bestowed more than 50 new Academician awards on to leading social scientists

Washington’s ‘national interest’ restrictions on social science will affect bilateral projects

Felipe Fernández-Armesto on two undergraduates’ stairways to heaven (via Cincinnati)

Staff complain over ‘arbitrary’ yardstick and teaching-only threat

FoI request shows huge variations within RCUK over the extent of sanctions

Moving to a different sphere of study can be a fruitful - and liberating - experience

Plans by the University of London to sell a rare set of early printed editions of Shakespeare’s plays have been branded “egregiously wrong”.

A university has asked for a journal paper to be retracted after an investigation found no evidence that the study it described had been carried out.

A fifth regional alliance of research universities has been announced by three institutions in the east of England.

Independence enables biomedical laboratory to offer stability and freedom to researchers

Organometallics and University of Western Australia are reviewing article containing instruction to ‘make up’ data

Advantages to making research freely available are still limited when publication is via gold journals

Too many adjectives and adverbs spoil academic broth, scholar argues

Allan Johnson on the misunderstood B-sides of conference presentations

Teesside’s Centre for Realist Criminology to probe stories behind the statistics

Funds to be available quickly for research into rare, unfolding events

Methodological controversy and a “publish or perish” culture explain why papers from US behavioural studies are more likely to exaggerate findings.

Penguins seldom come to Britain, it is said, because they are afraid of Wales.

Students, young academics, professionals and entrepreneurs are being encouraged to present fixes to some of the world’s most pressing challenges - in three minutes.

It is not often that academics are mentioned in the same breath as Angelina Jolie and George Clooney for their humanitarian work, but for one University of Ulster academic, this unlikely scenario has become a reality.

Half of scientific papers published in 2011 can be accessed online for free, a new study has suggested. 

In a significant victory for data miners, the open access publisher BioMed Central is to waive all copyright over datasets it publishes.

Smart thinking on efficiencies funnels cash to research

Allowing scientists to profit from their research would encourage entrepreneurship, says Institute of Cancer Research chairman Luke Johnson

Data show how much work conservation biologists do outside office hours

Wyn Ellis, who made a plagiarism claim against an official, has received menacing calls

Work between the UK research councils, Indian government and business can be improved by fixing practical barriers to collaboration, a report says.

Students should not be turned into consumers, sector expert Jürgen Enders tells David Matthews

Academy risks research future by failing to give credit where it’s due

Dean of medical school who was cleared of misconduct quits after restructure

Joshua Oppenheimer’s film about the perpetrators of Indonesian genocide has impact in spades, says Sally Feldman

UEL body plans research into attainment and staffing gap

The University of Bristol has launched an online forum, Public Spirit, to foster debate on the many key areas where faith impacts on public policy.

Rick Rylance has been reappointed chief executive and deputy chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council for a further four years.

Lecturer whips the average into shape for gruelling Barcelona triathlon

But scholars question motives behind restriction of project studentships

Female academics aim to boost women’s interest in computer science

University denies reneging on promise not to penalise staff over issue

Computer generated jokes can make people laugh, researchers have found, although they are still not as funny as human witticisms.

Bank provides €970 million to develop new Curies

The former chief scientific adviser is relishing his new advisory role at the Oxford Martin School, tackling global challenges

Nick Hillman promises to speak truth to power and not toe party line

Wikipedia ‘edit-a-thon’ bolsters profile of women who changed science

John Ashdown-Hill says university failed to acknowledge his crucial contribution to discovery of king’s remains

Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, Gerald Kauvar and E. Grady Bogue on forced departures and how to avoid them

Research into replacing and reducing animal use in scientific experiments is to benefit from £4.8 million in public investment in 2013-14

By Scott Jaschik, for Inside Higher Ed

The archives of the British Universities North America Club have been saved by the Bodleian Library following a Times Higher Education appeal

Academics at King’s College London and the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford have won prizes in a heart science image competition

Savings are expected to surpass government goal

Report calls for a more ‘transparent and inclusive’ structure, but scientists await council’s response

University of Southampton collegium gathers promising scholars to collaborate on coastal eco-cities project