Academic life

Seeking feedback from the well networked is better than gaining comments from famous scholars, a conference hears

A leading American medievalist has died

We talk government-university relationships, protecting Welsh students’ finances and the highs and lows of supporting Cardiff City FC, with the former politician

With the link between frequent library use and higher grades confirmed, Jack Grove asks if it is time for more universities to start measuring how long students spend in the stacks

Nearly 70, his mortgage paid and his children settled, John Kirkaldy realises it’s not too late to indulge in a globetrotting adventure

David Walker looks at the increasing acceptance that the pressures of university can exacerbate impostor syndrome for students as well as staff

As the £650 million Crick Institute officially opens, here are some key facts about Europe’s largest biomedical research laboratory

We talk Australian wildfires, the emerging field of environmental humanities and rock musician aspirations with Bath Spa’s new interdisciplinary professor

Jack Grove asks whether the push to tackle gender inequality has led to discrimination against male scholars

Welfare state expert Peter Taylor-Gooby cheerfully admits his research has had no real-world influence – but hopes a book might

Rachel Moss on why academic women might find maternity leave a sometimes challenging experience

Unconscious bias training for those on promotion and recruitment panels may help tackle deficit of senior BME staff, says Leadership Foundation study

An ‘infectiously brilliant’ intellectual historian has died

We talk widening participation, gender discrimination in film, and wishing on shooting stars with the French former film executive

Lincoln Allison takes a fond look back at the permissiveness prevalent at universities in the 1960s and 1970s, while a more ambivalent Susan Bassnett recalls a reality that didn’t quite live up to the nostalgic hype

Levels of nepotism in scientific publishing have been revealed by report

Senior management do not recognise support staff’s pivotal role in achieving positive student outcomes, administrators say

Trends in international mobility may explain why fewer women are reaching the top ranks of academia, a Spanish study suggests

We talk tuberculosis, tough decisions and pancake races with the Manchester vice-chancellor

Supervisors explain how to help students keep their research on track

The Games remind cerebral sorts that the brain resides in an amazing physical vessel, Shahidha Bari writes

Handing out honorary degrees doesn't always go as planned

Ana Mari Cauce, who is Cuban-American and gay, aims to improve race and identity relations on campus

We talk to the digital publishing specialist about bringing historical figures to life, including the founder of the Pearly Kings and Queens, and how to eat lychees

Matthew Reisz talks to academics about their summer habits, while two professors and an estates director explain how they use the time

As he bins decades-old lecture notes, Ron Iphofen wonders what unused but undiscarded relics populate scholars’ shelves, discs and drives

An embarrassing incident led academic and sex blogger Katie Beswick to reflect on the risks and rewards of being open online

Pro-gun group tries to block policy allowing concealed weapons ban in offices

Matthew Reisz discovers that campuses in August may be a frenzied whirlwind of activity

Academia is used to robust debate. But the trolling that happens online should not be tolerated, writes Elaine Campbell

Centre for Macroeconomics survey finds support for ‘institutional change’ in profession

Despite a long history of trailblazing female academics, Europe's academy is making slow progress in promoting more women to senior roles, says lobby group

We talk gangsters, London crime and dodging punches with the noted ethnographer

Academia takes in some truly esoteric topics and tasks, but what are the strangest jobs? Here, five individuals with surprising roles describe their work

With retirement age approaching, ­Irritable Male Syndrome is hitting Mark Montgomery particularly, unexpectedly, hard

Matthew Reisz wanders down some of the odder byways of the university scene

A rigorous methodology is essential to manage university patent portfolios, say Bruno Reynolds and Ben Oakley from Isis Enterprise in Oxford

Vic Boyd was on the lookout for academic writing opportunities. What she found was somewhat less appetising...

We talk about the impenetrability of physics, the problem with Psi and “corporate uni bollocks”

Rather than resisting the growing emphasis on employability, academics should be seeking to drive the process, argues Benjamin Poore

Few academic department heads receive any formal leadership training when they step up into middle management, a study says

There is no shortage of ways for universities to make it easier for those with children to attend scholarly conferences, says Rachel Moss

We talk Brexit, astronaut aspirations and the difficulties of surfing in a landlocked region

Talking to the media isn’t a minefield, says Fern Riddell, but a manageable opportunity and a civic duty

In academia, and more widely, women are too easily relegated to the ‘less competent than men’ category, writes Dame Athene Donald

The ‘relatively modest’ research reputations of some senior US university leaders make their pay ‘grotesquely unmerited’, claims author of report

Having an unusual, foreign or difficult-to-say name can present challenges in UK academia, says Marta Natalia Wróblewska

Kathryn Mitchell has pledged that her university will provide leadership and practical support to help end human trafficking and bonded labour

Randy Malamud examines the fascination in a fringe academic topic

Amid the uncertainty and anxiety post-Brexit, we must be brave and reach out to and support each other, writes Rachel Moss

For those aspiring to an academic career, a PhD is the entry ticket to a world where reputation is all, says Robert MacIntosh. Here are his 10 top tips for early career researchers

Acting Aberystwyth vice-chancellor John Grattan is swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles, then running a marathon to raise money for the Student Hardship Fund

Rising immigration-related costs and lack of employer support send an unwelcoming message to international staff, says Jason Danely

Hundreds of students at Europe’s largest postgraduate dental school may have been awarded the wrong marks thanks to form-filling blunders

A leading curator of ancient American art has died

We talk robots, impact and goal-scoring abilities with the University of Bath’s new data scientist

Three professors give their views on the difficulties of taking on tasks that are necessary but undervalued

Steven Vaughan has been experimenting with a new way of writing, and despite the odd bit of cheating, it’s going very well

Staff raise ‘serious reservations’ about the impact of proposal to record tutorials

An often anti-intellectual Leave campaign has triumphed, leaving scholars wondering why so many appear to distrust them