Impact and engagement

While scholars may disagree in research, they should band together in public advocacy work, says Jean Tirole 

Former chief of staff at White House Office of Science and Technology Policy says academics must put aside fears of ‘partisanship’

The entrepreneur and philanthropist on not going to university, student start-up mistakes and Brexit

Humanities subjects do support economic growth and good citizenship, but their real value lies deeper, says Andrew Moore

Attempt to measure knowledge exchange could also be step to showing university ‘relevance’, metrics experts suggest

Framework to measure university-business links would follow TEF and REF

Squeamishness about advocacy is out of date. Evidence and freedom of enquiry must be defended, says Aymen Idris

Social scientists must create a culture in which individuals regularly observe, analyse and interpret their own data, says Geoff Mulgan

Sir Peter Gluckman, who advises New Zealand’s prime minister, cautions scientists against overreach

Ministers are foolish to abandon the conclusions of the 1971 review that has informed UK research policy for 45 years, say Donald Braben and John Dainton 

Challenge for UK as Asian research diaspora returns home, says China-born member of PM's science council

Work with communities and industry should be better captured by league tables, summit hears

Community engagement is not just a good strategy. It’s an urgent responsibility, says Andrew Petter

Matthew Reisz reflects on the radio programme that proves many people still have a passion for seemingly obscure academic knowledge

The radio show In Our Time is a sort of academic seminar on the airwaves. Its presenter tells Matthew Reisz about bringing scholars to the public, and the risks UK academia faces

Universities should play a key role in teaching Canadians about their nation’s racist past and the possible ways to redress it, says Glen Jones

New data show how universities took up the slack when businesses cut back on R&D. But the crisis also led to greater demands on universities to boost growth

Nature Index examines how research articles are cited in third-party patents  

John Morgan witnesses a pioneering collaboration between two Sheffield universities, drawing upon the city’s manufacturing heritage to become a hub of industrial innovation and a model of civic engagement

Academics able to link their expertise to world events can raise their personal and institutional profiles to previously unimaginable levels, says Russell Reader

The $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a huge opportunity to build academic capacity in Pakistan, say Abdur Rehman Cheema and Muhammad Haris

Stephen Mumford tells Matthew Reisz about his desire to bring his discipline to a wider audience, why Norway was the perfect place to write his Cartesian debut novel and why insights into causation have more practical relevance than might first appear

Greater outreach by scientists could ramp up demand for politicians with better scientific training, says David Berman

But the highest value UK spin-off companies mainly come from research-intensive universities, latest figures show

US scholar argues that academics punch above their weight in key discoveries

THE analysis shines a light on institutions that have thought outside the box on research collaboration and funding

Some research-intensive universities grew value of collaborations by more than 20 per cent in 2015-16

Horizon 2020 could have more success getting technologies off the ground if it does not neglect the basic work that sparks breakthroughs, say Geert de Snoo, Floor Frederiks, Peter Lievens and Katrien Maes

Conducting clinical trials during an epidemic for the first time, researchers fast-tracked the creation of a vaccine for Ebola, but not before 11,000 people had died

Life science is a big part of the UK government’s industrial strategy, but neglecting basic research will drive top researchers abroad and threaten the flow of translatable discoveries, says Philippe Froguel

John Morgan looks at the universities in Asia and beyond that have forged the closest ties with industrial partners

Universities in the US, South Korea and elsewhere must contribute to the advancement of the knowledge-based industries of the 21st century, says Doh-Yeon Kim

Data reveal research ties between US and Muslim nations targeted by attempted ban

In a post-truth era, five academics consider strategies, from inviting laypeople into the laboratory to open vivas, to improve trust in experts

Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania deploy a host of financial and intellectual resources to help locals build richer, healthier, more inclusive cities. John Morgan reports

UK ‘naive’ to think that it could replace academic links with European industry with those from elsewhere

Investing in UK science may be cheaper after Brexit but the true cost to innovation system remains to be seen, says Holly Else

Workshop offers guidance for the aspiring academic radio stars of the future

In an era of post-truth politics, academics and their research still have a vital role to play in influencing policy, says Graeme Reid

The Higher Education and Research Bill is a chance for institutions to show they do more than research and teaching, says Graham Virgo

Dame Ann Dowling’s report called public support for collaboration ‘excessively complex’

Simon Gaskell and Adrian Collette explain why proper engagement is an important driver of institutional performance, teaching and research

For British science to thrive rather than just survive, EU partnerships and global recruitment remain key to fruitful collisions of concepts, says Ian Walmsley

Research into clairvoyant powers of mediums using old photographs has been retracted after it was ridiculed by scientists

Matthew Reisz reflects on how films can help engage the public with academic work on topics ranging from Chinese pop music to climate change

Matthew Reisz examines the pros and cons of using film as a form of public engagement

Leading scientist savages the widespread hostility to serious scientific evidence

Clive Oppenheimer recounts dodging lava bombs and gunmen as he guided the director to global hot spots for his film about volcanoes

Universities in Pakistan and across the developing world should help spread the light of learning, say Abdur Rehman Cheema and Mehvish Riaz

David Matthews reports from Canada on the Trudeau government’s plans to convert academic research into commercial gains

Funding bodies must foster a long-term vision for public awareness if research is to gain a place in the cultural mainstream, say Sam Illingworth and Andreas Prokop

Stephen Banks worries that the push to show real-world engagement may bury the ‘deep knowledge’ we ought to treasure

McMillan group report for Hefce urges institutions not to focus just on the number of spin-off companies 

New University Alliance chair John Latham ‘wouldn’t want to be unaligned’ as an institution

New app helps people ‘move beyond the headlines’ about climate change

Government plans rise in research spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, far above UK

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

The discipline has promised big advances in many areas, but is it failing to live up to the hype? Three neuroscientists consider the state of their field

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

Many more of the general public should help to plot the course of research, argue Christiaan De Beukelaer and Jan Baetens