By Nigel Carrington. It has become a commonplace that knowledge and scholarship are borderless. History shows the opposite. From earliest times, societies have successfully controlled knowledge and scholars through sects, guilds, borders and mind control. Several forces are at work in the UK that could damage knowledge creation by re-introducing borders. Read more...

By Jan Petter Myklebust. Numerous foreign PhD students who apply for Swedish citizenship face years of delay or rejection, because they originally said on their application form when applying for a study visa that they did not intend to stay in Sweden. Read more...

By Karen MacGregor, Munyaradzi Makoni and Tunde Fatunde. Xenophobic violence that erupted in parts of South Africa this month, leaving seven people dead, has outraged university communities and the ministries of higher education and of science and technology, all of which have come out in full support of international students and academics. The attacks also exposed gaps in research into xenophobia. Read more...

By Casey Fabris. A new fellowship programme dedicated to supporting the humanities and social sciences will give scholars in those disciplines a major financial boost and time to explore some of the most complex issues in society today. Read more...

By Michael Gardner. Interest in German as a foreign language remains at a very high level. The latest Deutsch als Fremdsprache weltweit (German as a foreign language worldwide) survey puts the number of German language students worldwide at 15.4 million. Read more...

By Wagdy Sawahel. The Association of African Universities, or AAU, has “strongly urged” higher education institutions across the continent to strengthen security on campuses to ensure the safety of students and staff and the protection of property. The call came in the wake of numerous atrocities committed by religious fundamentalists against educational institutions. Read more...

By Wagdy Sawahel. A liberal-arts school in Berkeley in California has become the first Islamic institution of higher learning in the US while plans are underway to create Italy's first Islamic university.
Meantime, France plans to double the number of university courses teaching Islam. Read more...

By Brendan O'Malley. Cost saving should not be the primary goal behind university mergers, the European University Association, or EUA, has warned in a new report. The academic mission must take precedence at all times, it says. Read more...

By María Elena Hurtado. The high number of students who drop out of university in Argentina is a major worry. The problem is getting worse but little or nothing is being done to increase retention rates. Read more...

By Mary Beth Marklein. The policy-making arm of the National Science Foundation last week poured a bucket of cold water onto the sometimes fiery debate about whether the United States faces a glut or a shortage of workers trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – typically known as the STEM fields. Read more...