By Jan Puhl. Ibrahim also created a foundation which releases an annual ranking of good and bad governance among African nations, based on a number of indicators. Free and fair elections garner positive points, for example, while corruption lowers a country's ranking. The foundation also presents the annual Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, which awards $5 million to a commendable African politician. This year, though, for the second year in a row, the jury found no one it considered worthy of receiving the prize. More...

Quelles ont été les compétences les plus recherchés par les entreprises cette année ? LinkedIn a cherché à trouver cette réponse, en analysant les profils des internautes recrutés et leurs particularités. Un Top 25 des compétences a ainsi été établi. 
Après le classement des mots les plus utilisés, LinkedIn s’est penché sur les compétences les plus demandées sur le réseau social professionnel. Pour ce faire, une analyse de plus de 250 millions de profils dans le monde a été réalisée, ce qui a permis de dégager les nouvelles embauches et les compétences liées aux profils concernés. Suite...

By Gill Wyness. Gill Wyness looks at the successes and failures of policy and why there will never be a free market in higher education. This year has been a significant one for UK higher education, with the government rapidly moving the system away from a state-controlled sector towards a more marketised structure – to the applause of some and the growing malaise of others. It culminated in the surprise removal of the long-standing student number controls, freeing up universities to recruit as many students as they wish. This comes 50 years after the anniversary of Lord Robbins' seminal report on the expansion of higher education, with its vision that "courses of higher education should be available for all those who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so." More...

By Richard Adams. University tuition fees of up to £9,000 do not deter 495,596 students from entering full-time higher education in 2013. Strenuous competition between universities helped boost the number of new undergraduates in the UK to record levels in 2013, allowing British universities to shrug off the impact of hiking tuition fees to £9,000 and accept close to half a million students. Ucas, the university admissions body, revealed that the number of students entering full-time higher education reached 495,596 in 2013, the highest total ever recorded. More...

By Abby Young-Powell and Libby Page. Dodgy questions at a job interview, expensive places to study, and does money really make you happy? What's the worst question you've been asked in a job interview? Students at Bournemouth uni were asked how many people they'd slept with when they were interviewed for a job at the student union bar last week. Sex-related questions were meant to relax the students before their formal interviews. According to the Tab, freshers were encouraged to make awkward confessions, such as wetting themselves and accidentally pulling members of their own sex. More...

By Louise Tickle. Louise Tickle meets four university teachers whose work in the field enriches their students' learning.
"When the film was in development, there was a point when I was really struggling to make the script work," says director John Roberts, a two time Bafta award-winner who also lectures at Royal Holloway, University of London. "Later on, I set it as an exercise for my students. It was about giving them a real problem I'd had to grapple with – how would they find a creative solution that made sense?"
Roberts' new film, Day of the Flowers, is set in Scotland and Cuba and features ballet star Carlos Acosta. More...

By Gavan Naden. I don't want my son to make the same mistakes I did when choosing a subject – but I'm not sure he'll listen to me. There are 500 days until my son could leave home to go to university, wide-eyed and fully believing he's about to change the world. He's 16 years old, in the sixth form and nothing's going to stop him. Should I bite the bullet and try to persuade him that a "proper" job is where his future lies, one that is clear and defined? With almost a million 16-24 year-olds unemployed it's a tough world and a vague degree can guarantee little beyond a nasty debt. More...

By Natalie Gil. Academics sexed up their research; ministers played with the rules over student numbers, and tuition fees continued to cause concern – both for students and universities. This was supposed to be the year to find out what happens when you radically tinker with the English higher education system. It was as though a group of policy boffins had spent previous years setting up fiendishly clever experiments – £9,000 tuition fees, uncapping the number of students with top A-level grades that universities can recruit, the new Research Excellence Framework for distributing research money – and were now donning protective goggles ready to see what emerged from the petri dish. More...

By Natalie Gil. In an interview for a university course, it's important to show that you're well-rounded. When you're applying for university, the last thing you need on top of exam stress and Ucas woes is a grilling by a top academic. But these days if you want to win a place, regardless of the course you're applying for, you're increasingly likely to face an interview. Many universities are interviewing over the winter break, so here are some tips. More...

By Brian Mathews. I’ve always been interested in reaching out to students as soon as possible. Conceptually I like that space in the summer – the metamorphosis from high school senior to college freshmen. It feels like a prime time to engage and cultivate a positive relationship. 
I use to consider the traditional route. Devise a fun print piece and have that item included in a welcome packet or other mailing. Of course incoming students receive a barrage of info and you’d really have to standout. They also have immediate (deadline-driven) needs like financial aid, housing, course selection, meal plans, and football tickets. Facebook groups are another possibility to start the conversation. I wrote about making a good impression on incoming freshmen several years ago. More...