By Kieron Flanagan, David Walker and James Wilsdon. Whatever the outcome of November’s spending review, uncertainties about the size and shape of the UK’s research system are set to persist well into 2016. More...
01 novembre 2015
The spending review is just the start of a battle for UK research
Ucas to enforce 'name-blind' applications to tackle racial bias
By Nicholas Watt. Britain’s universities are to tackle the danger of “unconscious bias” against students from black and minority ethnic backgrounds by removing candidates’ names from their application forms, David Cameron is to announce. More...
Back to the drawing board: the crafty art students rejecting digital
By Harriet Thorpe. Once it had connotations of classroom cutting and sticking or haberdashery departments, but today the word “craft” represents a movement of makers investing time in mastering skills, experimenting with design and labouring over one handmade object at a time. More...
Open University draws strength from regional tutors
Harriet Swain (‘This change will be the end of the Open University as we know it’, 20 October) is correct in pointing to digital learning as an opportunity for the OU, but missed an important point around the proposed closure of seven regional centres in England. More...
Africa produces just 1.1% of global scientific knowledge - but change is coming
By Tom Kariuki. There are just 79 scientists per million Africans, compared to 4,500 per million people in the United States. More...
What is it like to work as a university counsellor?
By Claire Burke. From stress to depression, students at the University of Leicester come to Sarah Hume-Chignell with a range of mental health issues. She describes the highs and lows of the job. More...
Campaigners fussing over student loan repayments have the wrong target
By . Fury over changes to tuition fee threshold is detracting from bigger issues such as abolition of maintenance grant. More...
The UK universities offering a lifeline to Syrian academics
By Rachel Shabi. Most Syrian refugees fight for sanctuary at Europe’s borders – but Reem Doukmak found it on Google. So is the story of the PhD student who swapped Homs for Warwick an example of elitism, or a model that could help build a better future. More...
Open University cuts will hurt vulnerable students the most
By Academics Anonymous. Since the Open University (OU) was launched in 1969, almost two million students have passed through its doors, working to achieve their dream of getting a degree. Many come to us with little education beyond GCSE and we have prided ourselves on helping them to change their lives through our tried--and-tested system of distance education delivered locally. That system is now under serious threat. More...
Lessons from a ‘new American university’
By Natalie Day. A new book, which charts the remarkable transformation of Arizona State University, offers lessons for university leaders in the UK. More...
