By Jan Petter Myklebust. When Education and Research Minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen addressed a symposium at the University of Oslo recently, expectations were high. More...

By Marit Egner. When I started working at the University of Oslo 10 years ago, the university’s involvement with Scholars at Risk was on my list of responsibilities. Scholars at Risk is an international network of more than 450 higher education institutions, cooperating to protect threatened scholars and promote academic freedom. More...

By Georgiana Mihut and Daniela Craciun. The Hungarian government has tabled an amendment to the higher education law aimed at restricting the activity of foreign-funded universities. This legislation is perceived as a direct existential threat to one university that has successfully functioned in the region for the last quarter of a century: Central European University or CEU. More...

By Philip G Altbach. Technology, greed, a lack of clear rules and norms, hyper-competitiveness and a certain amount of corruption have resulted in confusion and anarchy in the world of scientific communication. Not too long ago, scientific publication was largely in the hands of university publishers and non-profit scientific societies, most of which were controlled by the academic community. More...

By Yojana Sharma. The barring of China scholar Feng Chongyi from travelling back from China to Australia where he holds a position at the University of Technology Sydney has unsettled academia and could have an impact on China research and collaborations between Australian and Chinese universities generally, academics fear. More...

By Yojana Sharma. An attack on African students in India last week has caused an uproar among students in the country and has sparked an investigation by India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who called the attack “deplorable”, while students said if the authorities failed to curb attacks, India’s aim to be an international higher education destination would be affected. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. A leading international university could be forced to shut down or leave the country after the government tabled a proposal to force foreign-funded universities to meet tough new conditions, including having campuses and offering a similar course in their home country. More...

By Brendan O'Malley. This is the fourth year of U-Multirank’s user-driven rankings – in which users can select the indicators they wish to use for comparison. It involves more universities than before and claims to identify “hidden gem” universities that are bold new competitors on the world stage in a host of different areas. More...

African National Congress Youth League Secretary General Njabulo Nzuza called for the nationalisation of higher education at the Fees Commission looking into the feasibility of fee-free higher education, in Pretoria last week, writes Michelle Gumede for the Sowetan. More...

The University of Oxford will be at the forefront of a multimillion-pound research programme which hopes to help develop new therapies for acute and chronic conditions by examining the effects of medical cannabis, writes Alexandra Gibbs for CNBC.com. More...