By Kim Thomas. Plymouth University under fire for spending £95,000 on seven chairs. Plymouth University has come under fire for spending £95,000 on seven designer chairs for its graduation ceremonies.
The chairs have been commissioned from the designer John Makepeace, and will be used in both its graduation ceremonies and other public university events. A statement issued by the university has corrected initial reports that said the chairs would cost £150,000. More...

By Stephen Koukoulas. When the cost of something rises, demand falls. So the Medicare co-payment and university deregulation may mean people are a little sicker and a little more ignorant. More...

By Jonathan Wolff. Free-ranging thinkers of earlier times, unconfined by university appointments, reflected on whatever they felt like. In 1866 the position of professor of mind and logic became vacant at my university. The two leading candidates were James Martineau, a Unitarian religious philosopher and brother of the writer and early social scientist Harriet Martineau, and the 24-year-old George Croom Robertson. Martineau was regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the day, while Robertson was barely known. More...

By Patrick McGhee. After a 'near-death' experience in the referendum, Scottish university chiefs must now get involved in devolution discussions. A few years ago in Venice I saw Bosch's Ascent of the Blessed. The painting is part of a set of four panels entitled Visions of the Hereafter. More...

By Lawrence Wakefield. Graduate job-hunters are finding novel ways to stand out from the crowd. How far would you go to get the job you want? With good graduate positions about as common as an actually-famous person in the Celebrity Big Brother house, it might be time to consider a fresh approach to getting noticed by employers. More...

Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) tops the QS rankings of universities under 50 years old.
The rankings list the top 50 universities that are less than 50 years old. Taking the number one spot is Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore), a specialist in science and technology, and the only Singaporean institution listed. In the world rankings published by QS last week, NTU Singapore was ranked at 39. More...