By Martin Ince. The World Conference of Science Journalists sounds like the sort of event that should generate many terrific news stories. But the ninth WCSJ, held in Seoul this June, generated just one. It was about one of the world’s top scientists, and about a senior academic at a leading British university. It contains a range of lessons that anyone involved in university life needs to learn. Read more...

By Rachael Jolley. Academic freedom needs to be defended from government, commercial and religious pressure. A simple enough statement. Surely stating the bleedin’ obvious? Does it really need to be said, and aren’t those battles already won? Well, it turns out that yes, it does, and no, they aren’t. Read more...

By Daniel Obst. Last month the Institute of International Education, or IIE, led a delegation of US higher education leaders to Iran, meeting with counterparts from Iranian universities and research institutes in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan, to explore how to reopen and expand educational and scientific dialogue. Read more...

By Wagdy Sawahel. Mauritania is in the Maghreb region of western North Africa, with an estimated population of 4.1 million people. It has a very low higher education enrolment rate: the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 indicated that out of 144 countries, Mauritania was ranked 128 for tertiary education enrolment. Read more...

By Brendan O'Malley. The new Minister for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson, has pledged to bring in a teaching excellence framework that creates incentives for universities to raise the quality of teaching. Read more...

By Jan Petter Myklebust. Two leading members of the Liberal Party in the City of Stockholm Council, Opposition Vice-Mayor Lotta Edholm and elected representative Richard Bengtsson, have called for the establishment of a branch of a world-leading foreign university in Stockholm. Read more...

By Maina Waruru. The fate of eight satellite university campuses established in the Kenyan capital Nairobi’s central business district hangs in the balance after the higher education regulatory body, the Commission for University Education or CUE, issued a six-month closure notice. Read more...

By Mushfique Wadud. A government decision to charge 7.5% Value Added Tax or VAT on private universities, medical and engineering colleges has sparked anger among students who say it will hit middle and lower income families and curb the basic right to education. Read more...

By Brendan O'Malley. European member states have taken an important step towards negotiating a unitary patent – a key development for stimulating research, development and investment in innovation – by agreeing a rate for the renewal fee. Read more...

By Mary Beth Marklein. Applications from foreign students to US graduate programmes increased 2% to a record 676,484 this year, driven primarily by a 12% upswing in numbers from India but tempered by a 2% drop from China, a preliminary report says. Read more...