News

Games procession honours heroes, athletes, v-cs and pro v-cs. Paul Jump reports

British Academy attacks government action and inaction. Elizabeth Gibney and Jack Grove report

THE investigation shows almost £60m spent on agents’ commissions. David Matthews reports

Elite universities have failed to make significant progress in attracting students from poorer backgrounds, according to the sector's access watchdog.

As pressure on places rises, Uclan offers applicants a Cypriot alternative. David Matthews reports

Artwork channels ill feeling over high fees and visa changes. David Matthews reports

The quality of teaching for student midwives is potentially threatened by worsening student-to-staff ratios at universities, according to the Royal College of Midwives.

An academic drowned herself "while the balance of her mind was disturbed" after quitting her post in the belief that she was being forced out of her role, an inquest has heard.

Firm that tests psychological reactions to brands 'not connected' to university. David Matthews writes

Top UK universities' marketing fails to match peers in business or charity. Elizabeth Gibney reports

In 1848, the Royal Polytechnic Institution on London's Regent Street installed a 1,000-seat theatre, purpose-built for "optical exhibitions" such as magic lantern shows. It was here that Charles Dickens' ghost story, The Haunted Man, was first performed in 1863 and also where the Lumiere brothers, in 1896, presented the first moving film to a paying British audience.

Hackney college centre challenges 'crude notions' of pedagogic relevance. Matthew Reisz reports

The discovery of a particle with all the hallmarks of the long-sought Higgs boson is a “breakthrough in world science”, universities and science minister David Willetts said today.

The average starting salary in graduate-level jobs has increased by 6 per cent to £26,500 a year, according to a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

Students at new universities are almost twice as likely to get a full student grant as their peers at Russell Group institutions, figures show.

University of Birmingham vice-chancellor David Eastwood has been selected as the new chair of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities.

Applications by international students to study MBAs in the UK have been hit by unwelcoming government changes to visa policies, according to a survey from the Association of MBAs (AMBA).

The Welsh funding council will assess how the quality of higher education in the country’s universities can be improved in changes to its powers outlined in a White Paper released by the Cardiff government.

The University of Birmingham has withdrawn a job advertisement for an “honorary” unpaid research assistant after critics claimed the position was exploitative.

By Elise Young for Inside Higher Ed

London will host the pharmaceuticals division of a new European court designed to handle patent disputes, the heads of European Union states agreed on 29 June.

A distinguished organisational theorist has called on academics to be far more willing to engage with business in order to co-produce work that can traverse the “double hurdle of scholarly and policy-practice impact”.

University admissions officers are most impressed by applicants who demonstrate a desire to study independently, a new poll has found.

With the finals done and dusted for another year, Times Higher Education is making a final call for entries to its “exam howlers” competition, in which lecturers share their favourite examples of students’ mistakes and misunderstandings.

Universities do not discriminate against poorer students and differences in participation are instead driven by exam results, a study suggests.

Australia has set a national framework for proficiency after consultation between universities, government and industry

Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, has been appointed as the UK’s next chief scientific adviser.

Evidence has emerged that some higher education institutions may be falling markedly short on undergraduate recruitment for next year, with the University of Gloucestershire warning staff that it is 30 per cent below its target for 2012-13.

British scholars head for North Africa to forge links with territory neglected by UK sector. David Matthews reports

Wilson response sees limited role for Whitehall in industry/academy links. Elizabeth Gibney reports

The UK should be encouraging its youth to study for their degrees at overseas universities, according to a vice-chancellor.

This close-up of a drain-dwelling moth fly was among the 16 winners of the Wellcome Image Awards 2012, presented on 20 June.

QAA event hears Willetts question option for the frequency of reviews. Jack Grove reports

'Neglected' PhD students ignorant of latest research formats, study finds. Elizabeth Gibney reports

A senior government official in Thailand has finally had his doctorate rescinded more than two years after a university investigation concluded that 80 per cent of his thesis on organic asparagus production had been plagiarised.

Elusive notion will mislead students and foul loan forecasts, experts hear. John Morgan writes

Oxford loses out in THE Table of Tables as Soas makes way for new blood. Jack Grove reports

Session at ESRC festival to reveal secrets of a successful grant application. Paul Jump reports

When the 2014 research excellence framework was being devised to take into account real-world impact, relocating a long-established university nursery to make way for such research was probably not what its designers had in mind.

But professor claims Sleep Research Centre has been sidelined by REF strategy. Paul Jump reports

Academy called upon to help correct increasingly corrupt economic system. Matthew Reisz reports

These items form part of the records of the Mission to Seafarers, now held by Hull University Archives at the Hull History Centre.

One of Europe's smallest states has big plans for medical research, writes Jack Grove in Luxembourg

Research elite say cost of gold plan could cripple the sector as publishers profit. Paul Jump writes

The government should resist changing copyright law to allow free “mining” of data and text in scientific papers, a cross-party group of MPs has said.

Cardiff University is investigating reports that a prospective Chinese student was told by a recruitment agent that she could win a place at the institution despite not meeting its entry requirements.

More than one in six international students coming to study at universities in the UK have question marks over their “genuineness”, according to the results of Home Office interviews given to a cross-party group of MPs today.

Biologists tend to overlook research that is packed with mathematical equations, a study by researchers at the University of Bristol has found.

The Council for Industry and Higher Education has announced plans to launch a National Centre for Universities and Business to strengthen links between the two sectors with the aim of driving economic growth.

By Kaustuv Basu for Inside Higher Ed

Stonewall, the equality charity, has published its latest guide to the universities it considers to have the most gay-friendly policies and support for students.

A £120 million deal has been struck with the help of a former higher education minister to build a 2,000-bed student accommodation complex that will serve Newcastle University and the University of Northumbria.

Staff at the University of Salford will be on strike next Tuesday in protest against redundancies.