Covid-19

Calls to redesign curricula for online study ignore how scholars need time and peer support to reinvent courses, says Carole Binns

Survey suggests nation is risking welfare of those it hopes will assist its future growth

Resilience of demand for UK education and short-term nature of disruptions highlighted

Researchers suggest campuses may need to close to in-person teaching to restrain spread of new coronavirus variant

The combination of Brexit and the Covid pandemic has driven change throughout academia, even reaching the scholarly backwater that is the University of Rural England. But perhaps it doesn’t have to be that way, writes John Gilbey. Things could be better – or much, much worse…

In their unearthly calm and Dewey Decimal order, university libraries offer the promise of remaking ourselves, says Joe Moran

Academics recommend repeated testing in January so universities ‘can open up the student experience’

Institutions respond with both electronic crackdowns and pedagogical soul-searching

The past 12 months will live long in the memory, for all the wrong reasons. But as 2020 nears its end amid fairy lights and optimism about vaccines, six academics tell us the bright spots they managed to find amid the gloom – from human connections to elasticated waistbands

Hidden crisis of pandemic may push early career researchers out of science, leaders warn

Students can travel home once between 3 December and 7 February, says minister

Congressional leaders also approve new money for student grants and minority institutions

Daily check-ins launched during the Covid outbreak appear to be increasingly normalised

Some countries and institutions are already grabbing the chance to widen access, says Graeme Atherton

Creators suggest long-term value, but critics see failure to understand campus communities

Long-standing cost pressures exacerbated by the pandemic swamping Canberra’s efforts to mould university efforts to economic needs

Trying to steer a sustainable middle course, Dutch universities have been at 20 per cent capacity this semester

University of East Anglia figures show positive cases among students declined dramatically throughout first term, with very few cases among staff

Harvard and MIT researchers and alumni see deadly mistake in long approval processes

Early data from University of Bristol survey suggest asymptomatic testing will be crucial in understanding spread among students

Virus management earns no brownie points for Antipodean education, with UK ranked higher even on safety

Shift to online learning has thwarted potential for student demonstrations, but unrest may return next academic year

Later start offers chance at warmer conditions and more vaccinations, say leaders

Analysis from University of Portsmouth suggests regular testing and support for isolating students has limited spread to wider public

Australian trials cancelled over interference with HIV tests

Anna McKie hears from three experts about using peer observation to improve teaching and how it can still be applied while teaching online

Male PhD students reporting higher levels of psychological distress than women, survey says

Holyrood also announces plan to stagger students’ return to campuses after Christmas

THE’s new Careers Clinic series brings together the great and the good of higher education to answer a burning careers question

University of Manchester records highest number of job losses during coronavirus crisis, according to Freedom of Information responses

Survey suggests move to regional mobility may have been temporary response to pandemic

Dean at University of Colorado Boulder plans to replace tenured and tenure-track faculty with instructors, but critics say the move tells students that ‘their education doesn’t really matter’

Learned society calls on UKRI to boost support for those hit by travel disruption

Update to study of coronavirus research during the pandemic shows falling rate of international co-authorship

Chair of English regulator criticises universities for talking up independence and then seeking support during pandemic

Meeting of government-industry council charts new ‘path’ emphasising transnational and distance learning

Survey of UK-based undergraduates reveals fears over spring term restart despite overall satisfaction with universities’ handling of Covid-19 pandemic

Survey finds new international students at UK institutions received most non-academic assistance and support

Students to be offered Covid tests when they arrive on campus

Opposition, however, may be less about format and more about resource shortages

In funding Covid breakthrough, music legend shows value of communicating science, says professor

Campaigners claim forcing staff to reapply for jobs with lower salaries will damage Imperial and leave institution vulnerable

Students are lobbying for extensions to the pass-fail grading system that was widely adopted earlier this year, but most universities are proving less lenient than they were in spring

Survey finds Australia and other destinations are losing ground to the UK, with health management becoming ‘less of a differentiator’

Academics say online methodologies can produce more collaborative, diverse and ethical research

Phased return to campus and more clarity on rules for returning international students are needed, says the UK opposition

Comparisons with big pharma distract from ‘amazing’ achievement that will lead to long-term dividends for science, say experts

High-profile figures criticise university’s plans for large cuts to arts and humanities, which it says are necessary because of the pandemic and low student numbers

As a Stanford professor attacks scientific petitions, co-creators of open letters on both sides of Covid debate explain why they matter

Experts say the crisis should have been used as a good opportunity to rethink a notoriously stressful assessment system

While reservations remain, the pandemic has smoothed acceptance of virtual delivery

Until they have their allotted departure time, no one is meant to travel home. So, asks George Bass, should security guards dive on anyone pulling a suitcase? 

‘Students and their parents felt they were promised one thing, and they ended up receiving something else,’ says Edinburgh principal

Analysts say industrial solutions must be adopted to wean universities off their dependence on casual staff

Public engagement expert concerned about communities that scientists are failing to reach

Ex-adviser to UK government praises global scientific community’s ‘remarkable’ response and criticises ‘false narrative’ that he was ‘responsible’ for lockdowns

Australian officials mute as exasperated foreigners watch study and career opportunities evaporate

English and Welsh ombudsman willing to admonish universities over Covid-related disruption only if they have not made effort to deliver quality online learning, case summaries reveal

Some students have been stuck on campus for months despite no local cases being reported

‘Technocratic’ solutions alone cannot solve a societal problem, expert says