The Autumn Statement must not cut the UK’s R&D budget If government sets clear ambitions, innovation follows from the private sector and charities – not the other way round, says Ian Walker By Ian Walker 16 November
Elsevier and Springer Nature sit out Plan S cost comparison tool Dozens of publishers have disclosed cost data as part of next stage of European-led open access push but ‘big two’ are absent By Jack Grove 16 November
UK students ‘at sharp end’ of cost-of-living crisis National Union of Students urges government to provide support in autumn statement as students slash spending on food and heating to get by By Tom Williams 16 November
Vice-chancellor fears drop in UK PhD student recruitment Experts warn shrinking pool of postgraduate researchers would be ‘pretty disastrous’ By Patrick Jack 16 November
Germans enjoy ‘ground-breaking’ budgets despite bleak outlook Consensus with regions and reversals by parliament’s budget committee help keep coalition promises By Ben Upton 16 November
Why do university IT systems drive staff round the bend? Edinburgh’s finance chaos exposes deeper problems with the tools institutions rely on to function day-to-day By Tom Williams 16 November
EU countries back down over ‘bizarre’ cuts to Horizon budget But lead negotiator for parliament’s research committee said refusal to plough more unspent funds back into programme ‘cannot stand’ By Ben Upton 15 November
Nancy Rothwell on superstar academics The head of the University of Manchester discusses a lifetime of science outreach, supporting regional development and the humanities By Rosa Ellis 15 November
Is Northern Gritstone a model for driving economic regeneration? Science and technology investment fund created by universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield injects first capital to fuel innovation shift By John Morgan 15 November
Norway jails researcher who let Iranians use microscope A researcher may have aided Iran’s nuclear weapons programme with unauthorised access, but his sentence was softened due to ‘deficient’ university routines By Ben Upton 14 November
Edinburgh finance chaos having ‘profound and devastating effects’ Open letter signed by more than 2,000 documents numerous issues with new finance systems – and calls for leaders to take responsibility By Tom Williams 14 November
Why do UK universities have no vision for their future? If the sector is to tackle the existential threats facing the world, it must rediscover its practical idealism about itself, says Nigel Thrift By Nigel Thrift 14 November
