Fresh strike ballots at 24 universities in pay and pensions row Strikes threaten to spill into the new year, as little progress made in dispute By Anna McKie 18 December
Big rise for Liverpool v-c as Russell Group show restraint on pay Average remuneration across mission group stands at ?348,090, or ?356,450 including pension contributions By Anna McKie 18 December
Tory campus free speech bill would ‘stoke new culture war’ Ex-Tory adviser pushes plan to legislate to create ‘national academic freedom champion’ to ‘lead on sanctions where appropriate’ By John Morgan 17 December
Panel recommendations could ‘quickly resolve’ USS pensions row Universities Superannuation Scheme cautions that making governance changes swiftly could be challenging By Anna McKie 17 December
‘Conditional unconditional’ offers ‘less popular’ with applicants Latest Ucas data suggest university applicants are now only slightly more likely to use them to obtain a place than any other offer By Simon Baker 17 December
Springer Nature may pull Plan S backing over ‘unfair’ rules World’s second-biggest publisher says proposals to accelerate switch to open access would not be sustainable for many titles By Jack Grove 17 December
German academics resist ‘reductive’ public communication plans Germany’s research ministry wants academia to provide the public with ‘answers’, but scholars say it’s not that simple By David Matthews 16 December
REF funding change ‘funnels extra ?60?million’ to golden triangle Oxford, Cambridge and UCL have been the big winners from changes to formula used to allocate quality-related research funding, analysis shows By Jack Grove 16 December
USS valuation process ‘no longer fit for purpose’, says panel Current approach is ‘overly restrictive’ and does ‘not appear appropriate for an open, strong scheme’ By Anna McKie 13 December
Split between graduate, non-graduate voters has bearing on universities As Conservatives turn towards non-graduate voters, they may find universities a tempting target for economic and cultural hits, writes John Morgan By John Morgan 13 December
Election results deliver double-edged sword: yes to tuition fees and Brexit England will keep its tuition fees, but research funding post-Brexit remains a mystery, as does the sector’s next minister, says Rachel Hewitt By Rachel Hewitt 13 December
UK universities face up to Brexit after Tory election win Science spending increase, research funding system revamp, targeting of ‘low-quality courses’ among other potential implications from result By John Morgan 13 December
