Radical Irish gender plan ‘could be model for Europe’ Frustration with ‘snail’s pace’ progress across continent leads Irish government to back financial sanctions against universities that miss targets By David Matthews 22 November
James Stirling, 1953-2018 Tributes paid to leading physicist who became first provost of Imperial College London By Matthew Reisz 22 November
Durham student jailed for life by UAE court on spying charges Matthew Hedges, a PhD student specialising in Middle Eastern politics, was detained at Dubai airport on 5 May and held in solitary confinement By Rachael Pells 21 November
First university visit to Auschwitz aims to combat antisemitism Students’ union leaders and university staff visit former Nazi concentration camp to help stamp out discrimination on UK campuses By Ellie Bothwell 21 November
UK research council ‘misleading’ on quality of doctoral training Fewer than half of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Centres for Doctoral Training rated ‘good’ By Rachael Pells 21 November
Grade inflation: how certain subjects fuel rise in firsts Data analysis by 91茄子 looks at three disciplines where the rise in firsts has been particularly high By Simon Baker 21 November
Turkey’s reinstated academics face internal exile Scholars allowed back to work might not be able not return to previous institutions or large cities, Science Academy warns By David Matthews 21 November
Where there is discretion over academic freedom, there will be error Mistakenly labelling material as ‘security-sensitive’ has created a space to learn, says Robert Van De Noort By Robert Van de Noort 21 November
UK research spending target: show us the money, says Nobelist ‘Aspiration is not enough’, says Sir Paul Nurse of goal to spend 2.4 per cent of GDP on R&D By Rachael Pells 20 November
Weaknesses of English student protection plans highlighted Office for Students says it will require some institutions to revise their contingency plans for closure By Anna McKie 20 November
Plan S chief: universities, not open access push, hurting ECRs Robert-Jan Smits attempts to allay concerns of junior academics considering moving country because of planned publishing shift By Rachael Pells 19 November
Campuses warn against metrics-only knowledge exchange framework Universities say they must be able to supplement metrics with contextual or narrative information By Rachael Pells 19 November