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Fear of losing students to the for-profit sector is driving some institutions to try beating private providers at their own game

Removing the cap on student numbers does not imply a collapse in standards, argues Steven Schwartz - just look at Australia

Sally Feldman on the pros and cons of a consultative management style

Fellow humans, pay attention: algorithms are reshaping research from the inside out and we have barely noticed, warns David Beer

To work best, the market in outreach work needs a balance of competition and cooperation, says Graeme Atherton

Academics worldwide face economic and political attacks that restrict their freedom to challenge convention, says Jo Glanville

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Christopher Bigsby on plagiarism in the cut-and-paste era

Alan Ryan on the benefits of emigration for the UK¡¯s huddled student masses

With Adrian Smith leaving BIS, former Whitehall insider David Bell considers the qualities his replacement will need

Surprise gave way to empathy when Terran Lane gave up a tenured post, full of anger and sorrow at the erosion of an institution he loved

Christmas can come early if universities tap the wisdom of the emeriti, argues Angela Thody (with help from Charles Dickens)

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Universities see the value in having more say in A-level design, but questions remain about the organisation and scope of reform, says David Bell

Lars Fischer on why losing round one in the REF impact fight means it's time to get off the ropes and hit back

Unpaid research posts represent the latest step in the 'proletarianisation' of the academy, argues Ross Perlin

Ken Pounds ponders whether the Mars Science Laboratory's success will revive public interest in going boldly where no one has gone before

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Press a button and someone¡¯s reputation dies, warns Felipe Fern¨¢ndez-Armesto

Queen Mary can best serve its local community via the pursuit of global excellence, Simon Gaskell tells critics of recent 'restructures'

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Despite the demise of Lords reform, fundamental changes to the academy are still unlikely to receive parliamentary scrutiny

New gatekeeping needed for real choice and access, says Malcolm Gillies

Flawed policy levers forced Salford to charge ?9K fees to retain its widening participation aims, Martin Hall argues

The examiner examined: Martin Cortazzi on the day a UK university asked him, rather apologetically, to show them his passport

Transnational initiatives pay dividends far greater than a share of the overseas student market, Paul Greatrix insists

Reform of the high-stakes A level is an inherently risky business, says Mary Curnock Cook, who sees the value in a number-based scale

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Hefce figures show that the proportion of scholars under 30 is falling: the implications for the sector's future could be severe

In puritan times, says Thomas Docherty, we need sabbaticals more than ever

Pay-to-publish will work for top-flight Big Science: for everything else it will be a disaster, says Salvatore Babones

Sir Martin Harris, Offa's outgoing director, argues that widening participation and fair access remain key to the sector's progress

The UK has more professors than ever, says Stephen Court, but their influence over their institutions, and their optimism, is on the wane

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The government expected price sensitivity and consumer choice to drive down degree costs, but that's not happening

Life/work imbalance hits women harder. But despair not, says Sally Feldman

The British Library is rising to the challenges posed by the creative chaos of the digital age, says outgoing chief executive Lynne Brindley

Public policy shaped Wales' universities early on, and it shapes and supports them still, says Leighton Andrews

As Whitehall mulls reducing quality assurance, Hefce seems to be calling for more. Simeon Underwood is tired of the same old song

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In dark days, the academy must dare to look beyond arguments for economic impact and restate the case for its intrinsic value

Christopher Bigsby is as qualified as any chancellor - and less harmful

By any objective measure, Welsh university research simply doesn't deserve its bad press, argues Peter Halligan

A cross-border certification regime run by institutions is the only way to tackle unscrupulous recruiters, says Mitch Leventhal

The chief scientific adviser needs academic, diplomatic and political skills. Mark Walport might have them all, thinks James Wilsdon

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A community can run wisely and well without market values, Alan Ryan says

With immigration and university standards hot issues, any impropriety involving recruiters abroad could tar the sector

Felipe Fern¨¢ndez-Armesto urges students to take on tutors in a war of ideas