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John Beddington welcomes Hefce's plans to recognise and reward academic work that informs policymaking in the REF

Administrative staff do not deserve demonisation because they too are committed to the university's unique mission, argues David Allen

Gary Day finds nature thrilling but is filled with gloom by our perpetual desire to reinvent ourselves

The social and personal-development needs of students who study for higher degrees must be taken more seriously

Sally Feldman's mentoring sessions don't follow rules, and that's no bad thing

A new book about what is free on the internet is no anarcho-syndicalist guide to subversion, cautions Tara Brabazon

What with the pull of book-writing and the need to earn a living, there¡¯s no time to achieve ¡®high-impact¡¯ status

Lecturers must do more than lecture, argues Mary Malcolm: they must develop students' intellectual-inquiry skills

To meet future challenges, we need a single knowledge infrastructure incorporating higher and further education, says Lord Mandelson

Gary Day admires Joan Collins' chutzpah as she encourages three generations of women to glam up

Historians separate fact from fiction, keeping politicians honest and clearing the way for better thinking

Lecturing when fatigued is an inescapable fact of life for Kevin Fong

The REF plans are bad news for new universities and promise to negate the fairness and sense apparent in the 2008 RAE, argues Ian M. Marshall

A modicum of respect would do wonders for casual staff¡¯s morale

Gloria Monday is thrilled to learn of her promotion to professor, until she discovers the absence of a corresponding pay rise

The point of a Masters or PhD is not to create art but to build evidence, writes Tara Brabazon

Student debt is not all down to fees. Kevin Sharpe argues that the desire to live a luxurious lifestyle plays a part, too

Artists produce work as a result of internal or external stimuli - the only aim should be to cause a reaction, argues A.C. Grayling

Both the art of dying and of Andy Warhol leave Gary Day feeling distinctly underwhelmed

Those with a private-school education still attend the best universities, get the best jobs and hold top spots in academia

Alan Ryan says technical training is vital - and must be funded properly

Our new weekly online blog on the daily struggles, petty indignities and insecurities of an academic life on casual contracts

Tim Birkhead witnesses Darwin¡¯s anguish as he struggles with personal conflict and loss and the weight of the world¡¯s most powerful idea

US universities are part of the fabric of their communities. Robin Hambleton says UK institutions should emulate them

Scholars have too long acquiesced to policy agendas. They must reassert the value of scholarship for its own sake, argues Claire Fox

The efforts of injured soldiers battling and laughing their way back to life leave Gary Day humbled

Knowledge transfer is a valid concept, but it takes time and effort away from the countless other tasks staff already perform

Let's not allow recording requests to stifle free exchange, says Tim Birkhead

Although the PhD she examined was as bad as the lunch, Gloria Monday chokes down her objections

Dan Stern says that the marketisation of research means that academics must abandon the ivory tower and get down and dirty in the marketplace ¨C or face obscurity

Bill Wakeham reflects on the challenges ahead and the need for unions to join employers in overcoming them

Searching for the resting places of two greats of human sciences, Yiannis Gabriel unlocks the door to Freud and keeps left for Marx

Gary Day is unpersuaded by Derren Brown, weeps for Naples and is unenlightened by Trinity

Hard times are no excuse to restrict access and leave many to experience higher education only through downloads

Felipe Fern¨¢ndez-Armesto experiences a Damascene sporting conversion

The closure of the Centre for New Zealand Studies has important repercussions for the future study of post-colonialism

Christopher Terry welcomes a re-examination of the work of F.R. Leavis and the legacy of his controversial style of criticism

TV histories may struggle for free expression, but the Beatles enjoyed it in abundance, Gary Day finds

With swingeing funding cuts on the horizon, the sector must not be afraid to boast about its burgeoning economic value

Media studies is belittled despite graduates' success, says Sally Feldman

Research should be aimed at improving our lives, not increasing our bank balances, says Thomas Docherty

US attacks on the NHS also raise issues about the academy, says Kevin Fong

Universities in the US and the UK want to dominate, not collaborate with, other countries, argues Andy Kirkpatrick

Frank Furedi says there is no academic or pedagogic merit in awarding marks to students simply because they've shown up

Gary Day is moved by a film about those who die alone, and finds Miss Marple surprisingly alluring

Education suffers because teaching gets no respect. That must change, and academics can start with themselves

The next generation to shape academia must eschew quick-fix shortcuts and generously nurture talent without envy, says Tara Brabazon

Academics should take the lead when it comes to cutting aviation-related carbon, say Jens Rolff and David Sedley

Being a badly dressed academic is nothing to be ashamed of, says Peter J. Smith. An undressed professor, however, is a step too far

Alain Badiou can't get a word in, but Emily Bronte's doomed lovers speak volumes, says Gary Day

US academics may face less red tape than those in the UK, but they must also appease students, whose opinions can halt careers

Alan Ryan ponders why institutions are so uptight about freedom of information