51³Ô¹Ï

An aggregated university score would be designed to serve government bean counters, not students, says Athene Donald

Peer review is the least bad system we have for assessing quality, but metrics can help to determine attention and impact, says Euan Adie

The Open University¡¯s regional centres, set to be closed next year, are at the heart of its cultural legacy and local links ¨C but they definitely aren¡¯t standing still, says Geoff Andrews

Unexpected creation of a ¡®51³Ô¹Ï Challenges Research Fund¡¯ means that if they want more money, academics may have to contribute to international development

Clearly describing the inefficient and damaging situation might point the way to better alternatives, says Eric Silverman

This week's edition discussed by the 51³Ô¹Ï team

Matthew Reisz is startled by the abusive responses to one of his articles

Do students¡¯ rising demands for ¡®safe space¡¯ reveal a reluctance to be challenged, or a new zeal for political engagement?

The media¡¯s sneering attacks on the Labour leader¡¯s limited tertiary study fail to recognise that academic qualifications are not political science, says Martin McQuillan

Why are we treated shabbily when we do so much for our universities? ask two members of this overlooked group

Where do we draw the line on restricting academic freedom? asks Geraldine Van Bueren

Involvement in global quality assurance is crucial to signing up more overseas students, says Fiona Crozier

If the government is serious about globalisation in higher education, it should do more to open up overseas study to UK students

For most young researchers, academic research is the love of their life. But how much can and should be sacrificed for this love?, asks Sibylle Anderl

Investment in knowledge is one of Britain¡¯s USPs, explains Mark Samuels

There¡¯s a choice to be made on R&D investment, says Richard Jones, and we must get it right

John Morgan on the Green Paper's plans to make universities exempt from FoI

Commitment not to merge the research councils appears to contradict plans for a bonfire of the quangos in BIS

Matthew Feldman reflects on academics¡¯ place in the insatiable 24-hour news cycle

Matthew Reisz considers an international lawyer¡¯s extraordinary documentary about the after-effects of trauma and guilt

In the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, students at a business school in the city are more committed than ever to defending European values, says Frank Bournois

This week's edition discussed by the 51³Ô¹Ï team

The proposed sale of London Metropolitan University¡¯s Aldgate design school highlights some of the pros and cons of ¡®one campus¡¯ higher education institution, says Jack Grove

June Purvis responds to fellow academics¡¯ criticisms of the film Suffragette

With no time for proper peer review and with grade inflation inevitable, one academic felt compelled to resign

It is wrong for universities to ignore learning, says Anthony Seldon

As a manuscript haunts her, Shahidha Bari muses on Apple and the Bard

With less panic than it showed prior to 2010¡¯s flat-cash result, science hopes for another round of it-could-have-been-worse

Students and politicians may struggle to accept this ¨C especially in the wake of the attacks in Paris ¨C but the best we can do is contain a phenomenon that is as old as the hills, says George Kassimeris

We may be stuck with impact, so best to make the most of it, says John Tregoning

Students cannot be put at the heart of the system without a statistics upgrade, argues Paul Clark

Roxanne Stockwell calls on universities to rethink their admissions criteria

It¡¯s a question with no easy answer, finds James Derounian

Troubleshooting vice-chancellor Graham Upton on steering your institution through stormy waters

This weeks issue review podcast focuses on two new university rankings

It¡¯s time for literature teaching and research to address how to distinguish quality writing, argues Richard Bradford

Consultation is good, but universities must respond robustly, he says

Ken Levy, who publishes in both philosophy and law journals, finds the latter group¡¯s system unfair, distasteful and wasteful

Arguably the natural end to a long process, this sector shake-up could end up implementing the aims of a five-year-old review

Ellie Bothwell explores how the country fares in the 51³Ô¹Ï Employability University Ranking

India is still a powerful education ally, says Richard Everitt

Alexis Weedon unveils a computer game for the post-Green Paper era

Richard Black on the ¡®lazy and self-serving argument¡¯ that research and teaching are in competition

India ¡®cannot aspire to be a world power without having a single world-class university¡¯, country¡¯s president says. Phil Baty writes

The student movement is more divided than ever, but it must stand together to defend its values, says Beth Button

Government proposals will be detrimental not just to scholarship but to quality teaching in higher education, says Joanna Williams

Much is to be decided on who will distribute research funding, but a metrics-based ¡®mini-REF¡¯ may raise eyebrows, says David Matthews

John Morgan looks at plans to make it quicker for private colleges to access public funding and become universities

The live blog has now ended, but all existing entries can still be viewed in chronological order

This week's edition of 51³Ô¹Ï, discussed by the editorial team

More exchange with the policymaking world will only further academia¡¯s vital role in shaping ideas in society, says Nick Pearce

The work that we do as academics comes wrapped in a tangle of emotions from elation to guilt to disgust, says Aoife Monks

Varying tuition fees by graduate earnings is fair and transparent, argues Dean Machin, and will ensure everyone shares the financial risk

With a minister intent on ¡®revolution¡¯, there is a tactical, as well as a moral, case for universities to focus on improving ethnic minority representation

John Morgan reports from today¡¯s protest in London, which saw a flashpoint between protesters and police at BIS

Mike Ratcliffe looks at why institutions have traditionally had to serve an ¡®apprenticeship¡¯, ahead of Green Paper set to change the rules

Writing anonymously, a Manchester Metropolitan University employee speaks out on the recent eviction of the ¡®Ark¡¯

¡®Transposition error¡¯ meant funding council wrongly stated that state school leavers were more likely than private peers to get a good degree

David Crystal sets the record straight on claims the Australian accent originated in drunken speech

Emma Rees on language, taboos, and a word with an almost unparalleled power to shock