51³Ô¹Ï

Blurring the lines between supervisor and friend can cause difficulties for academics and students alike, says study by Finnish researchers

Is the biomedical research facility dubbed ‘Sir Paul’s cathedral’ built on sound foundations?

However, there is confusion over the final value of the settlement, which may include 'tucking in' of 51³Ô¹Ï Challenges fund

New ministerial committee could wield power over research agenda, but support expressed for new pot of interdisciplinary funding

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

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

Proposed Research UK would have similar powers to a v-c over university faculties

Merger ‘inappropriate’, but seven councils would be overseen by new chief executive

John Elmes talks to Paul Jackson about the politics scholar’s central role during negotiations between the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels

Researchers have employed a comedian to help them reach out to a wider public

Student opportunity cuts could worsen part-time crisis, warns Open University v-c, while research concerns focus on ring-fence and ‘tucking in’

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

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

Analysis of top-ranked groups also finds they have ‘accountable autonomy’ from the university

A ‘Kimposium’ will explore what the fascination with the Kardashians tells us

Green Paper recommends use of metrics, despite July report’s reservations

However, success of Indian academics in the UK may be under threat as a result of universities’ focus on teaching excellence

Science and Technology Committee raises fears that resource spending has not kept up with new infrastructure

Author of new book The Cunning of Uncertainty fears pressure for scientific certainty is leading researchers to make promises they cannot deliver

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

Some of the key points to take away from the government’s consultation on the future of universities

Universities and other sector bodies have given a cautious welcome to proposals contained in a new Green Paper on higher education

The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the national press

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

Iain Foulkes on how scientists can win part of huge grant to push forward the frontiers of cancer research

The measure of scholarly impact is now being manipulated so much that it has ceased to be meaningful, editorial claims

Matthew Reisz on the scientific benefits of leaving corpses out to rot

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

Matthew Reisz reflects that some jobs are really not for him – even on Halloween

It is as a fictional monster, rather than a real threat in the world, that the Devil today attracts most attention, writes Darren Oldridge

Success rates fall at five out of six councils amid warnings that the process could become ‘more of a lottery’ as reviewers are stretched

Universities of Birmingham, Glasgow and York enter top 10 after £120 million grant for quantum technology

The former Labour Cabinet minister talks about her foray into the world of university senior management

Institution’s School of Media, Arts and Design is 25 this year. Its current dean takes 51³Ô¹Ï through the reasons behind its success

Leading rugby historian explains why he studies a game ‘vital in creation of a British sense of masculine identity’

How valid are fears that financial conflicts of interest are damaging confidence in academic research?

Fears that scrapping of non-National Eligibility Test grants could disadvantage poorer students

As Spectre hits the cinemas, what might it be like to be taught by James Bond – or Daniel Craig, at least? His on-screen student and now THE reporter, Jack Grove, reveals how nobody did it better

Funding council extols virtues of Higher Education Innovation Funding as spending review cuts loom

A new paper finds that more than half of economic studies are unreproducible. But there could be even deeper issues with the discipline, says David Matthews

Stephen Curry is campaigning against possible cuts to the UK research budget, and he needs your help

Acting director of new research centre set up with Lego Foundation money says aim will be to explore whether there really is evidence that play enhances education

Cases underscore concerns about use of younger researchers’ work by senior colleagues without permission

The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the national press

From the battle against Ebola to climate change strategy, research insights from a wide range of disciplines are proving invaluable, says Mark Walport

Initially sceptical about the continental practice of examining a doctoral thesis before an audience, David Bogle has found much to commend it

Fears that discipline is particularly susceptible to statistical ‘hacking’ of data to gain a positive result

Director Jeremy Farrar argues that current research culture damages scientists’ ability ‘to dream’

Campuses are one of the ‘strongest bits of the innovation system’ and will be crucial to its ‘rebuild’, conference hears

Public scrutiny may force up quality of peer review, suggests study

High-profile visiting professors at King’s Policy Institute include Margaret Hodge, David Willetts and Charles Clarke

Women with partners who have full-time jobs find it more difficult to get over ‘glass fence’ and move abroad, study suggests

Noted art historian David Freedberg is keen to shake up the Bloomsbury institute that has been described as the ‘world’s weirdest library’

Are corporations profiting from philanthropy? Do mega-donors acquire too much influence? Linsey McGoey on ‘saint’ Bill Gates and the downsides of giving away $16 billion

Reports question whether scientists are removing sources of bias in experiments involving animals

‘Scientists for EU’ also issues warning on research funding

Sheer number of online profiles to be filled out a ‘disservice’ to scholars, Amsterdam conference hears

Ellie Bothwell reflects on the 51³Ô¹Ï World Academic Summit