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The British Sociological Association's next head tells Matthew Reisz about his plans and priorities

With Dream Act faltering, president links federal aid to 'responsible' fees. Sarah Cunnane writes

A project that funds African academics whose careers are "stuck" because they lack the time or money for postgraduate study is asking the World Bank to help it grow tenfold.

The two universities aim to offer global market 'best of both worlds'. John Morgan reports

The coalition government must take the tough political decision to make student loans less generous if it wants to fix the "central impediment" to an "efficient, competitive and high-quality" higher education sector, according to a report out this week.

Elite astonished as Million+ chief wins Offa role after coalition's wider search. Simon Baker writes

These items form part of Robert Gordon University's Art and Heritage Collections.

The head of the Student Loans Company is reported to be being paid through a private firm rather than directly, a mechanism that can be used to reduce income tax liability.

Universities in England will receive an extra ?40 million to help fund taught postgraduate students next year but will lose around ?30 million due to institutions admitting too many undergraduates last autumn.

Scientists should agree not to publish experiments into increasing the virulence of potentially dangerous microbes such as the bird flu virus until wider society can agree on ¡°the balance that must be struck between academic freedom and protecting the greater good of humankind from potential danger¡±.

Obama higher education plan signals policy shift

University applications from UK-based students have fallen by 8.7 per cent, official figures show, with those in England falling further still.

The effect of the government¡¯s student visa policies on private higher education colleges has been ¡°swift and probably even more devastating than was predicted¡±, according to a think tank.

A professor of architecture has been appointed as the next head of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

The government has named its preferred candidate to lead the university access watchdog the Office for Fair Access.

A motion of no confidence in University College London provost Malcolm Grant tabled by the institution¡¯s students¡¯ union has been defeated.

An independent commission has been set up to see if higher tuition fees are deterring poorer students from applying to university.

The government is to clamp down on over-recruitment of students by universities in order to keep costs under control, according to this year¡¯s grant letter.

Mission groups blame school policy for Britons' lack of linguistic enthusiasm. Jack Grove reports

Academic work that is entered into the research excellence framework as worth "double" a normal submission can, in every discipline, be accompanied by a "reserve" option in case reviewers do not agree that it should count twice, it has been decided.

Maintaining lecturers in Europe 'expensive and inefficient', minutes say. Simon Baker reports

A scientist was forced to leave his job at the University of Manchester after being subjected to a "barrage of shouting and verbal abuse" by a senior professor, a tribunal has ruled.

Scholars considering research future don't put too much hope in spin-offs. Matthew Reisz reports

One professor has had enough of Hollywood's clich¨¦d depictions of faculty, says Jon Marcus

New chair of Political Studies Association stresses discipline's key social role. Matthew Reisz reports

Two-fifths of academics surveyed resent pressure to commercialise their work. David Matthews reports

Undergraduates should have study skills classes throughout their entire degree course rather than just a handful of sessions in their first year, the National Union of Students has said.

Scholars say moves against critics and their families echo communist repression. Thomas Escritt writes

The government's apparent move to suspend the higher education bill will not automatically derail the expansion of private provision, according to government critics and leading private institutions.

Universities UK is lobbying the government to create a net migration count that excludes university students from abroad - with some billing it as the only way for the government to hit its target to cut the immigration figure.

These images are taken from an ornately designed leather-bound scrapbook, now in the collection of the Humanities Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, that Jane Webb Loudon (1807-58) seems to have put together for family and friends.

Growth in foreign students shows 'convergence', but sector's diversity remains. Simon Baker writes

Barack Obama has called on state departments to prioritise higher education in their budgets ¨C but has warned universities that spiralling tuition will be met with a cut in taxpayer funding.

The University and College Union is moving towards another strike in newer universities over lecturers¡¯ pensions.

The government has launched a new cross-department venture to encourage universities to expand internationally.

The University of Sussex has been urged to rethink a decision to close most of its lifelong learning department.

Fourteen doctoral training partnerships for the biosciences have been unveiled.

David Cameron is reported to have made a dramatic intervention in the university reforms, shelving the higher education bill that was due this spring.

The University and College Union may suspend its work-to-rule industrial action on pension cuts in pre-1992 universities, after talks with employers.

By Kaustuv Basu, for

Business schools are facing a 10-15 per cent drop in applications for MBA programmes, new figures suggest.

A team of academics is to help retailers make better use of social science research.

The British Academy and Leverhulme Trust have announced a major new investment in humanities and social sciences through the academy¡¯s small research grants scheme.

Nations are ¡°always in crisis¡±, a former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts has argued, as he praised the arm¡¯s-length system of public funding embodied by the Arts Council, which meant that artists did not have to be polite or grateful to governments.

Delays to the annual grant letter may be down to government plans to announce an easing of the AAB rules that are to introduce competition for students between institutions.

The number of people working within the higher education sector in the UK has dropped by 2 per cent over the last two academic years.

Measures to cut red tape and reduce tax burdens on universities will strengthen their autonomy, David Willetts has said.

After a feverish build up in which commentators forecast the ¡°digital destruction¡± of the multi-billion dollar textbook industry, Apple has unveiled a ¡°new textbook experience¡± and free online courses for students - as long as they own Apple products.

Open access may sound death knell for costly, little-read monographs. Matthew Reisz reports

Scholars should go easy on the jokes as a bad crack can cause all sorts of problems. Jack Grove reports

NUS president tells Jack Grove that taxpayers will baulk at paying shareholders for ill-judged reforms