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All business people should be able to ¡°knock on the doors¡± of a university and ask for training and help with research, David Willetts has told the Conservative Party conference.

The tightening of visa rules poses a ¡°serious risk¡± to the academic health of University of Oxford, its vice-chancellor has warned.

The University of Wales has pulled degree accreditation from all courses except those designed and fully controlled by the institution.

The government has announced nearly ?200 million in new science capital spending which it hopes will cement the UK¡¯s status as ¡°home to the greatest scientists and engineers¡±.

Three scientists, including one who died just days ago, have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011.

By Scott Jaschik, for

Up to 6,000 undergraduate places that are being auctioned off to low-cost institutions will go to further education colleges rather than universities, the Labour Party has claimed.

The government has come in for fierce criticism from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford in strongly-worded submissions to the White Paper consultation.

The University of Wales, Newport, has responded to proposals for a radical contraction in the number of Welsh universities with plans for a new institution in the South East of the country.

Many students face a shortfall of over ?8,000 a year when state support is compared to the cost of living for the 2011-12 academic year, a new analysis suggests.

The editor of a major new history of medicine brings two disciplines' perspectives to bear. Matthew Reisz reports

Cuts and inflation eat away at spending review deal - and researchers' goodwill. John Gill writes

?30m campus in broadcast hub will boost industry links and graduate prospects, v-c tells John Morgan

John Morgan on British Council vow to continue scholarly mentoring work despite deadly attack

Feeder colleges for non-EU students may go under as third fall foul of rule change. Simon Baker writes

Australia is to relax its visa rules for overseas students, increasing the competition faced by UK universities just as the coalition government tightens British regulations.

...that is the question, but scholars are arguing over whether they should ask it. Matthew Reisz reports

Top earners would 'overpay' under scheme vaunted at party's annual conference. Simon Baker reports

Lancaster University and the University of Liverpool could unite to form a "federal structure" akin to the University of California as other research-intensive universities explore collaborations to secure a place in the global elite.

The Scottish Funding Council has stressed that "no decisions have been taken" after it emerged that it had asked the University of Dundee and the University of Abertay Dundee to consider merging.

Highly productive sector must be creative to keep up without new funds, study says. Paul Jump reports

Women in their forties and early fifties are the least satisfied among principal investigators with the way they are treated by their universities, a survey has found.

This collection of 29 horses' teeth was assembled by Louis Auzoux (1797-1880), a French doctor who made models of humans, animals and plants for use in teaching medicine and anatomy.

Twenty-three higher education institutions failed to hit their targets for attracting students from poor families, new figures show.

Audit results in 'limited confidence' verdict and call for some external oversight. Jack Grove writes

Publishers, scholars, funders must seek consensus, says the head of a new task force. John Gill reports

Plight of refugee academics compounded by Western 'inhospitality'. Matthew Reisz reports

Administrators favour funding applied subjects over 'pure' and 'soft' disciplines. David Matthews writes

Consumer rights champion Which? has urged the government to scrap plans to penalise students who repay their tuition fee loans early.

Forty university chaplains have signed a letter criticising the coalition government¡¯s White Paper for seeing higher education in ¡°highly individual¡± terms.

Two unions are set for strike action at Middlesex University over job cuts that some claim could reduce the workforce by 15 per cent.

The vice-chancellor of the University of London has announced he is stepping down just one year into the post.

The University of Dundee is to introduce three year degrees to appeal to debt-shy undergraduates from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Labour¡¯s plan to cap tuition fees at ?6,000 would be of greatest benefit to graduates in their 50s earning ?72,500 a year, according to an analysis.

By Libby A. Nelson, for

The Labour Party would reduce the annual tuition fee cap to ?6,000 if it were in power, Ed Miliband has said, in an apparent move away from favouring a graduate tax.

Three European funding agencies have signed an open access funding agreement with journal publisher Wiley-Blackwell.

Six leading scientific bodies, including the Royal Society, have urged the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to reconsider its controversial ¡°shaping capability¡± measures.

SNP plans for sector focus on mergers and research concentration. David Matthews reports

EPSRC chief provokes ire by saying scientists' views are not supported by evidence. Simon Baker writes

A lack of biomedical scientists on one of the subpanels for the research excellence framework has caused "grave concerns" over the credibility of the exercise, a representative body has warned.

V-c vaunts budget degrees and low cost of living to boost ex-NI enrolment. David Matthews reports

Institutions' locale and curricula can help graduates outearn Russell Group peers. Simon Baker reports

Loose 'ties' with author emphasised after terrible notices for 'erotic capital' book. Jack Grove writes

Hughes issues plea to win back students' trust as party conference aims to overcome its 'sense of bereavement' over tuition fees. Simon Baker reports from Birmingham

The grade threshold at which student places are removed from the recruitment cap and thrown open to full competition should be lowered from AAB to ABB at A level, a mission group has argued.

Fury as chair suggests employers could question UCU's involvement in the USS. John Morgan writes

This 18-carat gold cigarette case belonged to Harry Price (1881-1948), a writer, amateur conjuror and ghost hunter who, in 1923, set up the National Laboratory of Psychical Research, in order "to investigate in a dispassionate manner and by purely scientific means every phase of psychic or alleged psychic phenomena".

Jack Grove reports from Copenhagen on the Arab yearning for academic partnership and cooperation

Universities in Europe have been advised by a World Bank official to look to developing countries for inspiration rather than copying British and US models of higher education.

Poetry contest reminds trainee medics that patients are people, not machines. Matthew Reisz reports

Scholars decry institutions' refusal to release data and desire for good news stories. Jack Grove writes