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A £120 million deal has been struck with the help of a former higher education minister to build a 2,000-bed student accommodation complex that will serve Newcastle University and the University of Northumbria.

Staff at the University of Salford will be on strike next Tuesday in protest against redundancies.

The universities and science minister has appealed to private investors to support overseas expansion for UK universities and stated that investment bank Goldman Sachs is “keen to investigate this possibility”.

Queen Margaret University has scooped the top prize in the annual awards honouring the sector’s finest leaders, managers and administrators.

Last year, UK universities produced the lowest number of spin-off companies for a decade, but such firms are now surviving longer, a report says.

Birmingham's new Centre for Character and Values will address 'practical ethics'. Matthew Reisz writes

Expansion into China and India will help to meet the demand for vets worldwide. Jack Grove reports

Sector embraces partnerships but finds cash and structure wanting. Elizabeth Gibney reports

Co-development vital to internationalised future, IAU general secretary tells Rachel Williams

These items - now owned by the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich - are all linked to the crazily ambitious French composer and conductor Louis Antoine Jullien (1812-60).

Accessible information could spark ‘second open science revolution’, report says. Paul Jump writes

A discussion of the merits of private venture made for a spicy dish. David Matthews reports

Matthew Reisz reports on how serious games offer insights into politics, pandemics and propaganda

North American test cases strive to get to grips with copyright in the modern age. Jon Marcus reports

Universities need to update guidelines on industry collaboration to reinstate academic rights that have been "seriously eroded" over the past generation, a report by the American Association of University Professors has said.

Moving to gold model could cost sector an extra £60m a year, says Finch group. Paul Jump reports

University business development looks to private and international sources. David Matthews writes

A scheme brought in to address concerns over the impact of £9,000 tuition fees on students from poor backgrounds was designed in haste, an interim report on the project has said.

Association says members may be diverting cash to meet care demands. Elizabeth Gibney reports

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford during a ceremony at the institution’s Sheldonian Theatre.

A-level courses could require a stamp of approval by learned societies or “a subgroup of universities” under plans put forward by the exam regulator Ofqual.

The Welsh government has drafted a 63-point plan to bolster the employability of the country’s university graduates.

A transition to full open-access publishing will cost UK higher education an extra £50 million or £60 million a year, according to a long-awaited report on how the country should make the change.

The government has defended the public financing of for-profit higher education providers and has said that it wants widening participation funding to be “better targeted”.

By Scott Jaschik for

A mathematician who led the boycott in the UK of a major publisher over the issue of open access and a vice-chancellor who served on the Browne Review are among the higher education figures recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

The world’s largest telescope is a step closer to being built after organisers gave the go-ahead to its plans at a meeting last week.

The new student loans system designed by the government to support higher tuition fees is “unsustainable in the long term”, according to a survey of senior figures in higher education conducted by Barclays.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire, Malcolm McVicar, is to step down after more than 14 years in charge at the institution.

The next government spending review and general election could bring changes for universities that would make recent reforms look like “marginal tinkering”, the new head of a mission group has warned.

A Welsh-language version of a film documentary that followed a team of Swansea University glaciologists on a field trip to Greenland had its premiere last week.

Scholars join up as veil of secrecy lifts, outgoing MoD chief scientific adviser tells Elizabeth Gibney

Complaints over penalties a growing concern for the sector, says OIA. Jack Grove reports

Throughout most of the 20th century, student intake from state schools was generally higher at the University of Oxford than at the University of Cambridge, although the latter overtook its ancient rival in 1988, a House of Commons Library briefing on Oxbridge "elitism" has found.

Four-to-one stand against general secretary's plans. Jack Grove reports from Manchester

The Peoples' Olympiad was organised as a protest against the notorious 1936 "Hitler Olympics" in Berlin.

Comprehensive app tackles Shakespeare's strange tools for seduction. Matthew Reisz reports

Academics face a lifetime on part-time or fixed-term contracts unless action is taken to fight the creep of casualised labour within universities, lecturers have warned.

Bath conference considers 'dying in the digital age'. Matthew Reisz offers his condolences

Delegates say 'bully's charter' fails feedback test and requires a health warning. Jack Grove reports

Libya plans campus construction and closer UK links as preparation for greater university autonomy, minister tells David Matthews

Elite to put a price on their greatness, rather than having it thrust upon them, writes Elizabeth Gibney

'Conservative' client group must invest to continue outstanding performance. John Morgan reports

Government set to cap loans and bring alternative providers under QAA scrutiny. David Matthews writes

A new open-access journal that will allow researchers to publish a paper every year for a one-off fee of just $99 (£64) has prompted hopes that a more competitive market in open-access fees may soon emerge.

Head of fledgling Saudi institution restates pursuit of global excellence. David Matthews reports

Sky's not the limit for international recruitment, British Council report cautions. Jack Grove writes

The economic crisis in Europe could open up a major divide in university funding across the Continent, the European University Association has warned.

An ambitious free festival exploring everything from the iconic London Underground map to brain scans of cab drivers and novelist Will Self will take place at University College London later this week.

By Louis White, for

Labour’s shadow business secretary has warned that moving responsibility for universities from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to the Department for Education would cause “disruption and uncertainty” for the sector.