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New Bedfordshire v-c voices concerns but says role won't be platform for politics. John Morgan reports

Spending on the highest-paid staff at Russell Group universities has doubled in less than a decade, according to a report.

A transatlantic wrangle over whether material collected in an oral history project can be used as evidence in a criminal investigation has moved to a US appeals court.

This sample comes from the laboratory where Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) left a number of glass plates coated with bacteria overnight in 1928. It was this that led him to stumble upon the antibiotic powers of "mould juice" - later known as penicillin - and so make the breakthrough that formed the basis for one of the great revolutions in modern medicine.

The vice-chancellor of a Ugandan university opened in collaboration with the University of Buckingham resigned less than two months into its first term, it has emerged.

Ancient mores met modern times at a conference exploring 'Romosexuality'. Matthew Reisz writes

Paper sprouts fresh charges against Thai official found to have plagiarised PhD. Paul Jump writes

Academic freedom key to innovation in China, says politician. Carolynne Wheeler reports from Beijing

Website will 'maximise' impact by bringing debate to policymakers and public. John Elmes reports

But while mergers boost competitiveness, campus commutes leave some cold. Ed Dutton writes

David Willetts has said that he intends to let universities know “by the end of the month” whether the grade threshold at which university places are removed from the cap on numbers is to be lowered in 2013-14.

The charitable College of Law, one of only five private providers in the UK with degree-awarding powers, has been sold to a private for-profit firm.

Graduate starting salaries are set to fall to their lowest real-terms level since 2003 this summer as 90 per cent of businesses freeze their offers to recruits, according to analysis released today.

By Allie Grasgreen, for

Efforts to promote race equality in higher education have petered out and had "little impact", a conference has heard.

The president of London Metropolitan University students’ union has called for the vice-chancellor to apologise after he suggested the sale of alcohol should be banned from parts of the campus because some Muslim students believed drinking was “immoral”.

The University of Bedfordshire has appointed Bill Rammell, formerly a higher education minister under Labour, as its new vice-chancellor.

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have joined the campaign against a cap on tax relief for philanthropic donations amid fears that it could cost the sector millions of pounds.

Administrators to get status for good 'behaviours' in accreditation scheme. David Matthews writes

Academic study of these runes on the island of Orkney is among the work that is helping to boost the University of the Highlands and Islands' international standing in the field of Viking studies.

Sector experts cool on 'bureaucratic' engagement plans proposed by watchdog. Jack Grove reports

Some capital funding for universities is being reallocated to further education colleges as a result of the government's core-and-margin system.

Finance school's vice-principal is keener on a level playing field than private suitors, John Morgan hears

Investigation sparked by questions about staff qualifications and contact hours. Jack Grove writes

This cast reveals the circulation within the heart of a greyhound. It was made by injecting coloured liquid acrylic into structures such as blood vessels and air-filled spaces and then allowing it to harden. When the soft tissue was soaked away, this remarkable map of the blood flow was created.

Scholars restate the public value of their discipline in age of shrinking mobility. Matthew Reisz writes

Research funders’ long-awaited “concordat” on research integrity deliberately steers clear of “heavy-handed regulation”, one of its authors has said.

State to consult public, staff and students over disputed university reforms. Graham Jarvis writes

For-profit higher education firms received half of all spending from a US government programme that allows military servicemen and women to study while on active duty, according to figures released by a senator.

A lecturer in the subject urges his peers to escape the commercial straitjacket. Matthew Reisz writes

Service outlining prospective students' likelihood of dropping out worries some, writes David Matthews

As many as 300 academics are chasing each junior research post at top institutions.

V-c: London Met's large Muslim population makes booze 'culturally sensitive'. David Matthews reports

Passion for a subject remains the number one reason for going to university, outpacing the desire to improve job prospects, according to a poll of young people.

An alternative examination to A levels is gaining a foothold in state schools, its creators claim.

Newer universities have criticised the government for delaying the announcement of student number controls in 2013-14.

The University of Wales, Newport, has started “emergency discussions” after the ����Vlog Funding Council for Wales confirmed that the number of students entering the institution will be cut by more than a fifth in 2013-14.

By Mitch Smith, for

Full-time academic staff in US universities continued to receive below-inflation pay rises in 2011-12, a report has found.

Bolder measures are required to ensure students from poorer families have access to information about university courses, a thinktank has said.

The head of England’s funding council has warned that government calculations on student loan repayments “have got to turn out to be robust” if the new higher education system is to be financially sustainable.

Almost eight in ten UK universities will embark on major capital projects worth more than £5 million in the next year as they face up to fiercer competition for students under the new regime.

Overseas students in the UK could be unwitting holders of fake University of Hertfordshire degrees after a man was jailed for forging them, according to police.

Year abroad pays rich professional and personal dividends, case studies show. Matthew Reisz writes

US policies that guarantee top-performing school pupils a place at university in order to increase racial diversity on campus have failed because middle-class white families "game" the system by moving children to weaker schools.

These formidable Victorian women all appear in a photograph album which forms part of the archives of the Association of Head Mistresses (AHM), now held in the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick.

But cutbacks at a minority of institutions may mask overall spending increase. David Matthews reports

R&D and philanthropy are at the heart of a Turkish university’s ambitious plans. Matthew Reisz reports

The head of England's funding council has maintained that government policy on higher education contains "contradictions", despite being "in trouble" for his comments.