My precious! How academia’s Gollums guard their research fields Over-possessive scholars may resort to foul play to protect their research domains, say postdocs By Jack Grove 9 June
What cancel culture? Most students happy with freedom of speech Major survey finds most UK undergraduates hear wide variety of opinions shared on campus and share their views freely By Tom Williams 9 June
Horizon Europe: EU leaders ‘snub’ Freeman’s dash to Brussels ‘Real shame’ that European Commission heads declined to agree to ‘last round’ of talks, says UK official By Ben Upton 8 June
Birmingham apologises for history of gay conversion therapy Man came forward to report sexual reorientation practices he endured on campus in the 1970s By Jack Grove 8 June
Don’t abandon ‘micro’ courses to ‘Wild West’, says ex-minister Lifelong Learning Commission says proposals to exclude microcredentials from loan entitlement are a mistake By Jack Grove 8 June
Some top performers in REF had big shift to ‘teaching’ roles But overall data on reclassification of staff does not show obvious impact on results By Simon Baker 8 June
Bumper postgraduate fee rises at some UK universities Variable data in benchmarking tool suggest inflationary pressures yet to have full impact By Simon Baker 8 June
Zahawi wants OfS to audit foreign donations for free speech risk Education secretary proposes amendment to higher education legislation to address calls for more transparency By Tom Williams 7 June
Freeman: UK ‘ready’ to walk away from Horizon Europe ‘Deeply problematic’ deadlock over Britain’s membership of European research scheme cannot continue, warns science minister ahead of ‘last round of talks’ By Jack Grove 7 June
Free Speech Union legal pressure forces Essex harassment changes Case spotlights FSU’s influence and prospect of its mounting bigger legal actions against universities once free speech bill becomes law By John Morgan 7 June
Auditors gave Buckingham ‘uncertain’ verdict on 2019 finances Private university recorded £17 million deficit in 2019 and a potential £119,000 fine for late filing of accounts, as Crewe campus left problems By John Morgan 6 June
University processes must change, say Natasha Abrahart’s parents Helping students is not just about securing more counsellors and money for mental health support, according to bereaved family By Tom Williams 6 June
