Academic ability is not fixed at birth 1
The Western preoccupation with IQ levels is one of the main reasons why we have such class bias in the English education system ("Elite institutions' class bias simply reflects 'meritocracy'", 22 May...
The Western preoccupation with IQ levels is one of the main reasons why we have such class bias in the English education system ("Elite institutions' class bias simply reflects 'meritocracy'", 22 May...
I would like to make it clear that Bruce Charlton's views in the paper quoted in last week's Times Higher Education (which has not been peer reviewed) in no way reflect either the ethos or the...
Tim Birkhead writes that "academics, unlike people in other forms of employment, are not motivated primarily by money" ("If you don't like your job ... ", 22 May). He also says: "Research brings its...
In his apologia for the University of Westminster's BSc courses in "complementary therapies", David Peters not only claims that students on these courses gain and exercise a critical ability to "...
I read with interest your article on sexual relationships between academic staff and students ("Sex and the university", 22 May).In 2005, after more than 30 years' service as an academic, I was...
Stephen Ball is right to highlight the difficulties posed by globalised, business-like universities ("Sector is shifting to business ethos without debate, expert argues", 22 May). An interesting...
Your article on the misconceptions of one-year versus two-year MA courses in the UK is misfocused ("Misperception of masters could hit UK recruitment", 22 May).The problem is the perceived role of...
I could not agree more with letters last week that called for Lancaster University to keep a sense of proportion in dealing with the case of an academic who wrote a letter to a student's mother -...
Adrian Buckley's suggestion for a new research assessment metric based on citations in Times Higher Education is indeed innovative (Letters, 22 May). However, the following more modest proposal has...
Academics who are alarmed by the suggestion that their index-linked final-salary pensions might be unsustainable ("Gold standard reassessed", 15 May) can do something useful to protect their own...

The Principle of Sound Learning is that the noise of vulgar fame should never trouble the cloistered calm of academic existence," wrote F. M. Cornford a century ago. "Hence, learning is called sound...
What did the stand-up tell academics who want to give better lectures? It's no laughing matter - it's about performing in the moment, Tariq Tahir hears
Many researchers believe a 'gut instinct' can be as powerful a tool as logic and academics should acknowledge its role in their work. Matthew Reisz reports

Rising stars - The young academics tipped to go places
The prospect of another research assessment exercise will lead only to discord, says Gloria Monday