'Lefties' gene found
An international group of scientists has discovered a gene that increases an individual's chances of being left-handed. The study, led by a team from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at...
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Star whose eye was drawn to the dark side by a punk rant
Donald Bloxham Professor of History, Edinburgh University 'The Rising Star award is setting you up for a fall. The laws of physics determine that what rises... It's a pretty petty world, the academic...
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Fancy a degree without all the hassle of study?
Then try Serbia, where for €6,000 you can get a qualification and never sit an exam. Thomas Land reports on the culture of academic corruption that is scandalising the former Soviet bloc, and the...
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World encompassed
INDIAN PM CRITICISES STATE OF ACADEME Most of India's universities are "below average", according to the nation's prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Speaking at Mumbai University, Mr Singh called for an...
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New science generation needs the spark of life
Universities, Government and schools must unite to get more young people into science, say Michael Arthur and Deian Hopkin Science, as the Prime Minister has often claimed, is key to the UK's...
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Gary Day
As people watched their furniture floating down the street in the heaviest July rains since records began, the Cabinet addressed itself to the housing crisis. "Where can we build cheap, affordable...
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You don't have to be neurotic, but it helps
Academics' tendency to worry can be a strength as well as a weakness, argues Daniel Nettle I recall one Christmas Day afternoon, when most people were probably snoozing off their lunches, becoming...
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Hospitable? Not us
Aberdeen University was delighted to receive top marks in the latest league table for the subject of "hospitality" - but staff are slightly mystified. The university made second place with a score of...
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School of hard knocks
Wondering how the Government defines "world-class" skills? Look no further than the cover of the response to the Leitch report, World Class Skills: Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills in England...
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Sun, sea - and string
Peep was looking for some light holiday reading and chanced upon String Theory in a Nutshell . Written by Elias Kiritsis, it is commended for being "succinct" and "concise". But the 608 pages were...
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Youthful flashback
Peep is all too aware that vice-chancellors are looking younger these days, but was still taken aback to see the pre-adolescent picture on the homepage of Mark Betz, a European cinema expert at King'...
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Scientist is feeling groovy
A scientist has taken to singing about life in academe. Among the themes of Cambridge academic Ron Laskey's "Songs for Cynical Scientists" are the morning after the conference banquet and seminar...
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Welcome to the strangers among us
Alan Macfarlane's experience of teaching in Japan led him to ponder whether we adequately prepare for foreign students When W. E. Griffis visited Japan in the 1870s, he wrote: "It acts like mental...
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Is there a Paris match for UK's overseas appeal?
Sarkozy's reforms may drive French universities to compete for our lucrative foreign student market, warns Peter Brady Whether it's igniting Joan of Arc's passions and eventually her toes, waging war...
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The distorted vision of Dearing
Students are now customers, demanding satisfaction and skills. Whatever happened to learning, asks Frank Furedi I remember very vividly when the Dearing report was published ten years ago. Until that...