The administration of French university life is complex, and the division of academics' time between work and leave is no exception. The working week is fixed at a maximum of 35 hours, and all French...
On top of 11 statutory public holidays in 2006, Finnish academics can look forward to time off on Midsummer Day and Christmas Eve. Annual paid leave is regulated in a collective agreement for central...
Only a clever mixture of happiness and work allows true intellectual self-fulfilment in modern society, German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno once wrote. Adorno, the epitome of a self-confident...
That old taboo, racism, endures in the collective unconscious - and in science, too, argues Kunal Basu Race is taboo. Few words prompt as much noise - or silence. Fewer still have enjoyed comparable...
Around this time of year my brain atrophies. This is partly the accumulation of occupational shocks that one cannot do much to avoid. Discovering you have 80 students in your class next term when you...
The new year newspapers "Reviews of the Year" are the great new year newspaper rituals. Lists and quizzes such as The Daily Telegraph's "2005: The Good, the Bad and the Quirky" are increasingly...
For senior public servants, a gong from the Queen is the traditional way to cap a career and disappear into honourable retirement. Which is why the knighthood awarded to Ivor Crewe, the former...
We hear that there are two other names on the long list for Hefce's top job: David Watson, formerly vice-chancellor at Brighton University, and David Eastwood, vice-chancellor of the University of...
While he's been finishing off his duties as editor of The Spectator , Boris Johnson, the new Tory Higher Education Spokesman, has been tight-lipped about what he makes of tuition fees and the state...
The disabled loos that the University of Central England, Birmingham, dutifully installed recently are causing more problems than anticipated. Security guards keep catching students in flagrante in...
Humanity can only learn to cope with global warming if we accept that it will take more than the work of scientists to find appropriate solutions, says Mike Hulme Climate change will not be "solved"...
To Western universities made-in-China degrees look lucrative - but they're fooling themselves, says exile Wei Jingsheng When Western universities promote schemes to run their own branches in China,...
We must redefine the blurred line between computer research and theft of ideas, says Susan Bassnett Plagiarism used to be a word that provoked strong reactions: it was seen as something utterly...
Harriet Swain is given some expert advice on how to complain about problems at work. Key to getting the result you crave is keeping your composure even if you are fast approaching boiling point New...
Name: Jenny Swan Age: 37 Job: Office assistant, development and alumni office, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. Salary: About £14,000 Practical training: Information technology courses, mainly in...