Catalan independence ‘a chance to shake up universities’ Education minister sees break from Spain as a path to more ‘competition and excellence’ in hiring, firing and leadership By David Matthews 10 October
Name change for England’s TEF reflects ‘student outcomes’ shift ‘Teaching excellence and student outcomes framework’ switch follows new metrics By John Morgan 9 October
Video: the future of world-class research Panel debate from the 2017 色盒直播 World Academic Summit 9 October
Oxford v-c targets overhaul of ‘sclerotic’ administration Louise Richardson says concentration of functions at college and departmental level creates ‘great deal of duplication’ By Chris Havergal 9 October
Subject cost data add fuel to England's variable fees debate Analysis of departmental spending suggests there is a large gulf in costs between some disciplines By Simon Baker 5 October
Career advice: how to write a PhD proposal Pragya Agarwal considers what aspiring doctoral students can do to make their application stand out from the rest By Pragya Agarwal 5 October
BPP shuts dental course as regulator raises safety concerns Students on course forced to find alternative programmes, as government plans to open English sector further to new providers By John Morgan 5 October
Interview with Shamit Saggar The new chair of the Campaign for Social Science on ethnic minorities, the similarity between law and academia and universities swallowing the management textbook By Ellie Bothwell 5 October
Gerald Bernbaum, 1936-2017 Former vice-chancellor of London South Bank University remembered By Matthew Reisz 5 October
Fresh data support freedom of movement for scientists Countries with the most open immigration policies for scholars have stronger scientific impact, reports suggest By Rachael Pells 4 October
How to be happy: a psychologist's view of #HEhappiness What brings joy? This week, as part of our week of articles on #HEhappiness, academics from five disciplines address this most difficult of questions By Sonja Lyubomirsky 4 October
France set to boost research budget by 6 per cent Proposals ‘reverse the trend’ of falling spending, says research minister By David Matthews 4 October