There are reasons to be optimistic that we can start to know something about whether life exists elsewhere. But, says Charles Cockell, a more remarkable finding might be that we are exceptional
With the cost of UK participation in EU research no longer hidden post-Brexit, a robust case for Horizon Europe membership must be made, says Graeme Reid
Immersive ethnographic research often produces gripping accounts of life on the edge, but verifying such work can be problematic. Matthew Reisz examines how ethnographers can produce work that is both credible and robust
Independent research institutes are hailed as hothouses for cutting-edge science, but they seem to be falling out of fashion. Rachael Pells asks if concentrating research in universities is a better strategy
Nearly 50 years since war on cancer was declared, declarations of victory remain a distant prospect. Here, six cancer researchers assess the lie of the land
Experts are out of fashion with today’s political vanguard, but fraudulent research risks further undermining science, says 罢贬贰’s Asia-Pacific editor John Ross
The entanglement of the university and tech worlds faces increased scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Could joint positions in industry and academia offer a workable and ethically defensible way forward? David Matthews reports
Braving frozen horse liver, shamanic rituals and endless vodka-soaked toasts may not have resulted in the hoped-for discovery of a hitherto-unknown form of opera, but Nicholas Till has no regrets about his visit to Yakutsk
The prospect of losing access to EU funding only strengthens the rationale for UK universities to develop deep, bilateral international partnerships, says Ed Byrne
When the alt-right made highly dubious claims about historical Irish slavery, Natalie Zacek realised that a rebuttal from an expert would make no difference
Social scientists’ inexplicable failure to conduct research on their own campuses is holding back quality in undergraduate education, says Richard Arum
Government investment will address the underperforming sector but political interference needs to stop for Indian higher education to truly make its mark, argues Deepak Nayyar
A home-grown alternative to the research assessment exercise would better reflect local practice and sit better with the special administrative region’s new political reality, says Michael O’Sullivan
For insight into the ‘pervasive dislocation’ of people’s lives today, the sociologist Jeff Ferrell rode the rails across the US. He tells Matthew Reisz about life on the road and the limits of mainstream research
Gathering intellectual antagonists under the same roof contains the incendiary electricity of controversy and redirects it to generate sparks of new knowledge, says Carel Stolker