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Researchers should not feel obliged to pursue research favoured by prestigious journals, David Willetts has said.

The chair of the council of the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Wales has stepped down after the education minister called for him to consider his position.

One in five higher education institutions in England is seeking to lower its fee levels to less than ?7,500 to bid for additional student places, the Office for Fair Access has said.

The research councils might never recoup the money they have spent on the troubled Shared Services Centre, the National Audit Office has warned in a critical report.

Much has been made of the supposedly supine response of vice-chancellors to the wholesale reform of higher education by the coalition government.

The business world's "counter-intuitive" failure to capitalise on the UK's ever-increasing research excellence needs to be addressed by the government, the author of a report into UK research has said.

David Matthews reports from Kampala on problems with public funding and academic freedom

Cutting teaching subsidies could "kill off" evening-class courses, which are a key route into part-time degrees, a conference has heard.

Collection of scholarly essays attacks 'distorting' effects of coalition reforms. Simon Baker reports

Frustration with audit culture has driven a scholar to murder - in fiction. Matthew Reisz investigates

LSE awaits outcome of probe into Gaddafi regime gifts to publish guidelines. David Matthews reports

Bath v-c tells Simon Baker how appointment strategy is vital to sector's long-term health

Too much emphasis on graduate employability in Key Information Sets could play into the hands of private for-profit providers at the expense of universities, a vice-chancellor has warned.

The bronze lamp in the form of an improbable bird takes its origins from the drawings of grotesque beasts by the Dutch designer and silversmith Arent van Bolten, dating from around 1620.

Lessons for UK as book details often inappropriate focus of American institutions. Matthew Reisz writes

The head of 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ College London's Australian campus has been assured by the nation's immigration minister that it will benefit from relaxed student-visa rules, after concerns that it would be excluded.

State repeals ban against police on campus after reports of criminal activity. Jack Grove reports

The Greek research system should be overhauled to help boost economic growth, a government-commissioned review has found, as the state-reliant sector faces a squeeze in the nation's debt meltdown.

With acceptances way up, is over-recruitment being used to beat drop in 2012-13? asks Simon Baker

Higher education's unions are divided on the ?150 national pay offer, as employers predict tougher wage battles ahead when higher tuition fees create a belief that the sector is "awash with cash".

Widespread uncertainty among partner colleges after abrupt policy shift. David Matthews reports

Consultation on 'unfair' system could result in students sitting A levels early. Jack Grove reports

Degree courses lasting just over 18 months and costing ?4,800 a year are to be offered by Coventry 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ.

A former president of the British Academy has argued that universities are subject to ¡°elaborate forms of accountability that reveal little about how effectively students are taught or how much they learn on different courses¡±.

The UK research base is the most productive in the world but its position could be threatened by relatively low investment, a government-commissioned report warns.

The status and influence of chief scientific advisors varies wildly across government, with many advisors lacking sufficient independence, oversight, or ministerial access to properly fulfil their briefs.

By Steve Kolowich, for

Keith Mason is to step down as chief executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council five months earlier than scheduled.

The government and the research councils have rejected suggestions that the UK needs a specific body to police research integrity.

Funding chiefs have made a series of changes to the plans for student number controls in 2012-13 in an attempt to alleviate concerns about their impact on social mobility, ¡°vulnerable¡± subjects and specialist colleges.

The most senior education civil servant in Britain has been appointed as the next vice-chancellor of the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Reading.

The number of students at UK universities has gone up by almost a third in the last 10 years with those coming from outside the European Union more than doubling, according to a new report.

Former Labour science minister Lord Sainsbury of Turville has been elected chancellor of the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Cambridge after receiving more than half the votes in a ballot of members of the institution¡¯s senate.

Research on the evidence for A-level grade inflation has prompted claims that elite universities are being damaged.

The switch from measuring widening participation via students' socio-economic classification to free school meal data is not fair, an admissions expert has said.

A university aims to attract research investment with 'collaborative centre'. John Morgan writes

The president of the US' pre-eminent university is planning an innovative future. Jon Marcus reports

The vice-chancellor of the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Oxford has called for "serious consideration" to be given to a proposal for a government-backed loan for taught postgraduate students.

Begun as a counterweight to journal impact tables, Faculty of 1000 starts its own. Paul Jump writes

In 1894, a young Jewish artillery officer, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, was convicted of betraying French military secrets to the Germans and sentenced to solitary confinement in French Guiana. It soon turned out that he had been found guilty on trumped-up evidence.

Conservatives are keen to follow Swedish, Danish lead in charging non-EU students. Jack Grove writes

Supporting reconstruction in Iraq drove home the value of teaching, an HEA Fellow tells Jack Grove

Mooted change in legal status may allow investors to obtain degree-awarding powers. John Morgan writes

Suspended academic launches own investigation and decries 'smear campaign'. Paul Jump reports

Lord Sainsbury tells Simon Baker that the coalition is failing to learn from Labour's policy mistakes

The National Union of Students has warned lecturers that student support for industrial action over pensions could be withdrawn.

The use of bibliometric data to assess humanities scholars could become more widespread with the launch of a citation index of academic books.

Scholars identify weaknesses in a proposed sector-wide 'reference tariff'. Jack Grove reports

BBC and v-cs have run a 'coordinated series of attacks', university claims. David Matthews writes