Monthly Archives: July 2025

Online therapy as effective as in-person therapy, finds large study

Online therapy as effective as in-person therapy, finds large study

When COVID arrived early in 2020, pandemic restrictions made in-person mental health care difficult or impossible. Both therapists and patients had to adapt almost overnight. For many in the field, it felt like a gamble: could this screen-based format offer the same level of support for people struggling with depression, anxiety or trauma? Evidence has […] … learn more→

Scientific norms shape the behavior of researchers working for the greater good

Scientific norms shape the behavior of researchers working for the greater good

Over the past 400 years or so, a set of mostly unwritten guidelines has evolved for how science should be properly done. The assumption in the research community is that science advances most effectively when scientists conduct themselves in certain ways. The first person to write down these attitudes and behaviors was Robert Merton, in 1942. […] … learn more→

How Medical Assisting programs enhance patient care quality

How Medical Assisting programs enhance patient care quality

Want to deliver exceptional patient care that keeps people coming back? Every healthcare facility dreams of providing outstanding patient experiences. After all, quality patient care leads to: Better health outcomes Higher patient satisfaction scores More referrals and repeat visits Here’s the problem: Most healthcare facilities struggle with inconsistent care quality. Staff get overwhelmed juggling clinical […] … learn more→

‘The customer is always right’: why some uni teachers give higher grades than students deserve

‘The customer is always right’: why some uni teachers give higher grades than students deserve

Grade inflation happens when teachers knowingly give a student a mark higher than deserved. It can also happen indirectly, when the level of difficulty of a course is deliberately lowered so students achieve higher grades. The practice threatens to undermine the quality of a university degree and the prestige of higher education. Is it happening in Australia and […] … learn more→

Turbulent research landscape imperils US brain gain − and ultimately American prosperity

Turbulent research landscape imperils US brain gain − and ultimately American prosperity

Despite representing only 4% of the world’s population, the United States accounts for over half of science Nobel Prizes awarded since 2000, hosts seven of The Times Higher Education Top 10 science universities, and incubates firms such as Alphabet (Google), Meta and Pfizer that turn federally funded discoveries into billion-dollar markets. The domestic STEM talent pool alone cannot sustain this research output. The U.S. […] … learn more→

New US directive for visa applicants turns social media feeds into political documents

New US directive for visa applicants turns social media feeds into political documents

In recent weeks, the US State Department implemented a policy requiring all university, technical training, or exchange program visa applicants to disclose their social media handles used over the past five years. The policy also requires these applicants to set their profiles to public. This move is an example of governments treating a person’s digital persona as their political identity. […] … learn more→

Practicing languages ​​differently: AI as a conversation partner?

Practicing languages ​​differently: AI as a conversation partner?

Chatbots are among the innovations in artificial intelligence that can appeal to students learning a foreign language. But how can they be used effectively? What can they offer when implemented within a well-thought-out educational framework? Last April, an Italian high school student spoke on the radio about how she had managed to improve her French thanks to […] … learn more→

6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash

6 simple questions to tell if a ‘finfluencer’ is more flash than cash

Images of flashy sports cars. Lavish lifestyle shots. These are just some of the red flags consumers should watch out for when they turn to social media for financial advice. Consumers should not believe everything they see on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube from the growing numbers of “finfluencers” – content creators who build their audience […] … learn more→

About the unread

About the unread

Most academic writers are regular readers. There is of course a strong connection between reading and writing. Reading and writing feed each other. But I’m not focused on the connection right now. No, I’m thinking about how hard we often find it to prioritise time for reading. And how maybe the reality is that most […] … learn more→

We spent a month writing and reading in glass boxes. We read faster, wrote more – and inspired passersby

We spent a month writing and reading in glass boxes. We read faster, wrote more – and inspired passersby

Lucy Christopher, a new mother, had been trying to return to her work-in-progress for several months, but could find neither time, headspace, nor validation that writing was worth the time away from her child. Why should she spend time writing when it would likely bring few financial rewards? Anyway, could she still write? Perhaps having […] … learn more→