Between the global COVID-19 pandemic, the associated economic downturn and widespread protests over racism, it’s difficult for everyone. Many people are struggling, consumed with anxiety and stress, finding ourselves unable to sleep or focus. As a developmental psychologist and researcher on anxiety and fear in infants and young children, I have been particularly concerned about the impact of the […] … learn more→

What does a law professor need from a data visualisation specialist? What would an expert in the prevention of domestic violence see in billions of Tweets? How can a researcher use Big Data to enhance climate projections in Australia and overseas? What can universities do to promote Indigenous data sovereignty and governance? Can scientists transform […] … learn more→

As UK university students begin an academic year, they are experiencing a totally different way of life. Some have already found themselves in lockdown in their residences and are afraid they will not be getting some of the usual benefits of university education. Universities have a duty of care for students’ health and well-being, and a responsibility […] … learn more→

Most of us work in occupied research territories. Other researchers have been around at least some of the things that we are concerned with. Their work offers particular interpretations and perhaps ‘evidence’ that may – or may not – be useful to us as we work out what we are going to do. Other people’s […] … learn more→

In the Flawn Academic Center of the University of Texas at Austin is a spacious room that is not devoted to academic activity. It houses Blackstone Launchpad, which promotes itself as “a program that helps students of all backgrounds navigate the UT entrepreneurship ecosystem”, a pretentious way of saying “create a business”. “Why do we […] … learn more→

Until quite recently, UK students were largely uninvolved in the creation of their education. Even in the halcyon days of good funding in the 1960s, students were expected to be grateful for whatever their lecturers decided to deliver. I remember, as a student rep in the early 1990s, how my attempt to protest about insufficient […] … learn more→

When colleges and universities assign roommates instead of letting students pick and choose their own, the idea is often to increase the chance that students will live with someone from a different racial or ethnic background. It’s also to help them create a more diverse network of friends. A growing number of colleges and universities  – from Duke University to Colgate […] … learn more→

As the new academic year begins in the northern hemisphere, universities are scratching their heads over exactly how to conduct this nerve-racking experiment in campus reopening. How many staff might already have been infected by SARS-CoV-2? What safety measures should be introduced? And, crucially, what support mechanisms will they most benefit from? At King’s College […] … learn more→

We all know about all the fantastic holiday destinations in Thailand. Some famous and crowded spots to experience the hustle and bustle to some remote exotic ones to experience the natural beauty and the sunny beaches – you can find it all in Thailand. But when it comes to moving to Thailand, that’s a different […] … learn more→

The international rankings of universities are today a reality of globalization which sheds a different light than the historical reputation of institutions or the evaluation reports produced on them. They are based on purely quantitative comparative performance elements that must be interpreted within their scope: what data are used? What are the indicators? What are the calculation algorithms? […] … learn more→