It is the season of university open days and study decisions for Year 12 students. As an academic, the question I get asked most by students and parents is, “will this degree lead to a job?”. It is understandable. However, it isn’t necessarily the right question to ask as young people consider what course will suit them best. Focusing […] … learn more→

Imagine that you are an examiner. You are reading a doctoral thesis. And you’ve nearly got to the end. You’ve read a lot of carefully crafted words which have explained what the research is and why it is as it is. You’ve read the results and what these mean and how they fit with the current […] … learn more→

Title of course: Space/Power/Species What prompted the idea for the course? A few years ago, I came across the architect Joyce Hwang’s artificial habitat for bats at the Griffis Sculpture Park in upstate New York. Titled “Bat Tower,” this outdoor installation was designed to house the little brown bat, an endangered species threatened by a fungal infection […] … learn more→

Title of course: “The Science of Cats” What prompted the idea for the course? I’m an evolutionary biologist who has spent my career studying the evolution of small lizards in the Caribbean. I’m also a lifelong cat lover, but it never occurred to me to do anything scientific with house cats. They’re hard to study – […] … learn more→

The higher education sector in the UK is in financial crisis. Over 60 institutions have announced severance or redundancy programmes, and around 40% expect to be in deficit in 2023-24. The financial collapse of one or more universities is now a distinct possibility, with disruptive economic and social repercussions for the regions in which they are based. This alarming situation is the […] … learn more→

One day, the Russian physicist Piotr Kapitsa asked Paul Dirac for his opinion on the book Crime and Punishment . The latter’s laconic response: “Very well, but the author was mistaken, because he described two sunrises on the same day.” Dirac spoke little, very little and never to say nothing. It is said that his physicist colleagues and students […] … learn more→

In August many Australian universities have open days as Year 12 students make up their minds about what they want to study next year. There will be lots of things for prospective students to think about – including what course they want to study and what career they want to pursue. Beyond questions about study content, there are five […] … learn more→

The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s economic trajectory has long been characterised by its reliance on primary commodities, such as unprocessed forestry exports, where high volume and relatively low value are common. Successive […] … learn more→

Title of Course: “Feedback Loops: How to Give and Receive High-Quality Feedback” What prompted the idea for this course? Given that my students pursue careers in an incredibly wide range of fields – business, philanthropy, sports, medicine, finance, human rights, education – I wanted to teach them skills that could serve a general purpose. Being […] … learn more→

Prospective students will no longer be asked to write personal statements as part of their application to university in the UK, the admissions organisation Ucas has announced. Instead of writing a single 4,000 character personal statement, from 2026 applicants will instead have to answer three questions. These ask why they want to study a particular course, […] … learn more→