Publications matter. And not just journal papers. For research aimed at improving people’s health by changing how international health services are delivered, other publications such as operational guidelines for managers, practice guides for doctors, and materials for the public that explain diseases, treatments or lifestyle changes in simple language, are just as important. These are the […] … learn more→

Over the past century, American schools have integrated an ever-more-diverse group of students. Racial integration is most prominent, but it’s not just Native Americans, blacks and Latinos who have been brought into public education. Schools today serve children with conditions on the autism spectrum, Down syndrome and many other medical issues. But there is one […] … learn more→

At first glance, it looks as though the group of young adults is building Lego. But these are actually students at the University of Cape Town’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design Thinking, and they’re using the colourful blocks to design a prototype. It represents policy reform ideas around transitioning from informal to formal economies. It’s […] … learn more→

With reports of increasing violence and drug use, along with high levels of suicide and a lack of staff, prisons in the UK are currently seen to be in a state of crisis. In recent years, the condition of British prisons has come under political, academic and public scrutiny. But what a lot of people […] … learn more→

Times Higher Education recently announced in its BRICS and Emerging Economics University Rankings 2017 that India has increased its share of top universities, but China still has the highest density of leading universities in the developing world. In the BRICS rankings, Chinese universities occupy six of the top 10 positions. There is a growing trend for […] … learn more→

There is no shortage of voices telling PhD students what they absolutely must do (or not do) to complete their theses and secure jobs afterwards. My experience is that some of the advice thrown at PhD students is inaccurate at best and actively harmful at worst. I ignored a lot of it. Nevertheless, I submitted […] … learn more→

In 2016 I had the privilege of visiting four leading universities abroad. At KU Leuven in Belgium, Oxford in the UK and two US institutions – Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley – I was exposed to new ideas and learned about novel approaches to higher education. It was both interesting and reassuring to […] … learn more→

Details, details. More, or less? Doctoral researchers may get feedback from supervisors or reviewers about writing less detail – too much here, be more concise – or conversely more, unpack this or more information needed here. Both types of comment mean you haven’t got the detail and length right. So how do you know when enough detail is […] … learn more→

College tuition has been soaring for years but the expense of college is far worse than what we’ve been told. See, admin knows that tuition is tracked, and tracked carefully, and so has long since made a shell game out of college expenses. While college tuition goes up a few percent every year, book prices […] … learn more→

I have just torn up a cheque for £250,000, payable to a university I attended some years ago. Well, metaphorically at any rate. I have decided not to donate, despite constant, annoying injunctions to do so. I am the graduate of four universities, two in the top five in this country. Overall, I enjoyed them all […] … learn more→