Research

They say ‘lessons have been learned’ after Research Councils UK is condemned for lack of dialogue

Research gains in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Korea are not necessarily in their strongest suits, finds Thomson Reuters

A professor of educational technology at Newcastle University has won a $1 million (£660,000) prize for his work teaching children from India’s slums how to use the internet

Universities and research institutes that do not investigate research misconduct properly could have their research council funding removed.

By Ry Rivard, for Inside Higher Ed

The UK’s higher education funding councils will not express a preference for either green or gold open access in their submission rules for future research excellence frameworks.

The UK’s higher education funding councils will not express a preference for either green or gold open access in their submission rules for future research excellence frameworks.

The lack of clarity over Research Councils UK’s new open access policy is “unacceptable” and government ministers should learn lessons from the confusion, according to a House of Lords report.

Religious sense ‘cover-up’ in emphasis on embryonic work

Welsh universities lead the UK in terms of output quality per pound invested, says report from Learned Society of Wales

Jack Grove on a European institution’s mission to foster cross-border scholarship

A bill has been introduced into the United States Congress that would require most papers describing publicly-funded research to be made open access within six months of publication.

New assessment scheme will not be used to direct cash to institutions

People take refuge in drama when the bombs rain down, and the arts aid rebuilding when the guns fall silent, says James Thompson, who has travelled to some of the world’s most violent regions, only for the horrors of conflict to be felt closer to home

Critics say university’s announcement should have gone out to peer review, not a press conference

‘Summer reading lists’ no basis for policy, says don

David Erdos believes a bid to tighten European data protection will have a chilling impact on social science and humanities research

Maintaining scholarly rigour amid demands for details about the discovery of Richard III was no easy task, but Lin Foxhall enjoyed it

Managerial staff one of few growth areas in HE employment

Open-access publishing, once a niche preoccupation, is now a hot-button issue. But concern is growing that unintended consequences of new publication mandates will cost individual scholars and the UK sector dear. Paul Jump reports

Germany’s science and education minister has resigned after a university revoked her doctorate, having ruled she had plagiarised parts of her thesis.

Swiss poo paper comes up smelling of roses

Salary boost from master’s degree rises while profile of students narrows, says Sutton Trust report

Randomised controlled trials can’t solve social policy conundrums any more than they can fit football to a formula, says Gary Thomas

Leaders of the Russell Group of research intensive universities have added their voices to the clamour calling for the European Union’s research and innovation funding to be protected.

Academics from the University of Leicester have confirmed a skeleton found beneath a car park in the city is that of the English king, Richard III.

Male scholars more likely to succumb to temptation as pressure to publish increases. Paul Jump writes

Retiree challenges UEA v-c in tribunal hearing over FoI requests. David Matthews reports

RCUK has announced it will not enforce its stated embargo periods for green open access during the first five years of its new open-access policy.

The government is being urged not to implement immigration proposals that it is claimed could have a damaging effect on UK science, engineering and wider academia.

Twelve “outstanding” university departments are set to receive Regius professorships to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee last year, the Cabinet Office has announced.

Projects focussing on graphene and research into the human brain have won what the European Commission has called “the largest research excellence award in history”.

Four UK universities join forces to gain competitive edge in funding shoot-out. Elizabeth Gibney writes

International research unit will tackle ‘lack of data’ on higher education. David Matthews reports

David Edmonds contrasts Edmund Gettier’s three-page 1963 masterpiece with the endless outflow induced by the emetic REF

The publisher Sage has slashed the price of publishing in its flagship open-access journal to just $99 (£63) in the wake of concern about whether researchers in the humanities and social sciences will be able to afford to comply with the UK’s new open-access mandates.

Rise in staff submissions predicted despite tightened funding formula. Paul Jump reports

Effort to halt male bias on event panels sparks controversy. Elizabeth Gibney and Paul Jump write

Departing head of Nottingham’s infections centre calls for redoubled efforts. Matthew Reisz writes

Call for European Union to establish output-tracking database. Paul Jump reports

Nanoscientist waits three years to see critique of controversial ‘discovery’ printed. Paul Jump writes

LHC maintenance crew turn into zombies in film by Cern-based student. Matthew Reisz reports

A court in Germany has given a “glimmer of hope” to inventors hoping to patent human embryonic stem cell technologies in Europe.

The REF’s impact case studies present myriad challenges. Seeking an outside view might be no bad thing, argues Neil Robinson

Elizabeth Gibney on the Wellcome Trust’s top job, one of the most powerful roles in UK research

Joined-up thinking across theory and practice could revolutionise our public services, says Jonathan Shepherd

Third of sector expects staff to hold qualification, FoI request shows. Elizabeth Gibney reports

Eleven journal papers have been retracted after it was discovered that they were accepted on the basis of fake reviews.

History publications press funders to rethink ‘gold’ licence and ‘green’ embargo. Paul Jump writes

Jack Grove reports from the SRHE annual conference on efforts to clarify an ‘unclearly defined’ role

MPs told that universities can’t always take their IP straight to the bank. Elizabeth Gibney reports

Principal investigators on large research projects do not have the necessary skills to foster strong relationships between the academy and business, according to a council member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The government’s drive for cuts in the next spending review could jeopardise the ring-fence for science funding, as well as putting additional pressure on student finance and numbers, the sector has been warned.

Ten Australian universities are performing “above the world standard” for research, including four performing “well above” world standard, according to an evaluation of Australian research.

A managerial culture is growing in universities as they “position themselves to align more systematically with government and industrial sectors”, a conference has heard.

Internationally diverse departments outperform others, study finds. David Matthews writes