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3 days ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
Artificial intelligence tools designed to speed up the research process by helping to extract data have led to a flood of “low-quality” research papers that threaten to damage the “foundations of scientific rigour”, according to a new study. A research team at the University of Surrey looked at papers that used the US-based National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to propose links between health conditions, lifestyle and clinical outcomes.
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6 days ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
Arts and humanities scholars need to do a better job of proving to industry that studying the subjects gives students skills in critical thinking, a summit has heard. Catalina Tejero, dean of the School of Humanities at IE University, said that humanities subjects need to be better at forming industry relations, as the changing jobs market and the rise of artificial intelligence will require a greater need for “critical thinking”.
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6 days ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
The University of Plymouth and Newcastle University are both pushing ahead with redundancy plans, as the English sector’s financial crisis shows little sign of abating. Plymouth has confirmed plans which could see up to 200 roles at risk of redundancy, after it said it had seen a 10 per cent decline in its income.
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1 week ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
Researchers must engage in “scientific diplomacy” and prioritise international collaboration as they come under attack from politicians across the globe, a leading scientist has said. Brian MacCraith, senior adviser to the president of Arizona State University, told the Times Higher Education Europe Summit that the future of science and higher education itself was under threat.
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1 week ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
Universities should focus on making incremental changes to protect them against increased economic and geopolitical shocks, rather than their risking radical reform, according to the president of the European University Association (EUA). Speaking at the Times Higher Education Europe Summit, Josep Garrell said that he felt the role of universities in society was changing as they took on greater social responsibilities.
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1 week ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
Higher education’s need to adapt due to widespread “disruption” caused by funding challenges and government attacks will leave universities looking very different by the end of the decade, a summit has heard. Stuart Coles, professor and associate dean (research) at the University of Warwick, said that this and other emerging challenges, including AI, climate change and health inequality should underpin the need for greater interdisciplinary work both within and across providers.
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1 week ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
Perceived threats to academic freedom during Donald Trump’s second presidency are forcing US scholars to self-censor, affecting their research, teaching and communications, according to a new survey. Nearly two-thirds of 760 political scientists polled by the research group Bright Line Watch report refraining from certain activities, with the “political environment beyond campus” given as the main reason.
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1 week ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
What happens when you are diagnosed with the illness that you have spent the past 17 years researching? This was the situation that Shaunna Burke, associate professor in exercise and health psychology at the University of Leeds, found herself in when she was diagnosed with incurable stage four breast cancer in 2024.
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1 week ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
Planned industrial action at Cardiff University has been called off after its management committed to not making any compulsory redundancies this year. The Cardiff branch of the University and College Union (UCU) said its members have voted to accept the university management’s offer to issue no compulsory redundancies in 2025, in return for calling off planned strikes and a marking and assessment boycott, and agreeing to not instigate further industrial action under their current mandate.
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2 weeks ago | 
timeshighereducation.com | Juliette Rowsell
The rector of the University of St Andrews, who was stripped of her position on its governing body after accusing Israel of genocide, has won her appeal against the university. Stella Maris was removed from her role as a trustee earlier this year after an independent investigation found that a letter she wrote to students accusing Israel of committing “war crimes” in Gaza had provoked “anxiety and fear” among Jewish students.
