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These images are taken from an ornately designed leather-bound scrapbook, now in the collection of the Humanities Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, that Jane Webb Loudon (1807-58) seems to have put together for family and friends.

Growth in foreign students shows 'convergence', but sector's diversity remains. Simon Baker writes

Mission groups blame school policy for Britons' lack of linguistic enthusiasm. Jack Grove reports

Academic work that is entered into the research excellence framework as worth "double" a normal submission can, in every discipline, be accompanied by a "reserve" option in case reviewers do not agree that it should count twice, it has been decided.

Maintaining lecturers in Europe 'expensive and inefficient', minutes say. Simon Baker reports

A scientist was forced to leave his job at the University of Manchester after being subjected to a "barrage of shouting and verbal abuse" by a senior professor, a tribunal has ruled.

Scholars considering research future don't put too much hope in spin-offs. Matthew Reisz reports

One professor has had enough of Hollywood's clichéd depictions of faculty, says Jon Marcus

New chair of Political Studies Association stresses discipline's key social role. Matthew Reisz reports

Two-fifths of academics surveyed resent pressure to commercialise their work. David Matthews reports

Barack Obama has called on state departments to prioritise higher education in their budgets – but has warned universities that spiralling tuition will be met with a cut in taxpayer funding.

The University and College Union is moving towards another strike in newer universities over lecturers’ pensions.

The government has launched a new cross-department venture to encourage universities to expand internationally.

The University of Sussex has been urged to rethink a decision to close most of its lifelong learning department.

Fourteen doctoral training partnerships for the biosciences have been unveiled.

David Cameron is reported to have made a dramatic intervention in the university reforms, shelving the higher education bill that was due this spring.

The University and College Union may suspend its work-to-rule industrial action on pension cuts in pre-1992 universities, after talks with employers.

By Kaustuv Basu, for

Business schools are facing a 10-15 per cent drop in applications for MBA programmes, new figures suggest.

A team of academics is to help retailers make better use of social science research.

Nations are “always in crisis”, a former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts has argued, as he praised the arm’s-length system of public funding embodied by the Arts Council, which meant that artists did not have to be polite or grateful to governments.

The British Academy and Leverhulme Trust have announced a major new investment in humanities and social sciences through the academy’s small research grants scheme.

Delays to the annual grant letter may be down to government plans to announce an easing of the AAB rules that are to introduce competition for students between institutions.

The number of people working within the higher education sector in the UK has dropped by 2 per cent over the last two academic years.

Measures to cut red tape and reduce tax burdens on universities will strengthen their autonomy, David Willetts has said.

After a feverish build up in which commentators forecast the “digital destruction” of the multi-billion dollar textbook industry, Apple has unveiled a “new textbook experience” and free online courses for students - as long as they own Apple products.

Students who are aware that their work will be checked by plagiarism-detection software are just as likely to cheat as those who are not, a study suggests.

Design subjects will be hit hardest by the closure of 16 programmes. David Matthews reports

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David has rebutted a scathing attack on its standards by a private college that used to teach its degrees.

The University College London students' union is pressing ahead with a motion of no confidence in the provost, Malcolm Grant, despite being warned by the university that the move could have a "significant impact on our approach to future investment".

Both the beautiful leafy sea dragon and the repellent botfly larvae erupting from a horse's stomach come from the University of Reading's Cole Museum of Zoology, one of the finest in the country devoted to comparative anatomy.

Job losses expected across all faculties as London Metropolitan bids to save £7m. Jack Grove writes

Ministry bows to academic pressure and reverses stricter post-study rules. Clea Caulcutt reports

Brain-scanning equipment has been shut down and research projects have stalled at laboratories across the country because of a global helium shortage.

Open access may sound death knell for costly, little-read monographs. Matthew Reisz reports

Scholars should go easy on the jokes as a bad crack can cause all sorts of problems. Jack Grove reports

NUS president tells Jack Grove that taxpayers will baulk at paying shareholders for ill-judged reforms

Acquiescence to Browne policies contrasted with NHS leaders' solidarity. John Gill writes

Too many veterinary graduates forgo research to pursue a career in the clinic, finds Matthew Reisz

Simon Baker on the hoped-for impact of reforms spurred by an official review of student visa policies

Investing more money in for-profit universities could "jump-start" the global economy, it has been suggested, and is the best way to create jobs and sustain economic growth in developing markets such as Asia and Latin America.

Core-and-margin model could cut places at most higher-priced universities. David Matthews writes

The University and College Union has been urged by some of its members to reconsider its policy of boycotting the research excellence framework.

Bullying and fear of being fired may deter staff from lifting lid on scientific misconduct. Jack Grove writes

Young people who attend summer schools are significantly more likely to go to university, research by the Sutton Trust suggests.

University applicants are most likely to turn to their friends and families for advice about where to study, a survey of over 2,000 people suggests.

More than half of employers believe that graduates have unrealistic expectations of working life and more than four in 10 believe they lack the necessary interpersonal skills.

Welsh universities risk having their student numbers cut by up to almost 60 per cent if they do not reduce their fees in 2013-14, it has been announced.

By Scott Jaschik, for

The National Union of Students has proposed 10 alternative uses for the £60 million that ministers apparently wanted invested in a royal yacht for the Queen’s jubilee.

Students enrolling at university in 2012-13 will have to earn salaries of £50,000 a year immediately after graduating if they are to pay off their student loan debt before the 30-year government write-off threshold, a new analysis suggests.

Oil giant Shell is to close its main UK research and development base, moving the laboratory activities overseas.

A member of the Browne Review panel has expressed frustration that its plans for fees and funding were not met with a “more favourable” response by government, adding that the reforms subsequently implemented by politicians were “frankly a matter for them”.