Leader: As one in search of excellence
Every institution aspiring to be a great university shares a set of values that link multifarious activities to a common purpose
Every institution aspiring to be a great university shares a set of values that link multifarious activities to a common purpose
Japan is a collective-oriented society, as are China and India, albeit all in different ways. The US is an individualist society, as is the UK and much of the rest of Europe, although most other...

The leading British expert on Indian archaeology, whose interests embraced much of the culture and history of South Asia, has died.Raymond Allchin was born in Harrow on 9 July 1923 and educated at...
A new website has brought together the handwritten manuscripts of Jane Austen. Led by Kathryn Sutherland from the English faculty at the University of Oxford and funded by the Arts and Humanities...
In last week's Letters pages, Steve Smith, president of Universities UK, attacked the editor of ߣߣÊÓÆµ for accusing UUK of "hysteria and hyperbole" over the issue of impending cuts ("...
Andy Masheter clearly recognises the dangers that could arise if UK universities engage in the "reckless exploitation of the overseas market" (Opinion, 24 June). I strongly believe, however, that UK...
We were a little surprised to see how our U-Multirank project was described in THE ("'Serious defects' apparent in 'crude' European rankings project", News, 24 June) - all the more so since the...
Ian Taylor is correct to say that the tendency to throw around large, uncontextualised numbers as statistical evidence of China's size - and by implication, "threat" - to "us" in the West poses a...
Writing as an avowed anti-monarchist, I was dismayed to read Peter Rice-Evans' attack (Letters, 17 June) on Felipe Fernandez-Armesto's article "Duke of moral hazards" (3 June). Fernandez-Armesto...
I agree entirely that historians should make more effort to ensure their work is accessible to a wider public ("Historians told to be 'evangelical' in their duty to inform public", News, 24 June). To...

What makes for an outstanding university? Graeme Harper reveals his obsessive 10-year mission to capture the essence of greatness
Death and taxes: even nature is in on the act. Omar Malik discusses entropy's effects on human organisations ... and what can be done to combat the constant risk of system failure
As cash-strapped UK science increasingly looks to Europe for funding, Yorick Wilks warns of a rotten framework of red tape, intellectual corruption and cronyism driven by bureaucrats in pursuit of...

Touching greatness - A personal odyssey to find the secret of excellence in universities
Universities would be forced to merge under radical plans to restructure higher education in Wales.Speaking to the Welsh Assembly government yesterday, Leighton Andrews, the education minister, set...