Recruitment suspended on UG environment & sustainability, mathematics and physics. At postgraduate level, suspended courses include international corporate finance, water & environmental engineering and environmental strategy. If you think your subject is safe because not Humanities, rethink. 1/2

Course closures at University of Surrey raise concerns

Science and maths programmes among those suspended in recent months, with UCU claiming decisions are being made ‘in haste’

timeshighereducation.com

@sheffielducu.bsky.social has launched a vote of no confidence in the university executive & council. If you're Sheffield University staff or research student, vote. This management isn't fit to lead our university. forms.gle/cuMQ72n6ZGu6... (staff) forms.gle/X1HRRfqJyTTe... (research students)

Full of despair today. Massive lay offs in social sciences and humanities across the country, Burnham puts out a video saying 'AI can write an essay', and my university is busy integrating co-pilot into all staff and student computers. We are being told we're defunct and there's no resistance.

'Strip away the grandiose language and a pattern emerges – some combination of fewer, larger modules, almost always wedges of 30 credits, an all-core or heavily prescribed first year, reduced optionality in later years, curated pathways instead of individual module choice... [cont.] 1/4

Curriculum reform is a wedge issue

With curriculum reform converging on fewer, larger modules across the sector, Jim Dickinson argues that consolidation solves institutional problems while reallocating regret onto students least able t...

wonkhe.com

It's depressing that when humans created AI they did so in the form of a sycophantic, over-confident, know-all who is prone to lying, fakes sincerity, presumes a friendship that doesn't exist, and never willingly stops talking.

Graduation today. For three-quarters of the department it will be the last one before redundancy, so a chance to say goodbye to each other as well as the students.

Blue Bottle Games, as a policy, does not use generative AI. It's something we've discussed as a team, weighing the pros and cons, and ultimately, we decided it was not for us. Recently, while chatting with a colleague, she mentioned it was useful hearing our reasoning. So: Sharing time! 1/12

UCU branch letter to Senate at Liverpool University 'explained it was increasingly worried by the “interpretation of grant-related expectations” used in confirmation-in-appointment (CiA) processes to decide whether academics on probation retain their roles.' 1/3

Research income targets for Liverpool’s new academics ‘unfair’

Growing pressure on probationary staff to win grants represents ‘material divergence’ from agreed policies, argue UCU leaders

timeshighereducation.com

"don't cite what you haven't read" remains the basic entry level academic responsibility; & if your discpline "doesn't have that as a norm" then sorry, your discipline needs reforming for this new world. Citations are structural parts of trust and knowledge building, not trinkets or optional extras

Miles Klee 🦉@milesklee.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.

Very sad to hear about the arrest of Andrew Tate. He has been charged with rape, human trafficking, controlling prostitution and actual bodily harm. I once described him as "an important voice for young men", which tells you all you need to know about my moral compass.

Early career researchers are the lifeblood of any discipline. Their entrance into academia is at the heart of its renewal. What happens when those arteries are blocked? That's one of the questions the British Academy's SHAPE Observatory is asking. 1/3

Loss of academic staff and "cold spots" for humanities and social science degrees threaten strategically important skills for UK, says British Academy

A new data map released today shows a sharp and widespread decline in opportunities for university staff in the humanities, social sciences and arts subjects in 2024-25. The data shows a precarious la...

thebritishacademy.ac.uk

I don’t know if people elsewhere realise how bad this is but I’m in Liverpool and I can’t open my windows because the air is so smoky outside.

Sky News@news.sky.com · 3w ago

Drone footage captures wildfire in Wales

"You boy, is Nigel Farage still making a tit of himself by fighting a bin?"

Why are some of Britain’s most controversial Reform-linked figures all operating out of a grubby office in Montenegro? Sign up for the openDemocracy weekly newsletter to stay informed on all our latest reporting – it's free ⤵️ www.opendemocracy.net/sign-weekly-...

For 6 months, Byline Times has investigated Reform policy chief & Cambridge Professor James Orr's 'political pipeline' to recruit students, some of whom he houses – & his links to Palantir's Peter Thiel. Cambridge sent our queries straight on to Orr's lawyers. What's going on at the institution? 👇

Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel and Reform UK's Cambridge University Recruitment Pipeline Project Revealed

The world-renowned academic institution has nothing to say in response to a six-month investigation by Byline Times raising serious concerns about the safeguarding of students and foreign influence at...

bylinetimes.com

'Notably, a record 88.1 per cent of students who completed the NSS are positive about the quality of teaching on their course – with 93.6 per cent agreeing that teaching staff are good at explaining things.' 1/3

The NSS shows us that students still seem to like higher education

The 2026 NSS results bring evidence that most students are happy with their academic experience, and particularly appreciate the skills of their academic staff

wonkhe.com

“There is a repeated pattern of behavior here when it comes to spending money and earning money for Nigel Farage.” Political editor Shehab Khan breaks down Nigel Farage’s financial record in office, including the questions it raises, on Channel 5. Subscribe to zeteo.uk!

'Academics fear they are being “set up to fail” after several institutions finished the academic year by announcing fresh job cuts, casting doubt over who will return after the summer break, and what courses they will be teaching.' 1/3

Summer of ‘chaos’ predicted as mass job cuts close academic year

‘Impossible to plan’ for research and teaching, say staff, as threat of redundancy looms large over summer breaks

timeshighereducation.com

Lincoln University announces likely job cuts Fire in UK higher education continues to burn indiscriminately Time for politicians to act Policy change is needed before only ash - and Oxbridge - remain timeshighereducation.com/news/lincoln...

Lincoln puts 140 staff at risk in latest job cuts

‘Unacceptable’ that academics are facing more redundancies, says UCU, but university insists it must adapt

timeshighereducation.com

Given ongoing attacks on university staff and research (at @exeter.ac.uk and many other institutions) with arts and humanities, critical social sciences, environmental science and sustainability particular targets, it’s worth resharing ‘Universities Degraded’.

“Staff at the University of Lincoln fear they could lose their job as early as next month after the institution announced dozens of redundancies across its academic departments…UCU said 140 staff have been told their jobs are at risk in the latest cost-cutting, with 34 posts eventually being lost.”

Times Higher Education (THE)@timeshighered.bsky.social · last mo.

Staff at the University of Lincoln fear they could lose their job as early as next month after the institution announced dozens of redundancies across its academic departments. @twilliamsthe.bsky.social reports

'“I couldn’t believe it when I heard the news,” said Richard J. Roberts, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1993, on recently announced proposals to cut about 20 per cent of posts at Sheffield’s renowned chemistry department where he took his undergraduate degree and PhD'.

University of Sheffield’s Nobelist brands chemistry cuts ‘insane’

Genetics pioneer Richard J. Roberts criticises plans to cut posts at ‘brilliant’ department that launched his scientific career

timeshighereducation.com

While it may look like the only thing our branch is doing is striking or boycotting, we are also tirelessly working behind the scenes to address the financial problems our university faces.

I’ll just leave this here

Raise the Colours Oxfordshire leader to stand trial over 'indecent child images'

A leading figure in the Oxfordshire's Raise the Colours movement is due to stand trial accused of making indecent child images.

oxfordmail.co.uk

Elon Musk asked for a name of a person he has killed. He got a list.

'Several of Exeter’s strongest improvements came in indicators that carry the greatest weighting in the rankings – with Academic Reputation, Citations per Faculty, and Employer Reputation all improved significantly.' 1/3

University of Exeter@exeter.ac.uk · 2mo ago

We’re delighted to be able to share some exciting news: We’ve climbed 19 places in the QS World University Rankings 2027, and we’re now ranked 136th globally. This achievement reflects the growing strength of our reputation as one of the world’s top universities. news.exeter.ac.uk/staff-news/e...

'Classicist says university job cuts are "ideological" attack' (The Times), by Ed Halford, Marieta Marinova and @nicolawoolcock.bsky.social

Thanks for sharing. For anyone who may be eligible and willing, please find more details at www.liverpool.ac.uk/irish-studie... or contact project lead Dr Barry Hazley (barry.hazley@liverpool.ac.uk).

Irish in Britain@irishinbritain.bsky.social · last mo.

"Men We Seldom See: Irish Migrant Legacies & the British Construction Industry" Did you or someone you know migrate from Ireland to England after 1945 & work in construction (site & office) for at least 1 year & is willing to be interviewed for a Irish Studies@LivUni study? https://ow.ly/NSrM50Zf7CI

I think we just passed oops.

'What is perhaps remarkable about the Exeter cuts is that they are targeted at some of the university’s most successful departments, many of which turn over a profit even after they have made enormous and increasing contributions to the central university budget.' Read, rage and weep.

The Crisis in Britain’s Universities

The cuts that have been proposed at the University of Exeter demonstrates the crisis of purpose in Britain’s universities. Should not universities also be places to prepare for "eternal dwellings"?

johnheathershaw.substack.com