Category Archives: Academics

Oxford University Press to stop publishing China-sponsored science journal

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Move follows concerns several papers in Forensic Sciences Research did not meet ethical standards on DNA collection

Oxford University Press (OUP) will no longer publish a controversial academic journal sponsored by China’s Ministry of Justice after years of concerns that several papers in the publication did not meet ethical standards about DNA collection.

A statement published on the website of Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) states that OUP will stop publishing the quarterly journal after this year.

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‘The American system is being destroyed’: academics on leaving US for ‘scientific asylum’ in France

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Almost 300 researchers have applied for for positions at Aix-Marseille University after Trump unleashed his attack on academia

It was on a US-bound flight in March, as Brian Sandberg stressed about whether he would be stopped at security, that the American historian knew the time had come for him to leave his home country.

For months, he had watched Donald Trump’s administration unleash a multipronged attack on academia – slashing funding, targeting international students and deeming certain fields and even keywords off limits. As his plane approached the US, it felt as though the battle had hit home, as Sandberg worried that he would face reprisals over comments he had made during his travels to the French media on the future of research in the US.

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France and EU to incentivise US-based scientists to come to Europe

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Macron and von der Leyen expected to announce protections for researchers seeking to relocate amid Trump’s crackdown

France and the EU are to step up their efforts to attract US-based scientists hit by Donald Trump’s crackdown on academia, as they prepare announcements on incentives for researchers to settle in Europe.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, alongside the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will make speeches on Monday morning at Sorbonne University in Paris, flanked by European university leaders and researchers, in which they are expected to announce potential incentives and protections for researchers seeking to relocate to Europe.

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Australia to woo US’s ‘smartest minds’ disfranchised by Trump research cuts

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New talent program aims to attract academics fleeing US as administration slashes higher education funding

The “smartest minds” in the United States will be beckoned to Australia with a new talent program aiming to capitalise on academics disfranchised by the Trump administration’s research cuts.

The Australian Academy of Science announced the global talent attraction program on Thursday, warning the nation needed to “act swiftly” to capitalise on the opportunity.

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‘I’ve lost my work and been ostracised’: Oxford University accused of failing to act after ruling on ‘sham’ contracts

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Despite winning a landmark legal battle, academic Alice Jolly believes it won’t benefit others

An academic who won a landmark court battle last year against Oxford University for employing her and her colleague on “sham” gig economy contracts has criticised the university for trying to brush their case under the carpet.

Alice Jolly and her colleague Rebecca Abrams, both award-winning authors, taught on Oxford’s prestigious creative writing course for 15 years but were employed on zero-hours “personal services” contracts, often earning only £23 an hour. After they publicly challenged the university on their lack of employment rights, Oxford wrote to the Society of Authors in April 2022, agreeing to offer the two academics more appropriate contracts.

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Cambridge risks losing ‘unbelievable talent’ amid PhD funding cut

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Warning by vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice comes as ‘Silicon Valley’ planned between Oxford and Cambridge

The University of Cambridge risks “losing unbelievable talent” owing to a drop-off in funding for PhDs, the vice-chancellor has cautioned.

Prof Deborah Prentice, who took over as vice-chancellor in 2023, described PhD students as “the lifeblood” of the university’s research and innovation work, and expressed concern that funding from research councils had “dropped off significantly”.

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Prehistoric humans may have stuck pikes in ground to kill mammoths, say experts

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People of ancient Clovis culture could have impaled huge animals on pikes rather than throwing spears, finds study

When it came to taking down giant animals, prehistoric hunters would quite literally have faced a mammoth task. Now researchers have shed fresh light on how they might have done it.

Experts studying sharp stone points made by the Clovis people, who lived in the Americas from about 13,000 years ago, say that rather than hurling spears at enormous animals such as giant bison, mammoths or ground sloths, the tribes could have planted their weapons point-up in the ground to impale charging creatures.

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British MPs appeal to Azerbaijan government to free detained academic

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In letter to Ilham Aliyev, campaigners urge release of Gubad Ibadoghlu after pre-trial process halted indefinitely

A group of British MPs have called on the Azerbaijan government to free an academic from the London School of Economics and Political Science who was detained after writing articles critical of the country’s environmental policies.

Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, who is based in the UK, was arrested and held by Azerbaijan authorities while visiting members of his family in July 2023. He has been a prominent critic of the ruling elite in the Eurasian nation, which is preparing to host the Cop29 Climate Summit in November.

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German university rescinds Jewish American’s job offer over pro-Palestinian letter

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Nancy Fraser, professor of philosophy at the New School, condemned killings in Gaza carried out by the Israeli military

A leading Jewish American philosopher has been disinvited from taking up a prestigious professorship at the University of Cologne after signing a letter expressing solidarity with Palestinians and condemning the killings in Gaza carried out by Israeli forces.

Nancy Fraser, professor of philosophy and politics at the New School for Social Research in New York, said she had been cancelled by the university, which has withdrawn its invitation to the Albertus Magnus Professorship 2024, a visiting position, which she had been awarded in 2022. The letter was written in November 2023 following the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas, prompting Israel’s attack on Gaza.

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Michelle Donelan set to face more questions over taxpayer-funded £15,000 payout

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Cross-party group of peers expected to ask for more details about why minister made and withdrew claims about two academics

The cabinet minister Michelle Donelan is to face more questioning this week over her judgment after taxpayers funded a payout to an academic she had falsely accused of supporting Hamas.

The science secretary will appear before a cross-party group of peers on Tuesday, when she is expected to be questioned on the process that led her to make the accusation, which she has since retracted. The decision to leave taxpayers with the £15,000 bill is also likely to be raised. The sum was paid “without admitting any liability”, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said.

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Taxpayers foot the bill after academic’s libel action against UK minister

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Michelle Donelan had urged Research England to cut ties with a member of its advisory group over alleged Hamas support

UK taxpayers have financed a £15,000 payout to an academic after the science minister wrongly accused her of supporting Hamas, the department has said amid growing political anger at why public money was used.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said £15,000 had been paid after a statement on Tuesday by Michelle Donelan, about a “clarification” from Prof Kate Sang, of Heriot-Watt university in Edinburgh, about her views.

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UK science minister apologises and pays damages after academic’s libel action

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Michelle Donelan had accused two members of Research England’s advisory group of ‘sharing extremist views’ in letter to UKRI

Michelle Donelan, the science minister, has apologised and paid damages after accusing two academics of “sharing extremist views” and one of them of supporting Hamas.

In a statement posted on X, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology said she had deleted a tweet and letter published last year, and accepted what she termed a “clarification” from one of the academics, Prof Kate Sang at Heriot-Watt university in Edinburgh.

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‘The situation has become appalling’: fake scientific papers push research credibility to crisis point

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Last year, 10,000 sham papers had to be retracted by academic journals, but experts think this is just the tip of the iceberg

Tens of thousands of bogus research papers are being published in journals in an international scandal that is worsening every year, scientists have warned. Medical research is being compromised, drug development hindered and promising academic research jeopardised thanks to a global wave of sham science that is sweeping laboratories and universities.

Last year the annual number of papers retracted by research journals topped 10,000 for the first time. Most analysts believe the figure is only the tip of an iceberg of scientific fraud.

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Genetic data on 500,000 volunteers in UK to be released for scientific study

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UK BioBank offers up biggest ever cache of whole-genome sequences for medical research

A new era of medical discoveries, treatments and cures is on the horizon, researchers say, following the announcement that an unprecedented trove of genetic information is to be made available to scientists.

Health researchers from around the world can now apply to study the whole genomes of half a million people enrolled in UK Biobank, a biomedical research project that has compiled detailed health and lifestyle records on individuals since it began 20 years ago.

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Harvard blocks role for former Human Rights Watch head over Israel criticism

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Kennedy School allegedly bowed to donors unhappy with organisation accusing Israel of apartheid in occupied territories

The dean of one the US’s leading schools of government blocked a position for the former head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) over his organisation’s criticism of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.

The Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy offered Kenneth Roth a position as a senior fellow shortly after he retired as director of HRW in April after 29 years. Roth is highly regarded within the human rights community for the part his organisation played in advances such as the creation of the international criminal court and the prosecution of major human rights abusers.

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Foreign Office vetting deterring top scientists from UK, Royal Society warns

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Frustration growing at delays that leave some unable to take up prestigious posts for up to seven months

The best international scientists are being deterred from heading to the UK due to a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) vetting scheme that is leaving researchers in limbo for months, the Royal Society has warned.

The government’s Academic Technology Approval Scheme (Atas) is designed to prevent the export of technology with potential military applications and was significantly expanded last year amid a national security crackdown. But lengthy delays are leaving some unable to take up prestigious posts for up to seven months and frustration is growing that the issue is harming the UK’s reputation abroad.

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UK politicians request visa scheme for Ukrainian students and academics

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In a letter to Priti Patel, the cross-party group calls for temporary places where those displaced can study and carry out research

A cross-party group of MPs and peers has joined forces with UK universities in calling for the visa scheme for Ukrainian refugees to be extended to temporary placements for students and academics.

In a letter to Priti Patel, the home secretary, the parliamentarians and Universities UK, the advocacy organisation for universities, said the scheme should provide visas and temporary places for displaced students and academics to study and carry out research.

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Canadian academic on leave amid row over Indigenous ancestry claims

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CBC investigation into Carrie Bourassa has drawn comparisons with case of Rachel Dolezal in US

A Canadian official and academic specialising in Indigenous health issues has been placed on administrative leave from her university after an investigation challenged her claims of Indigenous ancestry.

Carrie Bourassa, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan, has described herself as having Métis, Anishinaabe and Tlingit heritage. In 2019 she appeared at a TEDx talk wearing a blue embroidered shawl and holding a feather, where she identified herself as “Morning Star Bear”.

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Polish appeals court overturns ruling against Holocaust historians

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Case has raised questions about freedom to research Poland’s wartime past

A Polish appeals court has overturned a ruling against two leading Holocaust historians accused of defamation, in a closely watched case that raised questions about the freedom to research Poland’s second world war past.

The civil case was brought against Prof Barbara Engelking and Prof Jan Grabowski for a book they co-edited about the complicity of Catholic Poles in the genocide of Jews during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland.

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Ancient tsunami could have wiped out Scottish cities today, study finds

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Research maps the extent of the catastrophic Storegga tsunami 8,200 years ago for the first time

Towns and cities across Scotland would be devastated if the country’s coastline was hit by a tsunami of the kind that happened 8,200 years ago, according to an academics’ study.

While about 370 miles of Scotland’s northern and eastern coastline were affected when the Storegga tsunami struck, the study suggests a modern-day disaster of the same magnitude would have worse consequences.

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