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Students of colour need safe spaces to find support and encouragement from people who look like them, says Elizabeth Ajagbe 

If holiday talk turns to yawn-worthy diet or dreams, put a medieval spin on it, advises Kathryn Rudy 

Acknowledging that faculty and students both struggle with mental health is the first step to tackling it, says Hilal A. Lashuel

Our affection for the past keeps our old favourites, with their old fashioned values, at the top of the Christmas charts, says Alexandra Lamont

Step away from work, don’t check your email and explain to your family what it is you actually do, Karen Rodham suggests 

A decade that changed the world is drawing to a close. Academia’s enduring values can light the path ahead – if we let them

Universities must face up to some legitimate complaints, but they can also play a key role in helping the new government meet its ambitions, says Alistair Jarvis

Being transparent about the existence of poor-quality provision is essential if we are to tackle it effectively, says Nicola Dandridge

Irina Dumitrescu’s tips for ‘upward toxicity’ was THE’s most-read article of 2019. But it doesn’t have to be this way, says John Tregoning

You have spent three years thinking your life will be perfect after you submit your thesis. But it isn’t true, says Petra Boynton

Another five years of austerity means universities must work harder to combat its impact on their communities, says David Etherington 

Strikes notwithstanding, more pay restraint and greater pensions contributions from UK staff seem unavoidable, writes Bernard Casey

The school system’s focus on relative over absolute standards makes it difficult to judge applicants’ potential, says Conor King

The world is a complex place and universities must ensure they carry out rigorous travel risk assessments for students and staff, writes Paul Cusition 

Alison Blunt, Martin Evans and 89 other signatories, including 59 heads of geography departments, reject the claim that geography is a ‘soft option’ for ‘posh students’

England will keep its tuition fees, but research funding post-Brexit remains a mystery, as does the sector’s next minister, says Rachel Hewitt 

The strict rule discourages article submissions from a variety of authors, including displaced scholars, argues Paul Ostwald

The new government should work side by side with the sector to make significant improvements to admissions and course quality, says Graeme Atherton

Chinese students’ economic contributions aren’t always matched by the support they get. More must be done to understand and integrate this group

Political, economic and demographic considerations all suggest that the demand-driven system won’t endure, says Nick Hillman

Reporting procedures were woefully inadequate, while senior managers frequently enabled intimidatory behaviour, says an anonymous UK academic

The UK needs an immigration system that doesn’t discriminate against the salary of international academics and university staff, says Alistair Jarvis 

The UK’s support system for disabled students puts the focus on institutional capacity rather than student need, says Stephen Campbell 

The plan promises big leaps in innovation, quality assurance and lecturer training, say Youmin Xi and Xiaojun Zhang  

Universities must work to facilitate discussions about racist experiences if they are to be reported and resolved effectively, argues Jason Arday

Susanne Täuber warns that mandatory gender diversity measures will be no more successful in the corporate world than they have been in academia unless genuine organisational transformation is achieved

Offering two-year programmes at FE colleges as part of four-year degrees could redress the UK’s spending bias in favour of HE, says Geoff Mason

A decade dominated first by austerity and then by Brexit has brought UK higher education to a tipping point as the election looms

Vicky Blake outlines recommendations from the University and College Union’s democracy commission, established after intense infighting at the union’s 2018 congress

Asking BAME students to spend significant amounts of time helping universities decolonise the curriculum is far from the ideal solution, says Daniel Akinbosede

Would-be scholars confronted with academics’ tweets could be forgiven for running for the hills, worries Scott Rich 

Prince Andrew’s fall from grace a full decade after Jeffrey Epstein’s conviction underlines academia’s failure to probe modern power, says Jason Lee

Jonathan R. Goodman is wrong to blame bibliometrics for stifling academic debate, says Craig Aaen-Stockdale

University administrators must meet students on their own terms to truly understand their needs, says Tessa Bravata 

The risks of being an academic are compounded by the unique challenges displaced scholars face, say Lisa Herzog and Ã–zge Yaka

Collaboration and openness are central to Phil Bourne’s takeaways after opening a new school at the University of Virginia 

In a fraught political climate, it is even more difficult than usual for researchers to grab the attention of ministers. Diana Beech imparts her insider’s tips

Association to Horizon Europe would also be positive, but hostile mood music over immigration still reverberates 

Colleagues may judge those with regional accents more harshly, but poorer students respond to lecturers from similar backgrounds, says Ryan Coogan

International student recruitment in sub-Saharan Africa is a long game prone to political disruption, says Anna Esaki-Smith

Unesco’s efforts to enable degree qualification recognition across borders will improve access to higher education for refugees and displaced people, says Joanna Newman 

Junior scholars have always needed to curry favour with their seniors, but quantifying research impact exacerbates the problem, says Jonathan R Goodman

Humanity and deliberate acts of kindness can turn symbolic gestures into action, argues Francis Petersen 

Whether rebuilding or refurbishing hallowed halls, the move to make campuses more sustainable should be an eco-friendly endeavour, says Aidan Bell 

UKCISA has taken over the successful campaign and its chief executive outlines plans to widen its reach beyond higher education 

Like the explorers who set out across the unsettled United States, scientists need a similar pioneering and resilient spirit, says Daniel Bojar

The forcible removal of a visually impaired student should be met with institutional change for one of Britain’s oldest students’ societies, argues Henry Hatwell 

In a marketised system, student numbers are rising. Small universities offer a collegial approach and, for some, better, not bigger, is the key to excellence

Universities preach meritocracy but, in reality, bend over backwards to protect toxic personalities, says Irina Dumitrescu

Fees reform has not quelled popular anger over exploitation, but academics can play a key role in constitutional reform, says Robert Funk

£9,000 fees permitted per-student funding to rise even at the height of austerity, argues former minister David Willetts

Universities are inherently political spaces, but the current explosion in violent protest must come to an end, says Brian Wong

Universities, local authorities and others must heed the Centenary Commission on Adult Education’s recommendations, says Jonathan Michie

More sharing of impact will improve understanding of how it can be promoted and evaluated, says Peter Tufano

Requirements for obtaining the national scientific qualification and good performance despite stagnant funding have contributed to improved citation performance, argue Michele Ciavarella and Pietro D’Antuono

It’s time the higher education community puts old grievances of league tables and excellence frameworks aside to tackle climate change, say Stephen Sterling and Stephen Martin 

Studying the arts and humanities has been a core tenet of democratic ambitions for centuries, so it’s no surprise that underfunding those areas of academia throws democracies into crisis, argues Sarah Churchwell 

Across the world, vice-chancellors’ statesmanship is being put to the test because no campus can escape the intrusion of politics, domestic and international

More account must be taken of pregnancy, assisted fertility and miscarriage, say Christina Hellmich and Marina Della Giusta

Such skills can be learned relatively easily and cheaply. Universities should develop expertise in fields essential to human flourishing, says Andrew Moore