What are universities for? With pressures on funding, academic freedoms under scrutiny and volatile global demographic changes, the need to prove new knowledge can have tangible outputs has never been greater. Simon Linacre looks at one university in the UK which is leading the way in research transformation.

The fourth (and final) in our series of Spotlights on the key ‘ingredients’ of social sciences research, which make up the ‘secret sauce’ of UK innovation success.

The third in our series of Spotlights on the four key ‘ingredients’ of social sciences research, which make up the ‘secret sauce’ of UK innovation success.

The second in our series of Spotlights on the four key ‘ingredients’ of social sciences research, which make up the ‘secret sauce’ of UK innovation success.

The first in a series of Spotlights on the four key ‘ingredients’ of social sciences research, which make up the ‘secret sauce’ of UK innovation success.

Last month saw the latest Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024 published to the usual fanfare of marketing (from highly ranked universities) and criticism (from disdainful academics and commentators). Few things get educators riled up and divided like university rankings, the definitive wedge issue of academia. But this year, the rankings have been published in the shadow of a different set of alternative voices from the BRICS countries; one that could change the face of university rankings globally.

Could Generative AI provide a solution to the problem of predatory journals? We share the good and the bad news.