UNESCO has called for the creation of university chairs for the study of the history of enslavement and the transatlantic slave trade.

For thousands of years, the Nile River has been a vital resource for millions of north-east Africans on it for irrigation, drinking water, fishing and hydroelectric power. With the Nile being shared by 11 countries, disputes persist.

In an era of stricter securitisation of research, more thoughtfulness and better professional judgement may be required from global research.

The European Commission says it can exclude Chinese participation in Horizon Europe and other sensitive research projects using new powers to exclude third countries that do not share ‘EU values’.

We are at a tipping point, a time of transformation for society and universities. A new report highlights some of the issues facing European universities.

The crisis of academic freedom in Europe emerged as the main theme at the recent "Bologna Process Beyond 2020: Fundamental values of the EHEA" conference in Bologna. More than 200 university rectors and 800 other stakeholders participated.

The altering of the Chinese national constitution to remove the text limiting China’s president and vice-president to two terms, cementing Xi Jinping’s leadership possibly for the next two decades, will mean a further ideological tightening in universities, and an extension of ‘Xi Jinping research’ in institutions.

African universities have been urged to foster gender equality, parity and mentoring of girls and early career women scientists in STEM, in order to facilitate economic transformation and other developmental challenges affecting the East African region.

European leaders and the European Commission have backed proposals to step up higher education mobility and exchanges and create a network of European universities with integrated study programmes and curricula that enable students to study abroad.

Britain’s relationship with the European Union has been a fruitful one when it comes to higher education. By operating within a larger European network, UK universities have become increasingly competitive in world terms.

If Asian universities are going to break into the world’s top 10, at least according to the new QS World University Rankings 2018, the most likely candidate is Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Technology, innovation and digitalisation must be seen as sources of income and not as costs to a business.

The Swedish government has changed the university law to ensure all doctoral candidates are made an employee of the university with a salary.

An expert group appointed by the government has proposed to change the procedures on how research funding from the Research Council of Norway is distributed and to cut the administrative budget of the research council by NOK80 million (US$9.6 million).

As United States and British legislators tighten the screws on travel and visa rules, they might be squeezing out international researchers and students. Canadian universities, meanwhile, are seeing surging interest from both groups.

Academics in Japan are bitterly divided over defence ministry grants to universities for defence-related research.

Mobile researchers get higher citation rates and are also more productive than the average.

Erdogan, has taken direct control of the appointment of university rectors and a further 1,267 academics have been dismissed.

The Lars Løkke Rasmussen government is moving to cut funding for universities and the student financing system and increase political control over higher education institutions.