What is being claimed to be the world’s first fully functional blockchain-based platform for researchers has been launched.

It is the hedgehog of the reef: a tropical fish whose quill-like fin spines inflict a painful sting. Now the zebra lionfish has become embroiled in an expanding research misconduct investigation that stretches from a Queensland island to the chilly Baltic and the grasslands of Saskatchewan.

With public attention fixed on the Office for Students’ controversial first few months, the arrival of a second major new higher education body in England has largely gone unnoticed

A group of University of Oxford academics have launched the world’s first “blockchain university”, an Oxbridge-style institution that they describe as “Uber for students, Airbnb for academics”.

The University of Cambridge has been accused of washing its hands of the conduct of a researcher at the centre of a Facebook data-harvesting scandal, in a case that raises wider questions about institutions’ responsibility for academics’ outside activities.

Stereotypes about attractiveness and androgyny still hold back the progress of women in the sciences and mathematics, a scholar has argued.

Contemporary artist Grayson Perry has expressed concern about the low numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds studying arts degrees.

Israeli universities have been told to bar their academics from expressing political opinions in class.

Cheap transport options have long served as a lifeline for many budgeting academics, but now low-cost airline flights have been proven to increase research collaborations between scientists.

The Indian government’s decision to grant 60 universities “autonomous” status has been hailed as a “welcome step”, but question marks remain over how it will impact public funding of higher education.