Times Higher Education

This episode of Campus Talks heads back to school. As millions of freshmen prepare to start university – whether that’s on campus or online – we look at what institutions can do to make the transition to higher education a bit less overwhelming and a little more tailored to a cohort who are informed by AI and social media and focused on career-based skills. Orientation is no longer a one-size-fits-all proposition. For universities, this means listening to students’ need for flexibility, taking into account their different backgrounds and ages, and addressing barriers to the settling-in process. We speak to Rachel Gable, director of academic programme authorisation at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the author of The Hidden Curriculum: First Generation Students at Legacy Universities (Princeton University Press, 2021) and the upcoming The College Handbook: How to Arrive, Survive, and Thrive on Campus (PUP, 2026). With a background in anthropology and a doctorate in education fr

Equity, diversity and inclusion work in higher education is under growing scrutiny, in some cases outright attack, most notably in the US. So, on this week’s podcast we spoke to two experts in EDI – or DEI as it is referred to in north America – based in the US to get back to the basics of what this work is all about and discuss how universities can protect and advance equality of opportunity for all, against a challenging political backdrop. You will hear from: Paulette Granberry Russell JD, the president and CEO of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. She took up the position in March 2020, after more than 20 years as chief diversity officer and senior adviser to the president for diversity at Michigan State University. She is a leading national voice on civil rights, justice in higher education and beyond, and the transformative power of higher education. Frank Dobbin, the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University, whose research investigates what i

Critical thinking is one of the most lauded graduate skillsets, praised by academics, sought after by employers and upheld as a solution to many contemporary challenges from AI to polarisation. But are universities equipping students with the capabilities and mindset needed to properly question information and assumptions, to self-reflect, overcome biases, analyse, empathise and reason? And if not, what could higher education do differently? To find out, in this podcast episode we speak to two experts in education and strategic decision-making: Olivier Sibony is an affiliate professor at the business school HEC Paris and a specialist in strategic decision making and the role that heuristics and biases play in this. Olivier spent 24 years as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in New York, Paris and Brussels and has produced hit books including You're About to Make a Terrible Mistake in 2020 and Noise, A Flaw in Human Judgment in 2021, which he co-wrote with Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahnemen and

Whether you love it, tolerate it, are a master of a compelling Bluesky thread or struggle with a LinkedIn update, social media has become an inescapable part of academia and university life. But it’s complicated. On one hand, scholars use it to build their academic profile, share research with the wider public, celebrate career successes or publications and connect with community and potential collaborators. And on the other, social media is a breeding ground for political polarisation, misinformation and harassment. One aspect that is beyond question is social media’s ability to hook and maintain our attention. So, what can higher education take from social media’s compelling ways to improve teaching, critical thinking or outreach? How can teachers use its strategies to build engagement in class, for example? What can analysing influencers show learners about navigating AI-created content and deep fakes? What do online habits tell us about what students need from their teachers and each other? For this episo

We discuss the changing role of the university library, and librarian, and learn how these often iconic institutions are not just responding to change but actively seeking out new opportunities to improve their services and ensure access to valuable information. Hear about the efforts of US librarians to protect valuable public data and government records from the sudden erasure by the Trump administration. Plus, a UK vice-chancellor describes a pioneering project which saw his university partner with the local council to create a joint library that is open to anyone. Lynda Kellam is the Snyder-Granader director of research data and digital scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania. She has held previous data librarian roles at Cornell University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She serves as secretary of the International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (IASSIST) and is a past president of the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT). Independently of

A technology transfer expert and biotech spin-out founder explain the steps involved in moving discoveries from the lab to the market. Most academics want their work to have an impact and one route to achieving this is by commercialising their findings. By partnering with an existing company to bring a product to market or by establishing a new spin-out enterprise, scholars can develop technologies, products and solutions that can revolutionise whole sectors, whether in healthcare, construction, farming and more. But this is a far from easy or simple process requiring tenacity, adaptability, collaboration and high level problem solving. For this week’s podcast, we speak to two people with extensive experience in what it takes to commercialise research and become an academic entrepreneur. Mairi Gibbs is CEO of Oxford University Innovation – the university’s technology transfer unit - where she has worked since 2002. With extensive practical experience in partnership management, formation of spinout companies,

As complex organisations, universities need to examine their many and varied functions when seeking to reduce their carbon footprint and advance sustainability. For many, the easier changes have been made so, looking ahead, institutions need to get smarter about how they transform their practices and policies to halt future global warming. In this episode, we speak to two women focused upon driving positive change and reducing emissions in two very different but equally important arenas of university work. Ellen Quigley is principal research associate at the University of Cambridge. She is also co-director of finance for environmental and social systemic change and special adviser in responsible investment to the university’s chief financial officer. Her own award-winning research focuses on the mitigation of climate change and inequality through the investment policies and practices of institutional investors. Drawing on the example of Jesus College, Cambridge, she explains how universities can use their pow

A sense of belonging is particularly valuable in higher education, where feeling valued, respected and part of a community are connected to students’ academic achievement, retention and well-being. But belonging resists clear definition, both what it is and how it relates to other concepts such as inclusion and mattering. This is especially true in a post-pandemic world, where online learning and the digital transformation have blurred the boundaries of university life. For this episode of the Campus podcast, we speak to Karen Gravett, who is an associate professor in higher education and associate head of research in the Surrey Institute of Education at the University of Surrey. Her research covers belonging, digital education, student engagement, relational pedagogies and literacy practices. As part of the Belonging to and beyond the Digital university project, Karen (working with Rola Ajjawi of Deakin University and Sarah O’Shea from Charles Sturt University) asked students what belonging means to them, an

Hear from two academic policy experts, one in the UK and one in the US, who discuss the most effective ways that researchers can share their expertise with politicians and civil servants. We speak to: Michael Sanders is a professor of public policy at Kings College London and director of the School for Government. In addition to his academic career, he has worked in government as chief scientist on the Behavioural Insights Team and was the founding chief executive of What Works for Children’s Social Care. David Garcia is a professor with Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Prior to joining ASU, he helped found the Arizona Center for Public Policy - ThinkAZ, and he was worked as an associate superintendent and a director of research and policy with Arizona Department of Education. He is also a former legislative staffer with the Arizona State Senate and was the 2018 Democratic candidate for governor of Arizona. For more advice and insight on how best to engage policymakers with your r

Hear why an international approach to higher education research and teaching is vital to building a better future and solving global challenges. We speak to two academic experts to learn about effective institutional strategies to support internationalisation but also what key barriers prevent a more global academy. Lily Kong is president of Singapore Management University. She is the first women to lead an institute of higher education in Singapore. She took the helm in 2019 after three years as provost and prior to this she held senior management roles at the National University of Singapore. Manuel Barcia is the University of Bath’s pro-vice-chancellor (global) after moving from the University of Leeds in May 2025, where he was dean for Global Engagement and Chair of Global History in the School of History. For more advice and insight on this topic, browse our spotlight guide to teaching and researching across borders.

For this episode, we asked academics and university staff from around the world to share their own strategies for staying positive, healthy and maintaining balance in a sector in which stress and overwork are commonplace. At a time when higher education feels under attack in many countries, in more ways than one, it is important for those working in the sector to find coping strategies that work for them and build collective support. Thank you to all who contributed their personal wisdom: Lucas Lixinski is a law professor and associate dean at UNSW Sydney, which he joined after completing a postgraduate fellowship at the University of Texas School of Law. Maha Bali is a professor of practice at the Center for Learning and Teaching at The American University in Cairo (AUC).  Doune Macdonald is an emerita professor at the University of Queensland and a visiting professor at the University of Sydney. Debbie Riby is a professor of developmental psychology and associate pro-vice chancellor for postgraduate resear

The delivery of quality research is central to the mission of most universities. But there is more to research excellence than headline-grabbing “ground-breaking” discoveries. This podcast episode explores what good research looks like, how it can be supported at an institutional level, and what feeds into a healthy research ecosystem that enables robust studies of all types, at all stages to be carried out and knowledge advanced. We also delve into research security to find out how such scholarly work can be protected from misuse or being weaponised amid ever-changing geopolitical power struggles. You will hear from: Marcus Munafò, who is currently associate pro vice-chancellor for research culture and professor of biological psychology at the University of Bristol, but will, in May, take up the post of deputy vice-chancellor and provost at the University of Bath. He is co-founder of the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) and leads a major project funded by Research England to accelerate the uptake of open r

Assessment is a cornerstone of most modern education systems, and yet is it strictly necessary? If it is, what purpose should it serve and, thus, how should it be designed and delivered? In seeking to answer these questions, we put assessment under examination. In this podcast episode, the nature of institutionalised education, how assessment can better serve learning, the impact of grading, and compliance all come under scrutiny. We speak to: Susan D. Blum is a professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. An award-winning author and educator, she has written and edited 10 books including a trilogy critiquing the way university teaching is delivered with the latest, Schoolishness: Alienated Education and the Quest for Authentic, Joyful Learning, coming out in 2024. Catherine Wehlburg is president of Athens State University and president of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE). Josh Eyler is director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and c

Complex problems cannot be solved if examined only through a narrow lens. Enter interdisciplinarity. It is now widely accepted that drawing on varied expertise and perspectives is the only way we can understand and tackle many of the most challenging issues we face, as individuals and as a species. So, there is a growing movement towards more cross-disciplinary working in higher education, but it faces challenges. Interdisciplinarity requires a shift of mindset in an academy built upon clear disciplinary distinctions and must compete for space in already overcrowded curricula. For this episode, we speak to Gabriele Bammer and Kate Crawford to find out why interdisciplinary research and teaching are so important and how these leading scholars are encouraging more academics and students to break out of traditional academic silos. Gabriele Bammer is a professor of integration and implementation sciences (i2S) at the Australian National University. She is author of several books including ‘Disciplining Interdisci

How should universities manage the rapid uptake of artificial intelligence across all aspects of higher education? We talk to three experts about AI’s impact on teaching, governance and the environment.  These interviews – with a researcher, a teaching expert and a pro vice-chancellor for AI – share practical advice, break down key considerations, and offer reasons for vigilance and optimism.  We talk to: Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and a cooperating faculty member in the computer science and engineering department at the University of California, Riverside, whose article “Making AI less ‘thirsty’: uncovering and addressing the secret water footprint of AI models”, co-written with Pengfei Li and Jianyi Yang, also from UC Riverside, and Mohammad A. Islam of UT Arlington, has drawn attention to water consumption of AI data centres José Bowen, an author and academic who co-wrote Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins Unive

Learn about new models in academic publishing that could better serve academia by helping scholars get their work into the public sphere more readily, removing financial barriers for authors and readers and underpinning better research practices. We speak to two academics about the challenges associated with the dominant commercial academic publishing model and how they are seeking more effective ways to enable researchers to disseminate knowledge. Paul Ayris is pro-vice provost for library services at University College London and chief executive of UCL Press which he founded 10 years ago as the UK’s first fully open access university press. The press produces a range of open access monographs and edited collections, student textbooks and academics journals and is now home to UCL Open Environment, the only multidisciplinary open science journal focused on all environment related topics. Philipp Koellinger is a professor in social science genetics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and co-founder and CEO of a te

Citizen science, in which researchers work alongside members of the public to collect or analyse data, brings multiple benefits, extending the capabilities of research teams and aiding public engagement. But there are still sceptics who question its validity as a research model. Find out why concerns are often misplaced and hear some of the ways enthusiastic amateurs have helped advance human knowledge. On the broader question of public impact, hear how universities could provide a framework that supports academics to carry out more community-engaged research, designed to serve the public good. On this episode, we talk to: Chris Lintott, professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford, presenter on the BBC’s The Sky at Night program, author and co-founder of citizen science platform Zooniverse. He explains how his interest in citizen science was sparked and why he believes it is such an effective model. Neeli Bendapudi, president of Penn State – Pennsylvania State University – discusses a new coalition

For this episode, we talk to British social artist, designer and researcher Helen Storey about a career that has taken her from runways to scientific collaborations to refugee camps in the Middle East and Africa. Storey is a professor of fashion and science at the London College of Fashion in the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the University of the Arts London (UAL). In May, she donated her 30-year Helen Storey Foundation Archive of about 2,000 digital and physical pieces to UAL. In this interview, she details her journey – how she transitioned from award-winning commercial fashion designer to working with scientists on projects that, among other explorations, translate the first 1,000 hours of human life into textiles – and how she hopes the archive will benefit students. Storey, who was awarded an MBE for Services to Arts in 2009, also shares insights from her humanitarian work, from creating Dress 4 our Time to becoming the UNHCR’s first designer-in-residence, and how these experiences are now intertwin

Indigenous knowledge has historically been marginalised or actively excluded from higher education. However, universities around the world are now recognising that First Nations’ wisdom and culture can enrich education and are giving these communities a greater voice. Of course, with deep-rooted issues such as decolonisation and lack of parity to be addressed, there’s still a way to go. In this episode, Indigenous university leaders – in Canada and New Zealand – explain how their institutions support First Nations’ participation in higher education. First, we talk to Angie Bruce, a Red River Métis woman who is vice-president (Indigenous) at the University of Manitoba. Prior to taking up her post, Angie had extensive experience working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in public sector organisations. She discusses the historical and systemic barriers to Indigenous involvement in Canadian higher education and what institutions can do to break these down. We also meet Te Kawehau Hoskins, who is pro vice

Learn from the winners in three very different THE Award categories how they developed the strategies and projects that saw them take home a trophy in 2023 – and how these have evolved in the 12 months since. We speak to: Roderick Watkins, vice-chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, which was named 2023 THE University of the Year Mark Brown, a professor in evolutionary ecology and conservation at Royal Holloway, University of London, who won Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year Joanne Pledger, a senior lecturer in astrophysics, and Ruth Spencer, a senior lecturer in dance, both at the University of Central Lancashire who, with colleagues, worked on the Into Our Skies: Space in Schools project, which took home the award for widening participation or outreach initiative.