David Matthews
TimesHigherEducation
United Kingdom
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Past articles by David:
Will a Facebook-style news feed aid discovery or destroy serendipity?
Academics’ reading lists are increasingly directed by algorithms. But are the recommendation services of platforms such as Google Scholar, ResearchGate and Mendeley distorting science? And might AI ultimately lead it to a disastrous echo chamber? David Matthews reports → Read More
Germany too dependent on Confucius Institutes, minister warns
In unprecedented comments ahead of federal elections in September, Anja Karliczek applauds university that shuttered its institute → Read More
But is it research? Artists fight for official recognition
Performance can help explore academic questions, say advocates, but the field still lacks full acceptance in the corridors of power and policymaking → Read More
Pandemic shock ‘has exposed university teaching inequalities’
Governments have focused on building up a lavishly funded research elite, but the forced switch online has made them realise losers in this system cannot cope → Read More
#IchbinHanna: German researchers snap over lack of permanent jobs
Scholars, fed up with decades of living from contract to contract, force government to remove video that seemed to celebrate insecurity → Read More
Small fraction of professors ‘dominate contact with media’
Just 10 per cent of academics account for half of all engagement with the media, according to a survey of more than 1,000 Swiss professors → Read More
Why are German politicians so obsessed with PhDs?
After yet another minister falls to a plagiarism scandal, observers lament that a long German tradition of doctorates has descended into academic ‘credentialism’ → Read More
Cross-border universities initiative ‘could extend far beyond EU’
European Commission says it has heard pleas for more long-term funding, and is considering allowing extra universities to join existing alliances → Read More
Dutch student-loan shift ‘blocks progression to master’s degrees’
Statistics Netherlands finds that a switch away from grants has cut some students’ education short – despite government promises → Read More
Fudan Hungary campus branded geopolitical pawn as backlash grows
Part of a nexus of deals between Hungary and China, the project has become a flashpoint in local politics after it emerged locals will foot the bill → Read More
Researchers despair as Microsoft shuts down academic services
Decision will impact other tools that relied on Microsoft’s database and raises questions about relying on private firms, critics say → Read More
French professor free to harass hydroxychloroquine critics online
Eric Chabriere’s attacks against critics of hydroxychloroquine are seen as a sign of the social-media-induced radicalisation that has occurred during the pandemic → Read More
Public funding for European universities holds up despite Covid
Three countries even received double-digit increases in 2020, but with so much new government debt, some fear cuts could be in store further down the line → Read More
Polish pressure forces Holocaust historian to self-censor
Scholars fear threat of lawsuits is deterring academics from exploring Polish complicity in genocide → Read More
Oxford career oasis gives scholars time to escape tunnel vision
At the Future of Humanity Institute, early career researchers are given two years to work out which questions are really worth asking → Read More
Non-EU scientists face exclusion from sensitive Horizon projects
Most collaboration will continue, but emphasis on building the EU’s ‘strategic autonomy’ means academics in Israel, the UK and Switzerland could be shut out of some areas → Read More
How far can EU universities ride the post-Covid spending wave?
Amid the economic ravages inflicted by the coronavirus, the EU has agreed a huge stimulus package. But while research in some countries looks set for a transformational boost, it may be a different story for teaching, reports David Matthews → Read More
Backlash as Hamburg boosts ‘unscientific’ Covid lab leak analysis
Critics say university lent undue weight to analysis that was not peer-reviewed, but some worry scientists have shied away from fully investigating hypothesis → Read More
France’s elite universities face campus sexual assault reckoning
Campaigners say tight-knit elitism, boozy initiation weeks and a lacklustre administrative response have led to a culture of silence in grandes écoles → Read More
France to investigate academics over ‘Islamo-leftism’
Organisation charged with leading probe says term has no ‘scientific reality’ and is being used to shut down academic discussion of race and colonialism → Read More