Prof Tracey, VC of Oxford University, asks for sex harassment policy improvements She's asking the institutional perpetrators of institutional collusion how best to overcome the institutional collusion that they've all been perpetrating An Oxford farce www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The FT ranks the best 400 UK employers ... including Dundee University It's facing near financial collapse & on its third round of redundancies Former Principal was famously asked whether he was corrupt or incompetent & replied he was incompetent @data.ft.com 😮 www.ft.com/content/666c...

Real culprits at Nottingham University have moved onward & upward Current VC has instigated cost-cutting drive dubbed 'Future Nottingham' This phrase is used to sanitise the brutality of sacking staff She should stand down as VC for crimes against language www.nottinghampost.com/news/notting...

Beautiful molecular clinical epidemiology paper led by @paulpharoah.bsky.social! @caldaslab.bsky.social very pleased to have contributed! @launtenbergc.bsky.social @hebrewuniversity.bsky.social TILs in #breast cancer alter prognosis! 15,000 cases!! Walking the walk! www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Financial Times ranks Cambridge University as top UK employer Who fills in online survey from the FT? ⁠Highly paid individuals in senior management with huge pay/bonuses & no real duties Survey won't sample academic staff or low-paid professional services staff Seriously flawed @data.ft.com

The Financial Times lists the 400 best employers -- including many universities like Dundee It’s a bit like praising staff satisfaction at Lehman Brothers in 2007 The statistical evidence of @data.ft.com is examined here It's incoherent & flawed 21percent.org?p=3293

University student population of Gorton & Denton is ~ 5000, concentrated in Gorton Young graduates with student loans in G&D are ~ 8000 This is significant voting block of ~ 13000 Govt policies on student loans / universities contributed to this punishing by-election loss

UniversitiesUK is lobbying group for Vice-Chancellors, not staff or students It's consistently lobbied for higher tuition fees & marketisation It's supported bureaucratic corporatisation & excessive VC pay -- but never staff It's grown fat on University money universitiesuk.ac.uk/about-us/peo...

"Dr" Ann Limb remains a Fellow Commoner of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge The University Reporter dated 19 January 2026 lists the Fellows of the Colleges The false claim about her academic qualifications has still not been corrected www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

More poor journalism Overseas engineering PhD students pay £25–30k a year, while home students pay £5–6k in fees International students subsidise UK universities Without that income, research-intensive universities couldn't function unless Gov't paid more money www.thetimes.com/article/c522...

Voice of Victim "There was a University lectureship competition My friend was in pole position. My Head of Department asked me if she was likely to go on maternity leave I refused to answer My HoD has not spoken to me since she was appointed -- & then went on maternity leave"

Article is right to say Oxbridge has become hooked on casualised labour, upheld by hierarchy of auxiliary teaching paid at low rates or unpaid The "gig economy" has moved HE away from secure, long-term employment toward precarious, short-term contracts timeshighereducation.com/opinion/hiri...

Real issue isn’t hiring “too senior” or "established" candidates Academia produces far more PhDs than permanent jobs Restricting the competition won’t solve that It only replaces excellence with forms of protectionism www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/hiri...

Fall of the Oxbridge Junior Research Fellow "Skeffington [a JRF] had taste ...There was a Sickert, a Kokoschka, a Nolan in his College room" [CP Snow, 1960] "Could you run the graduate programme this year? Role is unpaid but it's valuable experience for a future post" [2026]

A university is spooked They know they'll lose the case. They fear deluge of other complaints that will come forward as a result What happens? Gagging orders We have right to know what's happening in universities getting large pots of public money thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...?

Proposal to concentrate research in “flagship” Welsh university is made with no evidence It criticises bureaucracy -- yet proposes technocratic control from the centre using indicators & funding levers to steer mission Duw helpo ni www.hepi.ac.uk/2026/03/02/w...

Voice of Victim "Four investigations by University HR One run by a KC — because nothing says “healthy workplace” like cross-examination We had no legal representation just threats Colleagues walked into interviews thinking it was a chat “You should’ve known better” said HR"

Great scientist … shocking interview “I’m old, I’m white, I’m a man, so everything’s against me” is clumsy start Worse is refusal to see bullying & sexual harassment as corruption of science Paul Nurse presided over institutions notorious for poor culture www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

MPs debate 'Duty of Care' today At Cambridge, the 21 Group has repeatedly raised #Whistleblowing concerns about the treatment of a student No action in response by University Statutory 'Duty of Care' is needed committees.parliament.uk/committee/20... @forthe100.bsky.social

Retraction of Nature paper by the Crick Institute The first author — then a doctoral student — manipulated data Certain Crick labs seem prone to these kinds of mishaps This raises questions about supervisory oversight by the doctoral adviser as well as institutional research culture

Built by Welsh workers’ donations on gifted land, Cardiff University should be vital national institution Instead, Chief Operating Officer wants further ventures into Indonesia & Philippines It ends with COO moving on & up - and staff left to clear up her mess nation.cymru/news/cardiff...

Battle for Veterinary Science at Cambridge The Vet School needs £20m to survive, allegedly It's a disputed figure but dwarfed by recent yearly increases in central administration spending Cambridge has a priorities crisis not a funding crisis @jw132.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Voice of Victim "We raised grievances HR kindly sent us web-links — Occupational Health, counselling, chaplaincy, Samaritans, the full wellness parade We were told we could seek support but, as the matter was confidential, we could not talk about the cause of our distress"

Voice of Victim "My grievance went from the HR Business Manager to the HR Director, to the Registrar, to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and finally to the Vice-Chancellor herself. Each time I thought: 'now the adults have entered the room — now this will be sorted' It never was"

Bullying has a human cost, but UK universities aren't interested in this Conservative estimates suggest £millions are spent each year on mismanaged cases This wastes public money In times of scarcity, increased scrutiny of financial mismanagement will finally drive change

Students mistreated by their University should contact their MPs There is backbench debate on statutory duty of care on 13 January 2026 Let's leave MPs in no doubt as to the failure of universities to safeguard staff & students @Dying4aDegree @ForThe100_

Rigged promotions. Whistleblower retaliation. Research shutdowns. Plagiarism cover-ups. Soaring executive pay Consigliere University: A masterclass in how NOT to run a university 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse Let the Fire Horses run free 21percent.org?p=3097

Voice of Victim "I raised a Grievance about the HR Business Partner at my University with the HR Director Then the Pro-VC. The Registrar. The VC All of them asked the HR Business Partner to draft their responses Universities -- where 'procedural fairness' goes to die"

Lecturers, technicians & support staff are expendable, while vice-chancellors & senior teams enjoy outsized salaries Strathclyde Uni say it's “reshaping finances". No It's protecting executive pay at expense of academic community & quality of education www.timeshighereducation.com/news/strike-...

Voice of Victim "After an extended silence, the University's HR Director announced ‘very significant findings on very serious issues,’ which couldn't be disclosed as they were strictly confidential The email was marked STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL & sent to many incorrect recipients" 😉

Voice of Victim "What I learnt (the hard way) after I raised bullying issues with my University: HR is not my friend Confidentiality is a shield to protect the institution & the powerful Transparency is optional Staff wellbeing is a slogan, not a practice"

What's gone wrong at Cambridge University? Flat departmental budgets (inflation-adjusted) from 2016–2025 Explosive growth in central administration spending The result is a university increasingly run around teaching and research rather than for them Dereliction of its core mission

2025 was a year of vandalism across UK universities In 2026, the wreckage will be set on fire: more strikes, more cuts, more closures Meanwhile, vice-chancellors & senior managers will fail upwards, stuffing their pockets while the sector burns Cheered on by @universitiesuk.bsky.social

Correlation is not always causation.

"There have obviously been financial mistakes, they couldn't keep up with the upkeep - it was falling apart" What happened to Vice Chancellor & Chief Financial Officer who pushed University of Nottingham over the cliff? They moved onwards & upwards🤮 www.nottinghampost.com/news/notting...

Universities must also be included in statutory Duty of Candour legislation University senior management has institutionalised culture of truth evasion & scrutiny-smothering This has no place in publicly funded institutions that claim moral authority www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Voice of Victim "We were sold a comforting lie - University HR was a kindly institutional conscience When the mask finally slipped, the truth was spat out with contempt You're collateral. You always were Our lab learnt this lesson. It was enforced — suddenly, violently & without appeal"

Amazing student. Super smart super dedicated. Pleasure to supervise!

Strike while the iron is hot Interest in bullying & harassment at Universities has been reignited by scandals at Oxford The 21 Group encourages victims of misconduct to write to their MPs We applaud MPs (of any party) who take a stand Blog posting here: 21percent.org?p=2983 @LaylaMoran

University HR personnel are 'equal opportunity bullies' If you speak out, you'll be mistreated -- even if you're emeritus "Your behaviour has created grounds for an immediate & far-reaching investigation into you" said the HR Director with a thin smile www.timeshighereducation.com/news/free-sp...

Cambridge Vice Chancellor talks to Reform Instead she should meet with student & staff to hear concerns, keep an open door for staff to report experiences & hold in-person town halls And adopt leadership style that questions motives & actions of those around her www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

How To Bankrupt a University & Break Your Staff Instead of resolving problems, HR worsen them, then outsource cost on to academics via committees & panels as well as lawyers & health services The rise and rise of University HR depts 21percent.org?p=3001

Voice of Victim "The HR Director said, 'We had a lot of unhelpful & destructive criticism in the anonymous reporting tool this term. There'll be a disciplinary, once we've identified who submitted it' "

Voice of Victim "9 months ago, the University ‘reviewed’ us ‘Just a light touch. A quick check-in, a stocktake of where we are', said the Pro-VC Yesterday, I got my redundancy letter Our entire group has been dissolved—aside from two who get to reapply for downgraded roles”

Derby University has unveiled another redundancy plan affecting ~ 550 staff Professional services are hit hardest, then academics & even some leadership roles Don't worry -- only mid-level roles No one senior The axe never swings upward, always down www.thecanary.co/long-read/20...

Real story -- who leaked confidential remarks of VC of Cambridge University? ABC of Leaks A - Leaks happen if shared purpose & trust has gone B - A leaker wants to damage reputation of a leader they dislike C - Leaky organisations sink www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Edinburgh University pays >£750,000) to Nous Group, which specialises in cuts A consultancy is paid to shield Vice Chancellor & provide the advice he wants to hear Universities often have weak & financially inept leadership so they're easy prey for Nous Group www.theferret.scot/consultancy-...

It would be nice if Chief Exec of British Academy did his job He's in charge of implementing misconduct policy He still has our complaint about Prof Hofman FBA from 2 years ago ... ... as well as Oxford sex harassment case against Prof Hewstone FBA from last month @hetanshah.bsky.social

In the news is Oxford University "Campaigners against misconduct in higher education said spate of cases warranted an independent investigation by the Equality & Human Rights Commission" And Charity Commission & Health and Safety Executive & Thames Valley police www.thetimes.com/uk/education...

Essex University is gutting staff & shutting a whole campus while pretending it’s about sustainability Management claim these “sad” decisions will strengthen the university 😲 Announcing mass redundancies before Christmas is typically cruel HR practice www.timeshighereducation.com/news/essex-c...