Words by Ed Mackenzie. The incentive The 2022–23 House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee report on Reproducibility and Research Integrity reached a conclusion about incentives in the academy: “Reward structures in academia disincentivise reproducibility by placing disproportionate value on secured funding and frequent publication in prestigious journals.” (HC 101, ¶127) Asked what...Read More
Words by Aisha Qadi, PhD student in Governance in Higher Education, Imperial College I’m a PhD researcher at Imperial College London, and earlier in July I gave a talk at the Council for the Defence of British Universities (CDBU) AGM on the early findings of my research. This post is a version of that talk,...Read More
The outpouring of grief accompanying the death of Professor Jason Arday testifies to the magnitude of his contribution both as a scholar and as a human being. Yet it is also grief propelled by a profound collective guilt of inaction. Why did so many of us fail to intervene? Why didn’t we co-ordinate a counterattack,...Read More
The Council for the Defence of British Universities (CDBU) has endorsed the British Academy’s call for a comprehensive review of higher education and encourages all members to lobby their MPs to call upon the new Prime Minister and his government to institute such a review as a matter of urgency. We have produced this template...Read More
20 July 2026 Dear Prime Minister On behalf of the Council for the Defence of British Universities (CDBU), I request a meeting with you to discuss Higher Education. The sector needs a review of management, purpose and funding. British universities were envied until recently in other countries for our teaching, research, and openness to the...Read More
The Annual General Meeting for 2026 of the Council for the Defence of British Universities will take place online via Zoom on Wednesday 22 July at 3pm. The meeting is open to members and non-members but only members have voting rights. Non-members are encouraged to fill out the membership application form on the website....Read More
The Council for the Defence of British Universities invites applications to our second call for project funding. Projects can encompass any aspect of higher education in the UK, including policy and institutional change (e.g. mergers), curricula developments, finance, staff and student welfare and wellbeing or the effects of restructuring programmes currently ravaging our sector. Comparisons...Read More
Words by Professor Leo McCann and Professor Simon Sweeney, University of York The sudden availability and widespread usage of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) have had a significant impact on university life, provoking much discussion and reflection. Many academics are turning to scholarly work on AI in their attempts to make...Read More
