America’s Brookings Institution was named the best think-tank in the world for a second year running, according to a University of Pennsylvania ranking report released this month. North America and Europe have 60% of the world’s think-tanks while Asia’s share has grown to 18% and Latin American and the Caribbean’s to 11%.

Morten Østergaard, Denmark's minister for higher education, wants to see all Danish students taking a study period abroad, gathering knowledge and experience outside the country that will enable Denmark to succeed in global competition.

Global inequalities in higher education are routinely taken for granted. But justification for them is often based on neutral presuppositions and the social context is ignored. Naming these inequalities and questioning their foundations is important.

What makes for a successful university merger? The Finnish experience reveals that major challenges include handling mergers transparently and inclusively.

Lecturers at universities in Senegal have been observing 72-hour strikes since 7 December. And with issues far from resolved, many fear that the academic year is under serious threat.

Last Wednesday five jobless Moroccan university graduates set themselves alight in the capital Rabat, in protest against youth unemployment. It was the latest in a wave of horrific self-immolations that began with the December 2010 death of a young Tunisian vegetable vendor, which helped to spark the Arab uprisings.