27 June 2021  Issue No: 649

China and the United States have kicked off a race for supremacy in global science and technology and some fear it could lead to an emerging division into two opposing science ‘blocs’, reminiscent of the military and economic divisions of the Cold War era.

Students who enrolled in spring 2020 have already spent more than a full academic year under COVID-19 restrictions, but new data shows that not all students experienced COVID restrictions in the same way and highlights that universities need to do more to help those in the most affected disciplines to catch up.

Florida’s governor has signed into law a bill that requires state colleges and universities to “conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” via a survey of students and enables students to sue over freedom of speech violations.

To address future health threats, and prepare future health professionals to implement a holistic approach and be more effective and innovative, we need to develop a One Health culture in higher education through increasing interdisciplinarity and embedding it in the culture of our institutions.

The new Mexican president’s wild attacks on researchers; controversial decisions by the National Council of Science and Technology, the funding agency for research, including mass firings of researchers in one programme; and suspicions of political cronyism are causing growing concern within Mexico’s research centres and universities.

One of Canada’s most prestigious universities is enmeshed in a controversy that threatens to undo decades of work on making the university welcoming to Indigenous students after an anonymous investigation questioned whether four faculty members and another individual involved with Indigenous issues at the university really are Indigenous.