News Talks by Times Higher Education

News Talks podcast: Is China’s Greater Bay Area the next global higher education hub?

We discuss the ambitions of Shenzhen and other cities in China’s Greater Bay Area to develop higher education systems that match their global economic and industrial clout.
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Shenzhen and other cities in China’s Greater Bay Area are leveraging the higher education prowess of neighbouring Hong Kong to develop their own world-leading universities.
A series of branch campuses have been set up by prestigious Hong Kong institutions in cities including Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan, which the Chinese authorities hope will propel the region into the top echelons of global higher education.
Times Higher Education’s Asia-Pacific editor John Ross visited one of these youthful institutions, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ), which just 12 years after it’s launch already boasts 13,000 students studying across eight schools with ambitions to grow to 25,000 students when its new medical school – currently under construction – opens.
On this week’s episode of News Talks, Campus editor Miranda Prynne asks John about his impressions of Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area of China – and gets a colourful description of the CUHK-SZ campus.
They discuss the Chinese authorities’ ambition to develop a regional higher education offering across the Greater Bay Area in line with its economic and technological advancement, the role that Hong Kong’s globally recognised institutions are playing in this effort and whether Shenzhen and neighbouring cities will ultimately take over as a global hub for higher education.

News Talks: Are university mergers the future for UK higher education?

We discuss whether mergers are a sensible way forward for UK universities beset by financial challenges.
The announcement that King’s College London and Cranfield University are planning to join by August 2027, raises questions about whether university mergers offer a sensible way forward for the UK’s beleaguered higher education sector.
So this week, on News Talks, Times Higher Education editor-in-chief Chris Havergal joins Campus editor Miranda Prynne to interrogate this question. They explore the reasoning behind King's and Cranfield’s decision but also discuss other recent mergers in the UK and Australia to draw lessons on what works and where difficulties often arise.
Chris puts the case for and against university mergers as an answer to UK higher education’s current financial turmoil and offers his take on what the future may hold for a sector in flux.
More episodes of News Talks can be found here: News Talks: a Times Higher Education podcast | Times Higher Education (THE).

News Talks: The human cost of UK university job cuts laid bare

We discuss the fall out from tens of thousands of layoffs across UK higher education after a Times Higher Education survey exposed the anger, fear and stress that pervade the sector.
In this week’s podcast, the author of the UK redundancy survey, THE features editor Paul Jump talks Miranda Prynne through the results which paint a picture of a demoralised, exhausted and fragmented sector and the human stories behind the cuts.
They discuss the strength of feeling among respondents, who and what is blamed for the sector’s financial woes, the impact of the redundancies on those remaining as well as lessons for university senior managers and how institutions might move forward from such a bruising few years.

News Talks: What next for OfS after Sussex free speech ruling

As the University of Sussex celebrates legal victory against the Office for Students, we discuss what the ruling means for the future of the regulator.
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The Office for Students (OfS) has been defeated in the High Court with its £585,000 fine, imposed on the University of Sussex for failing to protect free speech, overturned.
In this episode of News Talks, find out what this landmark ruling could mean for the future of the UK’s higher education regulator.
Times Higher Education editor Chris Havergal joins Miranda Prynne to talk through the key points upon which Mrs Justice Lieven found in Sussex’s favour, likely reactions to across the university sector and how this ruling might shape the future operations of the OfS.

News Talks: Can Magyar free Hungary’s universities of Orbán’s populist influence?

After Péter Magyar’s landslide election victory, we discuss why restoring independence and academic freedom to Hungarian higher education may not be an easy task. 
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Right wing populist leader Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule in Hungary has come to an end after his rival Peter Magyar won a two thirds majority in the general election.
Centre-right leader Magyar has promised to rebuild relations with Europe, tackle corruption and cronyism and restore academic freedom.
On this episode of News Talks, Campus editor Miranda Prynne talks to Times Higher Education Europe reporter Seher Asif about why the ousting of Orbán may provoke mixed feelings among Hungary’s academics and higher education leaders, how the former populist leader reshaped the country’s universities and why reversing the Orbán era policies may not be a simple matter.
The conversation also turns to what lessons the experience of Hungary’s universities might offer to other higher education systems around the world threatened with government hostility and interference.

News Talks: What is driving UK universities' branch campus rush to India

As UK universities queue up to open new branch campuses in India, we discuss what has sparked this renewed enthusiasm for a form of transnational education (TNE) which was, until recently, considered moribund - and why many remain cynical about the chances of success
Several UK, and Australian, institutions have launched, or are on the cusp of launching, new branch campuses in India, encouraged by the Indian government.
The University of Southampton and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have both already started teaching in Delhi and Bangalore respectively with many others are hoping to follow suit in coming months.
On this week’s podcast, THE news editor Tom Williams joins Campus editor Miranda Prynne to discuss what lies behind this surge of interest in setting up Indian outposts.
Tom explains how these plans differ from the branch campuses of past years, the risks associated with setting up an institution in a new country and how the UK government's stance on internationalisation is impacting such efforts.

News Talks: Will a landmark review into Australian R&D deliver the transformation that higher education hopes for

The far reaching reforms proposed by Australia’s Strategic Examination of Research and Development (Serd) have been widely welcomed by the country’s higher education sector – but how many will the government choose to adopt?
On this week’s podcast, Miranda Prynne quizzes THE’s Asia Pacific editor John Ross about Serd’s key recommendations and the likelihood of such transformative – and expensive - changes to the funding and management of Australian research being enacted.
Hear John explain the thinking behind this review and the problems it sets out to solve, as well as the areas of greatest concern for academics and policymakers and the general sentiment across Australian higher education today.

News Talks: Will Horizon FP10 support 'bigger, better, stronger' global collaboration?

As proposals for the future Horizon Europe are scrutinised by the European Parliament, we discuss likely changes to the seven-year funding programme and whether it can support a coalition of like-minded powers amidst the current geopolitical upheaval.
The next version of Horizon Europe, due to launch in 2028, is likely to show much greater alignment with EU economic and defence priorities, backed by the budget almost doubling to €175bn a year.
The initial proposal put forward by the European Commission opens Horizon up to dual purpose and defence focused research and places more weight on research designed to drive EU competitiveness in key industries such as green energy and digital technologies.
This week Miranda Prynne is joined by THE features editor Paul Jump to discuss how the planned changes could affect European research and the impact on Horizon’s flourishing global network of non-EU members such as the UK, Canada and Japan whose contributions currently make up around a third of Horizon’s total budget.
Listen to Paul’s take on whether the new Horizon Europe will provide a platform for a stronger international network of like-minded middle powers, giving them more clout on the world stage, or if a closer focus on Europe’s needs will create tensions with non-EU members.

News Talks: Is MRes recruitment exploiting UK international student visa rules?

The number of international students enrolled on masters by research (MRes) courses more than doubled in the year after the government introduced a ban on dependent visas for other courses, new figures revealed this week.
Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) data obtained by Times Higher Education show that there were 6,085 non-UK-domiciled students enrolled on MRes courses in the 2024-25 academic year – up from 2,485 in 2023-24. 
This leaves the institutions behind such rises open to accusations of playing the system and using MRes courses as a way to circumvent the government’s visa rules.
On this episode of News Talks, Miranda Prynne speaks to Times Higher Education deputy news editor Helen Packer, who has been covering the story, to find out what lies behind the rising MRes numbers, what the institutions driving the growth have said and the reaction from politicians and other sector leaders.

News Talks: University of Sussex v the Office for Students – what could it mean for UK higher education?

We discuss why the University of Sussex has mounted a legal challenge against a £585,000 fine imposed by the Office for Students (OfS) for failing to uphold freedom of speech.
The case, being heard in the high court in London this week, brings to the fore questions over academic freedom, institutional autonomy, trans rights and EDI policies and the role of the OfS.
On this episode of News talks, Times Higher Education editor Chris Havergal talks to Miranda Prynne about the background to the case, the key points upon which Sussex is disputing the OfS findings and the broader implications for universities and the way they are regulated.