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Sir Mark Walport¡¯s new imperium over UK research has clearly caused a bit of tension in some quarters of academia. While the vast majority were quick to hail the appointment of the former Wellcome Trust head when he became the government¡¯s chief science adviser, some sceptical voices are making their misgivings known about his new role overseeing a ?6 billion a year budget as head of UK Research and Innovation. In a on 2 February, James Wilsdon, professor of research policy at the University of Sheffield, claimed that a ¡°v senior scientist¡± had told him that he ¡°feel[s] marginally better about MW at UKRI than DJT in the White House but it¡¯s close¡±. However, this did not please one big beast of the policy world ¨C David Sweeney, research director at the Higher Education Funding Council for England ¨C who felt that the Trump comparison was ¡°offensive¡± and ¡°OTT¡±, tweeting back that Sir Mark was ¡°richly-qualified¡± for the top job. ¡°Time to pull together,¡± he added. Insisting that he was just the messenger, Professor Wilsdon added that it was wrong to pretend that the appointment was a universally popular one. ¡°You know as well as me that MW is a controversial choice,¡± he fired back, adding: ¡°Are we all to clap like seals & pretend that¡¯s not the case?¡±?

Donald Trump¡¯s war on reason continued apace last week with the news that evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr is to head a higher education task force. Mr Falwell ¨C who recently unveiled to open the country¡¯s first on-campus shooting range at Liberty University, where he is president ¨C will be in charge of rolling back the ¡°over-regulation¡± of US higher education, reported on 2 February. Of course, ¡°over-regulation¡± is not a word that could be applied to ¡°Liberty¡± University, where bans on dancing, drinking, gambling, smoking, witchcraft, gay rights groups and short skirts have attracted headlines over the . Mr Falwell did, however, have some success in scrapping the pesky legislation that stopped students from carrying guns in student halls. With Liberty science textbooks famously the ¡°freight capacity¡± of Noah¡¯s ark (answer: 1.4 million cubic feet), many Americans have wondered how the gun-promoting creationist has managed to bag such a role. ¡°This is the worst pick in the world¡¯s 6,000-year history,¡± one writer concluded wryly.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump¡¯s threat to withdraw federal funds from the University of California, Berkeley over violent campus protests also sent a chill through US academia last week. Riled by the university¡¯s cancellation of a talk by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos after a protest by 1,500 students turned ugly, the US president suggested that the San Francisco institution ¡°does not allow free speech and practises violence on innocent people with a different point of view¡±. ¡°NO FEDERAL FUNDS?¡± he added in an unprecedented presidential attack on university autonomy on 2 February. Even the free speech group felt that Mr Trump¡¯s intervention was unfair, saying that any move to strip Berkeley of funds would be ¡°deeply inappropriate and most likely unlawful¡±.

The University of Cambridge is admitting more state-educated students than universities such as Durham, Bristol and St Andrews, BBC News online on 2 February. With 62 per cent of its freshers coming from state schools ¨C up from 54 per cent a decade ago ¨C Cambridge¡¯s private school intake is now only the ninth largest in percentage terms, the site said. In contrast, the University of Oxford had the lowest state school admittance rate, falling by 2 percentage points over the past five years to 55.7 per cent. The statistics showed that Cambridge is a ¡°diverse place and nothing like the rumours or typical media stories¡±, even if ¡°myths persist¡± about its supposedly Hooray Henry undergraduates, said Sam Lucy, director of admissions.

Peter Mathieson, the head of the University of Hong Kong, will take a massive pay cut when he steps down to take the reins at the University of Edinburgh, the reported on 2 February. Professor Mathieson, who has led Hong Kong since April 2014, told staff in an email that he was leaving for ¡°personal reasons¡± next January, but stressed that there would be ¡°no loss of momentum at HKU¡± in the year ahead. The former University of Bristol medic is likely to take a huge pay hit when he moves: the current Edinburgh vice-chancellor¡¯s remuneration is only about half the size of Professor Mathieson¡¯s current package,?worth HK$5.8 million (?598,000), the paper notes.?Once in post in Edinburgh, Professor Mathieson will have to scrape by on a salary closer to ?300,000, the Post adds.