People & Institutions
Coverage of the institutions that host research and the people who lead them: appointments and leadership changes, institutional restructuring, closures and layoffs, research assessment exercises and rankings, major awards, and the research workforce and career pipeline.
Beats in this category
- Research Assessment & Rankings
National research assessment exercises, university rankings, and reform of how research is evaluated — REF, CoARA, DORA implementation, and responsible-metrics developments.…
- Research Workforce & Careers
The research workforce — postdoc and graduate-student conditions, unionisation, visa and immigration policy affecting international researchers, and career-pathway developments.…
All coverage (23)
- UK names preferred candidate for Research England Executive Chair
The UK government has named AHRC head Christopher Smith as its preferred candidate to lead Research England and its £2.5 billion annual research budget.…
- Harvard Academic Workers union joins graduate strike
Harvard Academic Workers-UAW, including postdocs, began its first strike on 10 November 2026, joining the graduate union on strike since 28 October.…
- WHO launches “Together for Science and Health” to strengthen trust in science
WHO launched Together for Science and Health on 10 November 2026, a movement of 240+ organizations to strengthen trust in science. What it says, and what it means for institutions.…
- Barzilay and Collins Win the 2026 Pritzker Prize for AI in Science Research Excellence
MIT News reported on November 2, 2026 that Regina Barzilay and Jim Collins won the 2026 Pritzker Prize for AI in Science Research Excellence for AI-enabled antibiotic discovery.…
- Goldman Sachs: workers displaced by AI take longer to find new jobs
A Goldman Sachs note reported on 30 October 2026 finds workers displaced from AI-exposed jobs took about a month longer to find work and were about 10 points likelier to be jobless a year on.…
- Inside the King’s AI Summit at Dumfries House: A New Push for Shared AI Principles
On 17 September 2026, King Charles convened leaders from Nvidia, Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic at Dumfries House in East Ayrshire to discuss whether frontier AI needs a shared set of guiding p…
- What Tsimerman’s Move From U of T to OpenAI Signals for Math Departments
Fields Medalist Jacob Tsimerman’s move from a University of Toronto professorship to OpenAI’s AI-safety team, announced hours after his July 2026 award, is a concrete signal that frontier AI labs can …
- SUNY-UUP Ratifies New Contract With Record Support and AI Safeguards
UUP members ratified a new five-year SUNY contract on July 27, 2026 with nearly 98% approval — one of the highest margins in the union’s history. The deal (July 2026-July 2031) includes annual raises,…
- Brown University President Christina Paxson to Step Down in 2027
Brown University President Christina H. Paxson announced on August 3, 2026 that she will step down at the end of the 2026-27 academic year, ending a 15-year tenure. Chancellor Brian T. Moynihan confir…
- AAUP, ACLU Sue Texas A&M System Over Limits on Teaching Race and Gender
AAUP and the ACLU of Texas sued the Texas A&M University System in early August 2026 over a policy restricting faculty teaching on race, gender, and sexual orientation, arguing it is unconstitutionall…
- Illinois Tech Cuts 160 Jobs as International Enrollment Losses Join Funding Cuts
Illinois Institute of Technology cut 160 jobs at the end of July 2026, citing both research-funding losses and lost international enrollment (down ~1,200 international graduate students). The same wee…
- CoARA Action Plans: Values Over Practice
A 2026 Scientometrics analysis of 248 CoARA action plans finds aspirational ‘values’ language far outweighs concrete operational commitments to open science.…
- DORA, CoARA Host Asia-Pacific RRA Workshop
DORA, FORCE11, CoARA and ALLEA convened funders, publishers and universities in Singapore to compare Asia-Pacific approaches to research-assessment reform.…
- DORA, GRC, and Science Europe Publish RFO Guide
In May 2026, DORA, the Global Research Council’s Responsible Research Assessment Working Group, and Science Europe jointly published a practical implementation guide for research funding organizations…
- NZ Scraps PBRF, Australia’s ERA Still Stalled
New Zealand has cancelled PBRF quality evaluation for good; Australia’s ERA replacement remains undesigned three years after ERA ended in 2023.…
- Kenya Unveils 2026-2036 Research Financing Plan
Kenya launched a 2026-2036 research-financing masterplan and the Grand Challenges Kenya fund to close its R&D spending gap and cut aid reliance.…
- ResearchGate Retires RG Score for RI Score
ResearchGate retired the opaque RG Score around 2022 for the Research Interest (RI) Score, a formula weighting citations, recommendations, and reads.…
- OECD’s 2026 Report “Reforming Research Assessment for Better Science”: What It Found
In April 2026 the OECD published a policy brief, Reforming Research Assessment for Better Science, finding that assessment still relies on narrow metrics that undervalue collaboration, openness, and s…
- MA3 Challenge: US research-assessment reform moves from declaration to implementation
MA3 (Modernizing Academic Appointment & Advancement) is a US-specific research-assessment reform initiative, distinct from DORA and CoARA: it funds a defined cohort of universities to actually rebuild…
- REF 2029: Pause Ends, Weightings and Output Rules Confirmed
REF 2029 criteria-setting paused 4 Sept 2025, resumed 10 Dec 2025: CKU/E&I/SPRE weightings, a 5-output cap, and lighter impact rules are now confirmed.…
- SEVIS Record Terminations: Where 2026 Litigation Stands
Where 2026 litigation over SEVIS record terminations and visa revocations stands, and what it means for international researchers.…
- H-1B’s $100,000 Fee: Effects on Postdoc, Faculty Hiring
The 2025 H-1B $100,000 fee hits new petitions requiring consular processing, including at universities. Litigation is ongoing — current status inside.…
- NIH Biomedical Workforce Diversity Programs: What Was Terminated
NIH terminated its Minority Biomedical Research Support Program and froze diversity supplements in 2025 – what was cut, and where litigation stands now.…
