One of the commonest queries to the 21 Group is about contested authorship. Politics around paper authorship is particularly an issue in STEM subjects where collaborations are the norm, less so in the humanities. Queries usually come from students & postdocs. This is a typical query: I’m seeking advice on Read more…
Another Scandal ! Another Scandal ! Another Scandal ! We predict that 2025 will be the Year of Scandals in UK universities. There are a number of reasons. The regulator of Higher Education is the Office for Students, which employs nearly 800 people. It has created a well paid, comfortable Read more…
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) give you the right to request information held about you — for example, meeting minutes about your promotion, pay, complaints or even just malicious emails naming you. You may be unhappy about how your University has handled your own personal information. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Read more…
There’s been a Grievance raised against a Professor. The Human Resources (HR) division of the University is indolently carrying out an investigation. This might be done by a group of internal academics, advised by HR. Or sometimes the University uses an outside ‘dispute resolution’ company, or a solicitor/barrister, who write Read more…
Perhaps a Professor went over the top this time and nearly killed someone with sadistic bullying. Or a Professor was a little too blatant this time and offered a female grad student a postdoc position in exchange for sex. These kind of stories don’t play well for a university’s reputation. Read more…
The 21 Group has received information from an individual who has recently worked in the HR department of a UK university. The testimony paints a picture of corruption and betrayal of trust. We are not naming the university. It may be an extreme case, but many aspects of the testimony Read more…
The 21 Group is anxious to publish accounts of bullying in Universities from the viewpoint of their victims. These stories are rarely heard. Too often, we hear the bluffing of the HR Directors that “our University does not tolerate bullying or harassment in any form“. Too often, we hear the Read more…
Dr Magdalen Connolly started as a graduate student and went on to become a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. She completed a Humboldt Fellowship at Munich University just a few months ago. Despite having all the makings of a thriving academic Read more…
The 21 Group is indebted to Dr Emily Baker for contributing a new section to the 21 Group webpages on Employment Tribunals for Beginners. This is the definitive “HowTo” on holding your University to account in the Employment Tribunals if they are guilty of discrimination, unfair or constructive dismissal, wage Read more…
Heads of Department (HoDs) run academic departments at UK Universities. They are usually professors, or at least senior academics. They normally serve a term of 4 or 5 years. Not all academics relish being HoD. Many (such as the author) do serve as HoD out of a sense of duty and Read more…