Council for the Defence of British Universities

The CDBU is delighted to announce that the winner of our 2026/27 Research Prize is… Dr Charlotte Ryland, of The Languages Gateway, for a project entitled: ‘Universities Collaborating to Make Languages Education Accessible to All’ You can read more about the project and its aims on the CDBU blog:

This week we published a long-form piece on the costs at the heart of the Research Excellence Framework 💰 Words by Ed McKenzie, Research Technologist at the University of Edinburgh. #CDBUBlog #REF #ResearchExcellenceFramework cdbu.org.uk/stars-to-pou...

Think Like a Linguist: It’s time for a national conversation about the value of languages www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/10/14/t...

What does it mean to think like a linguist? And how can we bring creativity and inclusive culture into language learning? Read Charlotte Ryland's fascinating piece in our LSP edited collection www.lspjournal.com/post/think-l... @cforsdick.bsky.social

What does it really mean to think like a linguist? Charlotte Ryland argues it's time to move beyond grammar drills and embrace creativity, culture, and collaboration in language education. 🔗 www.lspjournal.com/post/think-l... ✍️ Collection Edited by @wendya-b.bsky.social & @cforsdick.bsky.social

“…the scars of meekness in the face of the crushing hostility Jason encountered alone over previous weeks should never fade and remain instead an ever-present reminder of our responsibility towards each other” #jasonarday

CDBU’s Chair has penned an open letter to the new Prime Minister, read now on our blog: cdbu.org.uk/open-letter-...

Reminder that there is still time to register for our AGM. We will be joined by an excellent panel of speakers, abstracts linked below. Email cdbuchair@gmail.com to reserve your spot!

Join us for our AGM on Wednesday 22 July at 3pm! Talks by: David Berry - How Not to Run a University Aisha Qadi - A Seat at the Table, A Voice in the Room? Exploring Stakeholder Voice in UK HE Governance Martin Mills -The Future of Knowledge Institutions: AI, Universities and the Human Question

Remember to get your funding applications in by the end of the month! #funding #researchfunding #CDBU

🚨 PLEASE SHARE WIDELY! 🚨 We are delighted to announce that we have opened a new round of project funding applications. More information about how to apply for up to £7,500 worth of funding can be found on our website: cdbu.org.uk/funding-appl...

Reminder to please share this funding call far and wide! ♻️♻️♻️

🚨 CDBU FUNDING APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN! 🚨 #funding #projectfunding #researchfunding #CDBUresearch

We recently held our first election! Please join us in welcoming our new executive committee members 👏🏻

“GenAI systems throw out ‘best guess mashups’, generating articles that bear some similarity to the work that academics publish, but are simply unreal. Meanwhile, the real publications written by actual people very much do exist, and have never been easier to find”

On governance, the recent @cdbu.bsky.social report contains a lot of insights: cdbu.org.uk/wp-content/u...

You have until the 28 February to apply to join our executive committee!

You have until tomorrow to apply to join our Executive Committee! ⏰⏰⏰⏰⏰

📢 BOOK GIVEAWAY ends next week: Share this post to win 1 free copy of *Women, 'Failure' and Academia*(Apr 2026). Raffle ends Thrs 5March. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/women-fai... #FreeBook #Academia #AcademicPrecarity #Failure

You have until the 28 February to apply to join our executive committee!

100% this. Also, universities need to cough up what they owe in a timely manner for part-time folks, precariously employed people and self-employed suppliers. That institutions are quick enough to cut you off but slow to organise entitlements and money owed is beyond unfair.

New on the CDBU blog: 5 low cost things employers could do to help precarious staff 💰 Words by @hagenilda.bsky.social ✍️

Excellent launch event for the CDBU Code of Ethical University Governance. Very important principles set out - starting with constructive criticism. There’s been a reminder today from OfS that providers need to meet the public interest governance principles.

“HEPI’s new Policy Note finds striking consensus across the higher education community for more ethical, transparent and balanced university governance.” @profstevenjones.bsky.social

New Post: New HEPI Policy Note: Views on University Governance www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/12/04/n...

Thank you to everyone who responded to the consultation. This is the first Code of #governance in the #UKHE sector to be grounded in academic research and to reflect a broad spectrum of views. A summary of consultation responses is here. www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/stro...

Well done to Steve & others involved in producing this 👏 Now we just need university governance to live up to such principles! The code, usefully, lays out practical steps towards this. It's collective/political pressure & organising that can make it a widespread reality.

Excited to see the final version of the @cdbu.bsky.social Code of Ethical University Governance in the public domain, and looking forward to the launch event in Parliament later today. cdbu.org.uk/cdbu-code-20... #UKHE #governance

After extensive consultation and development from individuals and organisations across the sector, we are very pleased to publish the CDBU Code of Ethical University Governance. You can read the code and the tracked changes version here: cdbu.org.uk/cdbu-code-20... @profstevenjones.bsky.social 👏🏻

There are only a few spaces left! RSVP now to secure your place 👇👇👇

We need to begin to tell these stories about universities as well. So — what did university mean to you? Contact @cdbu.bsky.social at cdbupress@gmail.com with your story. You can read some previous submissions here: cdbu.org.uk/stories/

... but they are also places that foster the messier and less quantifiable aspects of understanding ourselves, each other and the world around us. They are places whose value we only really come to understand years after we have left them.

So often universities are spoken about in instrumental language: as institutions that confer skills and training, and as engines of economic growth. Universities are both these things of course...

Thinking of using #ChatGPT for 'help' with assessments? Think again. #university #AI www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

We are pleased to share this letter written by one of our members, Professor Leo McCann 👏https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/16/how-ai-is-undermining-learning-and-teaching-in-universities

We are pleased to publish our Position on the Unsustainability of UK University Funding Models. Visit our website to read it in full:

✍🏻 WRITE FOR US! ✍🏻 We welcome pieces on anything related to higher education. Previous topics include governance, student experience, free speech, and academic freedom. We offer a fee for our writers – particularly the precariously employed and students. Please send pitches to cdbupress@gmail.com

Vacuous, generic and scattershot advice for incoming 1st years on the use of AI at university. Especially liking 'Chin recommends giving it class notes and asking it to generate practice exam questions.' Surely we can't be the only programme that supplies students with past & practice exams?

Between them, politicians and employers are destroying our great higher education sector. We won't sit back and let it happen. #WeAreTheUniversity

UCU Bangor pass a motion of no confidence in the VC and CFO of @bangoruniversity.bsky.social over sweeping cuts Members are now balloting for industrial action with staff at "breaking point" over 200 potential job losses www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

For those in UK #academia, please give @cdbu.bsky.social a follow and think about joining us. CDBU's work to influence UK university policy and governance on behalf of academic values is very much needed in the present polycrisis. For some reason we never got much attention on Twitter... cdbu.org.uk