IT

The University of Bristol has received two international accolades for its innovative research. Bristol was selected from 200 universities worldwide to receive two 2008 HP Labs Innovation Research Awards, which fund research between academic institutions and HP Labs to generate breakthroughs in information technology.

More than 1,000 British academics have been rated on a controversial American website that allows students to score their professors.

The Open University has launched its own YouTube channel, OUView. The channel features more than 300 educational videos from well-known contributors including David Attenborough and James Dyson.

A leaked email has highlighted how university staff are being encouraged to increase the number of top degree grades in order to keep pace with competing universities.

A US-based non-profit association, CrossRef, has recently created a 20 million-strong database of academic papers. This is intended to be a formidable deterrent for plagiarists, as previously plagiarism was difficult to notice in its entirety.

The University of Sussex has launched an online campus on the website Second Life.

The 3D internet 'island', developed by Sussex graduate members of the University's web team, has been designed to look like the real University of Sussex campus and will be used by the university for teaching and marketing.