Research Professional News Published by Clarivate. What did this academic year bring for universities and research?. Playbook is packing a selection of buckets and hoping for a summer break of blue-skies thinking. Time to look back at what has been happening in higher education this academic year. It began with the announcement of a sector merger (between the universities of Kent and Greenwich to create a so-called “super university”) and will end with a new prime minister (Andy Burnham is to take the top job on 20 July). But the rest of 2025-26 was marked less by high drama (at least compared with recent years) than an accumulation of small dramas that threatened any moment to tip into a crisis, without anyone quite managing to come up with solutions. ### Sign in to your account. This article on Research Professional News is only available to subscribers. Sign in with your Pivot-RP or Research Professional credentials. Non-academic institution subscribers sign in here.