Universities built more research space on their campuses in 2002 and 2003 than at any time since 1988, but the federal government paid a smaller share of the cost, says a biennial report on trends in scientific research and education. A companion report identified a pressing need, acknowledged recently by President Bush and Congress, to improve mathematics and science education in the United States. Both reports were prepared by the National Science Board, the governing body of the National Science Foundation.

Brown University’s Corporation will consider divesting from companies that do business in Sudan, where thousands of civilians have been slaughtered in a government-sanctioned genocide in the Darfur region. If approved, the University would become the sixth educational institution to do so.

Following the resignation of Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, some faculty members are advocating for greater openness in how the university, known for its shroud of secrecy, is run. Pushing for greater openness in academia is common at universities across the country, according to the American Association of University Professors.

The Associated Press reports on a study led by Brown researchers and reported in the online edition of the journal AIDS shows that the anti-HIV drug Viread, when applied as a microbicide gel to block HIV infection, is safe and well-tolerated. Reuters also reported on the findings.

An opinion piece by Dr. Joseph B. Martin, dean of the faculty of medicine at Harvard Medical School, praises Harvard President Lawrence Summers for his bold vision for life sciences at Harvard - a vision focusing “on the integration and collaboration critical to interdisciplinary discovery, the aspect of research that most observers would say is the ripest for results that can transform health and promote well-being.”