Chinese parents who lost their only child in last month's Christchurch earthquake will not be getting special compensation, Prime Minister John Key says.

Events aim to encourage university researchers and companies to start talking to each other.

The difficulty is that most university lecturers aren't trained teachers but have generally "picked it up on the job".

Universal or voluntary membership? That was the question put to tertiary students in 1999 after the National Government passed a law insisting they choose how they should belong to their student association.

The son of Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour has been arrested over his involvement in the student protests in London last week.

Student loan holders are about to be hit with a $40 administration fee for every year they don't repay their loan.

Nearly 900,000 people have taken student loans since the scheme started, and over two-thirds have not fully repaid the money back.