Wendy Alexander, Scotland's minister for enterprise and lifelong learning, has put higher education at the heart of economic development in the new millennium.
Speaking at the Scottish Labour Party conference in Inverness, Ms Alexander said: "Scottish universities, home to the Scottish Enlightenment, were the intellectual powerhouses of the world in the 18th century, creating the basis for Scottish wealth in the 19th century. And so our investment in the 20th century in Scottish universities can be the basis for our prosperity in the 21st century."