Hubert Markl, head of Germany's Max Planck Society, was standing no nonsense at the Royal Society's meeting on European science funding this week. When some participants bemoaned the forced institutional marriages they had to enter to get European Union research funds, Markl pointed said:
"Over history, forced marriages have actually been very successful, especially when they are founded on some enticement." A suitable dowry in Euros might tempt any university down the aisle despite the hideousness of the other partner.