Brunel's RAE ambition

Dozens of lecturers may lose their jobs at Brunel University if the institution is to improve its research standing, academics were warned this week.

The university is hoping that staff who are less active in research might accept voluntary redundancy to make way for new research recruits ahead of the 2008 research assessment exercise. It said that the result would be a net gain in staff.

The Association of University Teachers predicted that up to 60 jobs would go and claimed that less active research staff tend to do more teaching.