Few fans of funding exercise

Nothing fires emotions in universities like the research assessment exercise. In a speech this week, Baroness Greenfield highlighted the challenges for higher education. But it was her remark that she would "personally scrap the RAE" that prompted applause. Worryingly for funding chiefs, this was not a meeting of disgruntled academics, but the Association of University Administrators' 2005 conference - the people who will oversee RAE submissions.

diary@thes.co.uk