Glasgow powers up

Glasgow and Strathclyde universities have agreed to recognise each other as "preferred partners" in research. The universities have a combined annual research funding portfolio of Pounds 100 million.

The move will help to consolidate Glasgow's increasingly strong research position. Figures published this week showed that Glasgow had a 2.75 per cent share of all United Kingdom university research income in 1996-97, ahead of all Scottish institutions except Edinburgh. Strathclyde claimed 1.1 per cent.

Glasgow University also announced that it has attracted new grants and contracts worth more than Pounds 70 million this year, a substantial increase over the previous year's total of Pounds 50 million.

Although the money will come in over a number of years, Glasgow's income for 1997-98 has also risen, with provisional figures of about Pounds 50 million, compared with Pounds 45 million and Pounds 40 million in the previous two years.

The university has been beefing up its research strategy. In the past 18 months it has set up a research and enterprise team to market its work and appointed its first vice-principal for research.

Sir Graeme Davies, Glasgow's principal, said the successes reflect the confidence that funders have in the university's expertise.

The Pounds 70 million includes three major projects: PROSPER and IONA, large, multi-site clinical drug trials, and a schizophrenia study with Strathclyde and Yo****omi Pharmaceuticals of Japan.