"Russell Group head says 25-30 institutions should receive 90 per cent of funding." Well, he would, wouldn't he? What distinguishes Russell Group members from their less illustrious peers is the vast sums of cash they have invested in their "research infrastructure" in the past decade. This has not paid for laboratories, researchers or libraries, oh no: rather, it has created a hungry machinery of committees, boards, strategies, plans, offices and pro vice-chancellors focused on bullying academics into being more productive. If we want world-class research strategies, then by all means let's do what Michael Arthur says. But if we want world-class research, let's fund it even in those institutions that can't afford a bloated, bossy "research" bureaucracy.
Paul Benneworth, Tyne & Wear.