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I have been concerned to read recommendations re the RAE that credit for research should be attached to the institution in which the research was done, and particularly that these recommendations have been put forward by the Association of University Teachers and Natfhe (THES, March 20).

Most research is done by contract researchers, a vulnerable and exploited group of employees. If they cannot take the credit for research that they have done with them when they (involuntarily) apply for new jobs, their position is weakened further.

The transfer market mainly applies to a small group of senior researchers. It takes little thought to realise that if they had had good employment conditions and remuneration in their original institutions, the transfer market would not exist.

Muriel Egerton. Middle Cottage, Tan Yard Brow, Manchester