Two London institutions are among the 140 winners of the prestigious Queen's Awards for Export Achievement announced today.
King's College London has received the accolade for earning Pounds 16 million a year from research carried out by its academics for overseas clients as well as from international student fees.
The college says that its research income has almost doubled over the past three years to more than Pounds 6 million in 1993/94 and claims that this makes the institution the fourth biggest university earner from overseas research after Imperial College, London and Cambridge and Oxford.
Overseas grants and contracts currently make up a quarter of the institution's earnings from overseas grants and contracts.
Funding for research from Brussels is rising particularly fast at the institution. Current projects include a collaboration between researchers at King's and colleagues in ten countries on study of the biological, physical and socio-economic processes causing land loss in the south of Europe.
Other EU-funded projects cover areas such advanced communications, environmental toxins, fuel efficiency and research into genetic factors contributing to heart attacks.
On the international front, King's has helped to establish databases in areas including environmental pollution, natural resources, industrial activity for the United Nations Environment Programme. The institution is also involved in 45 European exchange programmes for students and has developed similar initiatives with universities in America and Australia.
Successful exploitation of the best in British examining standards -particularly in music, English language and speech subjects - has earned Trinity College London the Queen's Award for Export also. The college says it examines more than 150,000 candidates in 52 countries, entailing sending its examiners to all parts of the world.
The college was originally part of the Trinity College of Music, the London Conservatoire, and was launched as an independent company in 1992 to allow it to develop its international potential. It is able to offer music examinations in piano, voice and an extensive range of orchestral instruments. Recently it has pioneered the introduction of instruments such as drum kit and electronic keyboard.