Glasgow and Strathclyde universities are mounting a joint bid to be the United Kingdom contender for Unesco's new institute of statistics. Unesco is setting up the institute to strengthen its work on world education indicators by collaborating with member countries and organisations such as the World Bank and the O rganisation for E conomic C ooperation and D evelopment . The institute will also investigate science, culture and communications. The Department for International Development has indicated that the institute could be sited in a university with relevant academic and research interests.