Dual support for university research - which appeared safe following the thumbs-up from Dearing and the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee - is once again, it is rumoured, up for debate as part of the comprehensive spending review.
With all to play for in the money stakes, it seems those high up in the Office of Science and Technology and the Department of Trade and Industry are making a case for the research councils to be the sole supporters of research. If the government's past record of paying attention to Dearing is anything to go by, perhaps we should not be surprised if the Higher Education Funding Council for England's research days were numbered. But then could the Swindon infrastructure really cope with all the extra money?