Abstract
IT is generally known the Government grants to the universities of Great Britain have been stabilized for a limited period from the beginning of the War. As that time approaches its end, the Government and the University Grants Committee will be faced with a difficult task. The incessant call for economy at this time of stress must be heeded. No sum that can be saved, however small it may be, is negligible in the present circumstances; indeed it may be in the multitude of minor economies that the best hope lies. Nevertheless, in the matter of the universities, great caution and careful scrutiny will be necessary. Any move which curtails the efficiency of the universities in the discharge of their duties would be sharply criticized. It will readily be granted that the undergraduate population of the universities has decreased substantially, and national service has also claimed a varying proportion of the teaching and supervisory staffs. Teaching and research must, however, still go on. Apart from present needs, there is the future to consider. When the time comes for reconstruction, the universities must be ready to expand rapidly and to play their part in building up the new order. This they can do only if they retain their efficiency throughout the days of wartime activity. The task of those in authority will be to satisfy present needs and also to enable the universities to meet their obligations to the future.
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Universities and Government Grants. Nature 144, 1086 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/1441086a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1441086a0