Scottish Universities Physics Alliance Planned to Allow Scotland to Mix it with the Big Guys. (June 24, 2004)

    This past January a group of six Scottish universities determined to set up an alliance of their physics departments. Their mission statement begins, "We propose the formation of a Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) that will place Scotland at the forefront of physics through co-ordinated promotion and pursuit of excellence. SUPA will encompass the largest body of top-class physics research in the UK, providing a strong basis for engagement with the wider scientific community through collaborations with major international centres," and then sums it up, "The mission is to provide a framework for the long-term development of excellence in physics-based research in Scotland."

Alan Miller, the vice-principal for research at the University of St Andrews told Nature this week, "This will brand Scottish physics with a strong identity; we want to compete with Oxford, Cambridge and even the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard." The six universities,  St Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Strathclyde and Paisley will have their proposal, which involves the creation of about 12 new positions, considered by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council on June 25.

The cost, Miller estimates would be £30 million (A$79 million) over five years, but he says that it would pay for itself in the long-term by generating extra research income. And the plan is to have various of the institutions specialise in their strength.

Nature suggests, "The move reflects changes in England, where, for example, the University of Manchester and UMIST (the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) are merging to create a stronger, single institution, due to open in October." It will be recalled that Alan Gilbert, Melbourne University's immediate past vice-chancellor resigned from that position to take up the vice-chancellorship of newly merged UM-UMIST.