The debate over postgraduate funding has reignited this week following the release of a report by Million+, who argue that research funding shouldn't be further concentrated between fewer universities, and that to do so would "damage both the UK university sector and the economy as a whole". The report entitled 'A postgraduate strategy for Britain' was written in response to a report by the 1994 Group of universities in January that argued for a new quality threshold for the funding of PHD provision at universities that offer the 'best value' and below which PHD provision would be reliant on fee income rather than Government funds.
At the launch of the Million+ report, Chair of the group Professor Les Ebdon said "there is no economic or academic case for the concentration of funding for research or doctoral students. Once the lower levels of research funding received by modern universities are taken into account pound for pound these universities are more productive in their delivery of postgraduate provision which has always been reliant on the quality of teaching and supervision rather than on intensity or critical mass of research funding".
The Guardian has more coverage of the debate this week in an article titled 'Postgraduate funding fears widen rift'.