From ROGER HINDLEY
Welsh research is not quite the Cinderella that the 1989 ratings quoted
in William Bown’s article (This Week, 8 February) seemed to imply. Those
ratings applied to cost centres which in many cases comprised more than
one subject, and several of the lower cost-centre ratings in fact hid much
higher subject ratings.
For example, in my own field (pure mathematics) Swansea was rated 4,
definitely not a Cinderella grade. This and other subject ratings were sent
by the UFC to the universities some time after the cost centre ratings and
received much less publicity. In detail, the ‘Mathematics’ cost centre at
Swansea comprised Pure Mathematics (rated 4) and Management Science and
Statistics (1). The overall rating was 2.
Two other Welsh mathematics departments were rated 4 (Pure Maths at
Cardiff and Applied Maths at Aberystwyth). Welsh mathematics is alive and
flourishing.
Roger Hindley Department of Mathematics and Computer Science University
College of Swansea
Advertisement
