A quick post in support of this week’s campaign by Universities UK called ‘What’s the Big Idea?’  and highlighting ‘the essential role of universities in the UK and their impact on the economy, culture, society, the environment and much more.’

There is both a campaign website here, and a Facebook site with some fun celebrity stuff on it.

I was intrigued by the BBC piece today clearly timed to coincide with the campaign, and which talks about the contribution of universities to the UK economy.  It includes mention of a Populus poll showing the high public recognition for the role of universities in technological research but the lower public recognition for the role of universities in finding cures for disease – 24% compared to 44% saying they thought that pharmaceuticals played the biggest role and 19% who said the NHS did.

No mention of charities and I have yet to track down the full results but will keep checking the Populus website where it should appear at some point.  But did you know that 15% of university research income comes from charities?  Or to look at it another way, 80% of all research charity funding goes to fund work in universities across the UK.