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Third stream of funding 'vital', says Floud
Universities chief Roderick Floud today called for more government money to support institutions¡¯ links with business, industry and local communities. Professor Floud, provost of London Guildhall University and president of Universities UK, said that a permanent third stream of funding, in addition to teaching and research cash, was vital in supporting universities¡¯ continuing economic and social links. He was speaking at a higher education regional development conference in Torquay. 

Austrian students secure parliamentary debate
Austrian students have collected enough signatures on a petition in support of free university education and more funding for grants to ensure the issues are debated in parliament. The petition, which also called for the abolition of recently-introduced tuition fees, received over 173,000 signatures - 2.98 per cent of Austrians eligible to vote in a general election and more than the 100,000 needed to ensure a debate.

Scientists call time on clock watchers
Scientists have come up with an explanation for why time seems to stand still while watching the seconds tick by on a clock. The phenomenon is an illusion that occurs when the eye tries to follow the movement of the second hand, say scientists at the Institute of Neurology in London.

HE to get star treatment
A national advertising campaign to encourage youngsters aged between 13 and 18 to go on to higher education was launched today. The campaign - using the slogan ¡°Aim higher¡± - will feature Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard, supermodel Naomi Campbell, TV presenter Zo? Ball and ¡®Nasty¡¯ Nigel Lythgoe from TV programme ¡®Popstars¡¯. 

Second serving for celebrity chef
Celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson Wright has been returned unopposed as student-elected rector of Aberdeen University for a further three years. Ms Dickson Wright is the first female rector in Aberdeen¡¯s 500 year history, and the first to be returned for a second term since the second world war.