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Your description of the relationship between institutional size and performance in the article on RAE funding was overly simplistic in its interpretation of the analyses. A statistical association between these two variables as described in this article does not mean that the relationship is consistent. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was ranked third out of 132 higher education institutions in your Table of Excellence of 18 December, despite being smaller than many multi-faculty institutions.

The outstanding performance of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Institute of Cancer Research (which was ranked first), both of which entered 100 per cent of all eligible staff for assessment, demonstrates the importance of smaller specialist institutions to the UK science base, as well as the vital contribution they make to preventing and treating disease both in the UK and internationally.

Sir Andrew Haines, Director, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.