There will still be many academics and research staff sleeping uneasy tonight due to under funding and insecure jobs

Sally Hunt, AUT

The Higher Education Funding Council for England has said it will prioritise funding for the highest rated (5*) departments.

The Higher Education Minister, Margaret Hodge, said the �30m would help keep British universities at the forefront of world-class research.

"We want to sustain our best research and support our international position in university research and development," Mrs Hodge said.

'Not enough'

But lecturers' unions said the cash was not enough.

Sally Hunt, assistant general secretary of the Association of University Teachers, said: "While we welcome this surprise announcement by the minister, there will still be many academics and research staff sleeping uneasy tonight due to under funding and insecure jobs."

The new funding was only a small step towards the �200m shortfall in the new results of the RAE.

"We are concerned that, come the overall funding settlement, there will still be great disappointment amongst some excellent departments," she said.

Natfhe general secretary, Paul Mackney, said the cash went some way towards recognising the achievements of both old and new universities.

"However, the government must extend this commitment to fund research excellence beyond one year.

"Giving universities more money now and taking it away the following year will just heighten uncertainty among departments that are already making big sacrifices to turn in top quality research," he said.

Click here for the RAE results