Large foreign donations are influencing courses at British universities, according to a new report

Does money from foreign donors come with strings attached? Dangerously so, according to research last week that claimed foreign governments have corrupted British universities and threatened their academic impartiality.

The report, A Degree of Influence, from the Centre for Social Cohesion, lists the millions of pounds that leading UK universities have accepted from donors in the Middle East, Asia and Russia. Robin Simcox, the report's author, says foreign donors that give enough money get a say in how things are run. "Edinburgh and Cambridge received £8m each from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia last year to set up Islamic studies centres," he says. "He gets to appoint as many as three or five members of the management committee."

7 April 2009
The Guardian

Report from the Centre for Social Cohesion