51³Ô¹Ï

I was interested to read about Astrid Wissenburg's move to The Open University ("Now she'll work by her own rules", Research, 29 November). However, I was intrigued by her description of the institution as "a very solid, mid-range research organisation" in Economic and Social Research Council terms, with funding levels on a par with the likes of the universities of Liverpool, St Andrews and Surrey.

Data recently published by 51³Ô¹Ï suggest otherwise ("Secret of the success rates: reducing demand", News, 15 November). They show that the university received ?806,000 from the ESRC in 2011-12, compared with Liverpool's ?77,500, St Andrews' ?405,000 and Surrey's ?391,000. The four institutions appear very different "in ESRC terms". This is confirmed by the data for the previous two years: in 2010-11, for example, The Open University received ?558,000 from the ESRC, Liverpool ?157,000, St Andrews ?691,000 and Surrey, nothing.

Given that the average in ESRC income for the three comparators of ?241,000 over the past three years compares unfavourably with The Open University's ?630,000, I would suggest that Wissenburg may be doing her institution a disservice.

Phil Ward, Research funding manager, University of Kent