Christine Hawley's cri de coeur (p.5 ) on the outcome of the UK Government's latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) may be dismissed by some as sour grapes. Others, however, will welcome the robustness of her warning and hope that, at long last, the research dilemma in university architecture schools will be given the airing it deserves. One body in particular should facilitate such a debate – the Royal Institute of British Architects – but it has never shown much interest in the subject (arq 5/4, p. 291).