51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

Martin Willis spotlights the dispiriting process of waiting to hear from funding bodies about unsuccessful bids, and highlights the lack of feedback from most of these bodies, in particular the British Academy (Letters, 9 July).

Well, the funding applications are no longer pending - the results are in. In league with colleagues at Kingston 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ and the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Nottingham, we applied to the British Academy and received an "alpha-rated" grade, yet we've been told we won't receive a penny. Dispiriting isn't the word. How many other cases like ours are there?

Marquard Smith, Director Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture, 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Westminster.