Geoffrey Boulton FRS, FRSE, is Vice Principal and Regius Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in the University of Edinburgh.

Sir Colin Lucas is Warden of Rhodes House and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford.

LERU (League of European Research Universitites) was founded in 2002 as an association of research-intensive universities sharing the values of high-quality teaching in an environment of internationally competitive research. The League is committed to: education through an awareness of the frontiers of human understanding; the creation of new knowledge through basic research, which is the ultimate source of innovation in society; the promotion of research across a broad front, which creates a unique capacity to reconfigure activities in response to new opportunities and problems. The purpose of the League is to advocate these values, to influence policy in Europe and to develop best practice through mutual exchange of experience.