In this column over the past two years, the vagaries of the U.K. governmental approach to research funding and the problems of industry/university collaboration on research have been mentioned on several occasions. The completion and announcement of the Research Assessment Exercise results for 2001 and the publication of the government sponsored report, "Rethinking Construction Innovation and Research," by Sir John Fairclough prompt the question, can the government face both ways at once? Is it reasonable to control research support to universities while at the same time encouraging merit-based research funding as a means of offsetting the need to maintain expensive governmental research laboratories? Janus, the two-faced Roman god of gateways and new beginnings, and also the "patron saint" of intelligence agencies, would probably have appreciated the dilemma.