Haans In answer to your question All Universties in the UK are CLOSED in the sense that they require entry qualifications which may be quite high. The Open University is exceptional in that it requires no qqualificaions for entry qualifications. Hence it is open to everyone. It is also a distance teaching institution operating on a regional basis throughout the UK and in Europe. Ie it goes to the students ( about 200 000 of them ) However , for research it is identical to other Universties- Labs Research students etc Hopes this Helps Bill ############################################################## TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ############################################################## To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TECHNET ############################################################## Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. If you need assistance - contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ##############################################################