After more than 100 years, the doors at Queen Mary University of London have closed to student chemists in a swift move that has angered the staff of its chemistry department.

Staff complain that they had barely 48 hours notice at the beginning of December to respond to a recommendation from the university's Principal Steering Group that intake of chemistry undergraduates should cease.

The recommendation was endorsed only narrowly by the university's Academic Board, according to Geoff Hawks, professor of physical organic chemistry, and then rubber stamped a week later by its governing council. 'Real anger is how I'd describe the collective response [of staff and students],' he says.

Under investment in staff numbers and facilities, says Hawks, has exposed Queen Mary's to criticism from the UK's larger chemistry departments in the hunt for research funding. 'Chemists nationally are not being nice to other chemists,' he contends. 'Where are mid-range students now going to study chemistry?', he asks.