For the past 24 years during which time I have been concerned with the management and financing of medical research, either at the MRC headquarters or the Wellcome Trust, I have heard it said that psychiatric research is backward and something ought to be done to improve the situation. My earliest memory of something being done was in 1959 when Professor (now Sir) Denis Hill, as a member of the Medical Research Council, wrote a report making the recommendation that the Council should set up research units, and the universities should establish more academic departments in medical schools. The reasons for these recommendations were fairly obvious. Unless established posts are available one cannot expect to recruit potential research workers to the field. The proposition accepted that even if the perfect head of department was not initially available, the next generation would have the right experience. Professor Hill's recommendations were, I think, very largely implemented. Between 1957 and 1962 the Medical Research Council set up five new units and one new research group. Only two of these units still exist but others have been established since. A number of university departments were also created.