"You have to listen for excellence and quality first, " he says of the network's development strategy.

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First, if universities are to create centres of excellence they will need greater freedom: for example, to recruit their staff, to set up experimental links with research bodies or to increase enrolment fees.

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At first glance, India seems an unlikely place to find technical excellence.

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Ms Kelly said that so far 34 schools had approached her to be one of the first three "centres of excellence" in Liverpool.

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Employees of the new organisation will be part of the world's first truly global consumer publishing company, committed to sustained editorial excellence and long-term investment in a rich diversity of content.

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It's the first opportunity to tell the world about what we're bringing in terms of scientific excellence and sustainability.

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The first is setting an example of excellence for our children - because if we want to set high expectations for them, we've got to set high expectations for ourselves.

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For instance, he was the very first film reviewer to appreciate screwball comedy, and he had an uncanny ability to spot other varieties of cinematic excellence and explain them long before other critics caught the scent.

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Mr Gray pressed the first minister on the Curriculum for Excellence less than a week after two teaching unions revealed they could be set to take industrial action.

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First, tech companies are places where people with strong opinions and even stronger beliefs in their own universal excellence go to work.

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