The committee will now send official letters to the Scottish Funding Council, the Scottish government and Glasgow University asking what can be done to save the courses.

BBC: Public Petitions Committee 1

Education Minister Leighton Andrews made a statement on university mergers based on a report by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) in the chamber on 29 November 2011 .

BBC: Education Minister told to 'back off' from meddling

MSPs will begin by quizzing Mark Batho from the Scottish Funding Council, followed by Mary Senior from University and College Union Scotland, Robin Parker from NUS Scotland and David Belsey from the Educational Institute of Scotland.

BBC: Education and Lifelong Learning Committee

Among other issues, university staff were caught pressuring students to dishonestly answer an official funding council survey of student satisfaction.

BBC: Moves to tighten degree scrutiny

While applications for university have increased only marginally in England, the Higher Education Funding Council for England says that there will be another 30, 000 places available for students this autumn.

BBC: A-level results

The project has received funding from Queen's University, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council - the UK's strategic science investment agency - and the Open University.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | Scientists seek unknown planets

Meanwhile, the UCU said the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales was expected to criticise senior management at the university in a forthcoming report.

BBC: Lecturers protest at uni job cuts

However, funding from the Home Office, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the University of Strathclyde has allowed researchers to turn their attention to the topic.

BBC: Abertay researcher develops new foot print tracing method