Sussex University in the Sixties knocked a lot of stuffiness out of academia by being challenging, provocative and exciting.

It became a byword for revolutionary activity, thinking the unthinkable, for ground-breaking research and brilliant students.

Guided by visionaries such as Lord Briggs, Vice-Chancellor during turbulent times, Sussex quickly became the most notable of the red-brick universities.

Now Sussex is 40 it has settled down a bit but has lost little if any of the fizz which made it so irresistible all those years ago.

The university will be celebrating. So should the rest of Sussex for providing the county with an institution which has a brilliant reputation throughout the academic world.

It is also producing more than 2,000 jobs on its own and helping to create many more in scientific and media industries.