Sir Roy Anderson, Rector of Imperial College London, is to step down after just 18 months in the role in order to return to the lab. The Great Beyond has the full story but here’s the skinny.

Imperial’s top man will step down at the end of December to resume his role as Chair of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine. No replacement has yet been found, but Sir Keith O’Nions, Director of Imperial’s Institute for Security Science and Technology, will act as a very able stopgap until Imperial’s 15th Rector is appointed.