Our economic contribution. Our available income in 2003/04 was £45.2 million, of which we spent £42.1 million on outgoings and capital projects. The Treasurehouse & Powerhouse report published during the year pointed out that the Museum's turnover is broadly equivalent to that of an average Premiership football club, a smaller university or a medium-sized hospital. The report went on to argue that each pound of grant-in-aid produces between £3.25 and £4.00 in wider economic benefit, not only in London and the South East but nationally as the Museum's expenditure is dispersed across the UK.

The funding mix. Of the £39.6 million that we received as grant-in-aid, £6.7 million was compensation for loss of revenue following the introduction of free entry for all adults in 2001 and £3.5 million was earmarked for the refurbishment of the Palaeontology Building. In 2003/04, grant-in-aid accounted for 88% of our available funding.

This was the third and final year of the current funding agreement, which sets out the levels of grant-in-aid and defines the Museum's performance targets. A new funding agreement, to cover the 2006/09 period, will be finalised in Autumn 2004. Our long-term aim is to reduce our dependence on grant-in-aid, by maximising revenue from our trading operations and by opening up new sources of financial support for our scientific research and exhibitions.

Managing our income and expenditure. The success of T. rex: The Killer Question ensured that this would be an exceptional year for admissions revenue, which was nearly 75% higher than the previous year. Income from science grants and consulting, which has increased steadily in recent years, was £4.9 million - an increase of around 19% on 2002/03. Strong visitor numbers helped to maintain turnover in retailing and catering, while membership, publishing and our other services mostly delivered a steady or positive performance. Our Conferences and Events business has been impacted by the downturn in corporate spending, though we are expecting bookings to improve in the coming year.

Expenditure was down on the previous year, mostly because of lower capital spending. The increase in estates services expenditure was the result of a reallocation of security and housekeeping costs. Capital projects included the completion of the first phase of the IT network and further work on the refurbishment of the Palaeontology Building, which is now nearing completion.

The figures shown are an overview and are subject to final audit. For a complete set of the Museum's audited annual accounts, please contact: The Stationery Office, PO Box 276, London SW8 5DT, telephone (020) 7873 0011.

Funding for research. Our research depends on external funding from research councils, the European Union, trusts, charities and other grant-awarding bodies. The largest grants for projects that commenced during the year are listed below (some are collaborative projects and the amounts shown include partner funding unless otherwise stated).

• The Museum will receive £1.8 million from the EU for SYNTHESYS. This project will ensure that the collections and knowledge in Europe's museums and herbaria are shared and used to the maximum benefit of all participating institutions (see page 13). The total value of the project to all participants is £8.7 million.
• £329,549 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) for large scale DNA sequencing in taxonomy.
• £240,096 from the Darwin Initiative to enhance biodiversity conservation across the Humid Chaco trans-boundary ecoregion of Argentina and Paraguay.
• £198,992 from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for quantification of terrestrial climate records.
• £195,975 from The Health Foundation for improving children's health by control of schistosomiasis.
• £173,723 from the Darwin Initiative to develop capacity in Belize for the conservation and sustainable management of xaté palms.
• £165,460 from the EU (Marie Curie Fellowship) for conserving biodiversity in a changing world.
• £165,460 from the EU (Marie Curie Fellowship) for the phylogeny and evolution of subterranean European cave beetles.
• £149,187 from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) for the action and effects of water on Mars.
• £136,500 from the NERC for the optimisation of bone reactivity for use in the remediation of toxic metals.
• The Museum will receive £129,252 from the EU for the Assessing Large Scale Environmental Risks with Tested Methods project (ALARM) which is investigating the threats to pollination biodiversity. The total value of the project to all participants is £1.9 million.
• £114,746 from the EU (Marie Curie Fellowship) for the evolutionary reproductive ecology of caecilian amphibians.
• £110,569 from the EU (Marie Curie Fellowship) for calcareous dinoflagellate culturing experiments.
• £107,033 from the Wellcome Trust for comparative evolutionary cell biology and proteomic analysis of the Golgi apparatus in Trichomonas vaginalis.
• £101,136 from the EU (INTAS) for the terrestrial fauna and floras of the Isle of Wight Insect Bed (see World Class Science).
• The Museum will receive £98,878 from the EU's Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MARBEF) network to assess and forecast changes in biodiversity, structure, function and dynamics of ecosystems and their services, particularly marine ecosystems functioning. The total value of the project to all participants is £5.62 million.
• £80,000 from ENTRUST via Cherub Environmental and Educational Projects Ltd for maximising phosphorus recovery from wastewater sludges.
• £74,546 from the Department of Trade and Industry for a scoping study to determine the potential use of insect enzymes for depilation.
• £73,038 from the EU (Marie Curie Fellowship) for interrelated grazing behaviour and dynamics of marine planktonic protests.
• £68,284 from the Darwin Initiative for land snails as models for biodiversity assessment in Sri Lanka (see World Class Science).
• £39,541 from the NERC for fluorescence properties of fossil peridinioid and gonyaulacoid cysts.
• £32,190 from the Royal Society for application of novel taxonomic techniques in understanding podocopid ostracod biodiversity, biogeography and phylogeny.
• £30,244 from the NERC for dating the radiation of the pleurocarpous mosses.