All university physicists will be well aware of the growing pressure to increase their research output – in other words, to work harder. Britain, however, is fortunate to also have many talented, dedicated and enthusiastic individuals who are keen to improve the quality of teaching and learning in universities and who are willing to devote a significant part of their career to that task. In fact, a recent survey carried out by the European Physical Society shows that the UK is one of Europe's most active centres for developmental work in university-physics teaching (www.nikh ef.nl/~ed/EDUCATION/epsedquest.html).