The following is a summary of the speech that Sir Leszek Borysiewicz - Rector of the University of Cambridge - will give on May 10, in Barcelona, at the 10th anniversary conference of LERU, the League of European Research Universities which includes 21 universities, including the University of Milan. "...Separating “applied” from “not-yet-applied” research would certainly not be wise, and may not even be possible.