Provost of UCL, which he occupied until 1929. In 1973, UCL became the first international link to the ARPANET, the precursor of today's internet, sending the world's first electronic mail, or e-mail, in the same year. UCL was also one of the first universities in the world to conduct space research. It is the driving force of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, managed by UCL's Department of Space and Climate Physics. In 1993 a shake up of the University of London meant that UCL (and other colleges) gained direct access to government funding and the right to confer University of London degrees themselves. This led to UCL being regarded as a de facto university in its own right. Mergers In 1986 the Institute of Archaeology became a department of UCL, and in 1999 the School of Slavonic and East European Studies also joined the College. In 1988 UCL merged with the Institute of Laryngology & Otology, the Institute of Orthopaedics, the Institute of Urology & Nephrology and Middlesex Hospital Medical School. In 1994 the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was established. UCL merged with the College of Speech Sciences and the Institute of Ophthalmology in 1995, the School of Podiatry in 1996 and the Institute of Neurology in 1997. In August 1998 the medical school at UCL joined with the Royal Free Hospital Medical School to create the Royal Free and University College Medical School, renamed in October 2008 to the UCL Medical School. In 1999 the Eastman Dental Institute joined the Medical School, which, resulting from the incorporation of these major postgraduate medical institutes, has made UCL one of the world's leading centres for biomedical research. Galton and Eugenics Although Francis Galton was never formally associated with UCL, he worked closely with Karl Pearson and Flinders Petrie both professors at the college. In 1904, UCL established the Eugenics Records Office at Galton's urging, and in 1907 this became the Eugenics Laboratory. Galton died in 1911 and left funds to establish a Chair in National Eugenics, with Pearson named in his will as the first holder. In 1963, the Francis Galton Laboratory of National Eugenics became the Galton Laboratory of the Department of Human Genetics & Biometry, and in 1996 became part of the Department of Biology. In recent years, Galton's legacy has been controversial. In 2014, the Provost of UCL, Michael Arthur, was asked by a student