Give academic a theme that's lacking edge (6)
I believe the answer is:
donate
'give' is the definition.
(donating is a kind of giving)
'academic a theme that's lacking edge' is the wordplay.
'academic' becomes 'don' (type of academic - especially at Oxbridge).
'that's lacking' is a deletion indicator.
'edge' becomes 'hem' (a hem is an edge on a piece of cloth).
'theme' with 'hem' taken away is 'te'.
'don'+'a'+'te'='DONATE'
(Other definitions for donate that I've seen before include "Atoned (anag)" , "Fork out" , "Make a gift of" , "Give - present" , "Muhammad -, US boxer" .)