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Professor Graeme Reid gave an overview of the funding of the funding landscape following the creation of UKRI in April 2018
Creation of UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) and Research England: priorities and challenges for researchers
Professor Graeme Reid, Professor of Science and Research Policy and Chair of Science & Research Policy, Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) gave an overview of the funding landscape following the creation of UKRI in April 2018:
- UKRI created under the 2017 Higher Ed & Research Act
- It has been through transition; now making changes more visible – this is not just a merger of quangos
Leadership
NERC keep Exec Chair; AHRC (Andrew Thompson), BBSRC, Res England internal promotions. Other five external appts (Jennifer Rubin at ESRC).
No systematic churn below that but many changes in senior management. Paul Nightingale moving to ESRC
New team in centre, cut and paste from BEIS. Led by Walport and Kingman.
Relations with HMG
Closer than under old regime: influencing and being influenced
International Dev’t; 2.4%; regional development in the UK; Industrial Strategy;
UKRI has become part of the planning for post-Brexit Britain.
Budget – big expectations to deliver results
Up by nearly £2.5bn pa – about 30% increase.
Many new funding initiatives – almost too many to keep track of
QR funding and Haldane?
Both still supported and now written into s103 of the Act. The dual support system is rebadged as balanced funding. QR is the largest budget line in UKRI. There are strong arguments for QR but they need to be articulated more clearly and more forcefully.
Business collaborations and impact
Continuing to grow in scale and a major opportunity for social science – far greater recognition that combinations of natural and social sciences are needed to address big challenges
UCL is at an advantage because grand challenges are exactly the type of thinking that UKRI has adopted
Need to get smarter at articulating impact – not only for the REF but more generally. Eg impact of disciplines and not only projects.
Challenges
Institutes vs universities?
2.4% placing emphasis on larger projects and larger business collaborations?
Public policy impact not yet well understood – but lots of us working on it.