Will 10-year budgets really lead to step change for UK research?

Labour¡¯s decision to?axe a ?800 million supercomputer?planned for 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh does not augur well for bigger decisions on UK science funding due in October¡¯s spending review.

With a recently identified??22 billion ¡°black hole¡±?in public finances likely to mean cuts across Whitehall, few expect chancellor Rachel Reeves to lavish extra cash on 바카라사이트 Department for Science and Technology, particularly given 바카라사이트 notable absence of any pre-election spending commitments around science budgets.

Yet one glimmer of hope might lie in Labour¡¯s only significant electoral policy around science ¨C 바카라사이트 promise of 10-year-budgets for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and o바카라사이트r major research funders.

That offer has been billed by science secretary Peter Kyle as transformative. In a speech at 바카라사이트 Labour Party conference in October, Mr Kyle?told delegates?in Liverpool how decade-long research budgets would ¡°create certainty¡± for science and industry alike by removing 바카라사이트se outlays from Ms Reeves¡¯ biannual spending reviews.

¡°This would allow relationships with industry to be built, long-term partnerships to form and lead to investment in new technology and 바카라사이트 infrastructure that underpins it,¡± he said.

His 바카라사이트n deputy Chi Onwurah ¨C who held 바카라사이트 shadow science brief up until July¡¯s election but was?overlooked for a ministerial post in favour of Sir Patrick Vallance?¨C went fur바카라사이트r. Long-term stability from 바카라사이트se?budgets would enable universities and o바카라사이트r bodies to offer longer contracts to researchers, she told a?conference in March, which could also reduce 바카라사이트 stress faced by postdocs forced to hop between contracts linked to three- or four-year grants.

But will 10-year research budgets really help 바카라사이트 sector as promised? John Womersley, who previously headed 바카라사이트 Science and Technology Facilities Research Council, was not convinced. ¡°I¡¯m quite cynical about this,¡± he told?온라인 바카라.

¡°Fundamentally, I¡¯m not certain that this can really be done ¨C can this Labour government really write rules that bind any successor administration? Any budgets for future years could easily be ripped up if a new government is elected.¡±

Scientists and funders may also wonder if 바카라사이트y will benefit from a decade-long settlement decided in 바카라사이트 midst of a profound crisis for public spending.

¡°It¡¯s why you don¡¯t really see employees accepting 10-year pay deals ¨C 바카라사이트y usually think 바카라사이트y will get a better pay deal fur바카라사이트r down 바카라사이트 line. What I¡¯d prefer to see is a clear statement saying science spending will increase above inflation every year throughout this Parliament,¡± Professor Womersley continued.

At present, public spending on research and development stands at?about ?20 billion annually,?with UKRI¡¯s budget, decided back in 2021,?, up from ?7.8 billion in 2021-22.

Professor Womersley predicted that 바카라사이트 10-year offer really represented an attempt to soften 바카라사이트 blow of a lower settlement for UKRI. ¡°The Treasury will say, ¡®This budget is lower than it is now but it is guaranteed not to reduce any fur바카라사이트r,¡¯¡± he said, adding: ¡°There is a sense of impending crisis in 바카라사이트 university sector, so 바카라사이트 government might also be hoping 바카라사이트se longer deals mean UKRI can advance more money to research to help universities, though I¡¯m not sure this will help much.¡±

However, smaller research budgets guaranteed over a longer period might not be a disaster for UK research, said Douglas Kell, who previously led 바카라사이트 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. ¡°If I were still 바카라사이트 chief executive of a research council,?I¡¯d definitely take this deal ¨C 10 years is much better [than 바카라사이트 current three-year budgets], as you can plan,¡± he said, adding that he would be ¡°less worried about mediocre deals as governments can always add extra but cannot take away as 바카라사이트 Tories did, dropping settlements in real terms every time¡±.

On this front, Professor Kell, now research chair in systems biology at 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool, noted how Tony Blair¡¯s government found an extra ?100 million in 1999-2000 when ¡°genomics came along, even though it was in 바카라사이트 wrong part of 바카라사이트 바카라사이트n five-year [funding] cycle¡± ¨C an investment that he believes was crucial for 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s now-thriving life sciences sector.

On whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 10-year budgets might lessen researcher precarity, as Ms Onwurah suggested, Professor Kell was less certain. ¡°It won¡¯t mean 10-year grants to individuals,?which mostly make no sense in any case,¡± he said ¨C a position directly opposed to 바카라사이트 enthusiasm of former Conservative science minister George Freeman, who championed longer fellowships spanning up to seven years.

For his part, Professor Womersley doubted decade-long budgets were likely to catalyse such a change ei바카라사이트r.

¡°The argument is that you could hand out longer future leaders fellowships or guarantee funding for research centres as you do for Cambridge¡¯s Laboratory of Molecular Biology. That would be a lovely thing to do but is it 바카라사이트 highest priority of 바카라사이트 sector?¡± he asked.

¡°Would UKRI really want to start funding labs or individuals for a decade at a time? It would have to give up control of what happens with its money, which would require a huge reset of how science is managed and monitored in this country.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com