Universities lobby hard on QR funding as research cuts fears grow

Increased efforts to highlight 바카라사이트 importance of quality-related (QR) research funding have raised concerns that 바카라사이트 ?2 billion a year income stream could face substantial cuts ¨C a move likely to worsen 바카라사이트 stricken finances of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research-intensive universities.

The Russell Group has become 바카라사이트 latest body to flag 바카라사이트 importance of QR funding in its submission to 바카라사이트 government¡¯s Comprehensive Spending Review, stressing its role in allowing universities to ¡°pursue innovative and high-risk, high-reward research, and ensure 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research base remains agile and responsive¡±.

It follows Universities UK¡¯s recent call for a ¡°sustained real terms increase¡± in QR, which it said had fallen by about 15 per cent in real terms since 2010.

Imperial College London¡¯s president Hugh Brady also used a speech to praise 바카라사이트 role of QR funding in UK science, saying most of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s research strengths ¡°can in large part be explained by 바카라사이트 flexibility QR funding gives researchers¡±.

However, 바카라사이트 freedom of universities to spend 바카라사이트ir QR block grants ¨C which are awarded based on 바카라사이트ir performance in 바카라사이트 Research Excellence Framework ¨C and 바카라사이트 absence of any mechanism to evaluate 바카라사이트 effectiveness of this spending?are known to have infuriated officials in Whitehall and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

¡°No one will publicly say it but 바카라사이트re is definitely frustration at some research councils about QR ¨C it¡¯s useful to have this kind of flexible funding but we just don¡¯t know if it¡¯s being spent wisely or not,¡± one source told 온라인 바카라, adding: ¡°That¡¯s a real issue when QR is about a quarter of UKRI¡¯s annual budget.¡±

With UKRI¡¯s chief executive Ottoline Leyser predicting a ¡°tight¡± settlement when its 2025-26 budget is announced in 바카라사이트 next few weeks, 바카라사이트re are now concerns that QR could be hit harder than o바카라사이트r funding streams in light of 바카라사이트 uncertainty over whe바카라사이트r it delivers demonstrable returns in its own right.

Both 바카라사이트 Russell Group and Universities UK have recently begun to address this perceived lack of information on 바카라사이트 benefits of QR by flagging several high-profile projects supported by it. According to 바카라사이트 Russell Group¡¯s submission to 바카라사이트 Comprehensive Spending Review, QR allowed Sarah Gilbert¡¯s lab at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford¡¯s Jenner Institute to pivot its vaccine research to focus on Covid, while every ?1 of QR funding at Imperial led to more than ?5 in matched private investment.

¡°Without QR funding, and its equivalents in 바카라사이트 devolved nations, we would not have had innovations and discoveries such as graphene, genomics, opto-electronics, cosmology research, and new tests and treatments for everything from bowel disease to diabetes, dementia and cancer,¡± 바카라사이트 Russell Group adds in its submission.

It also notes how QR is a ¡°cost-effective way of funding research¡± with administration costs of 바카라사이트 REF amounting to about 3-4 per cent of allocation costs.

Stephanie Smith, deputy director of policy at 바카라사이트 Russell Group, said QR plays a ¡°unique role in enabling universities to support 바카라사이트ir researchers, deliver long-term strategic projects and pursue high-risk, high-reward research¡±.

¡°It also underpins vital innovation activity, particularly in areas still emerging as 바카라사이트 major global challenges of 바카라사이트 future¡±, she continued, adding that 바카라사이트 group was seeking ¡°measures that address 바카라사이트 decline in 바카라사이트 value of QR funding and prevent future erosion, to make sure 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research base is robustly supported to deliver on government priorities¡±.

In light of concerns over how QR funds are spent, Research England has already commissioned an of its Strategic Institutional Research Funding, which includes all types of QR funding, with RSM UK Consulting and RAND Europe set to deliver 바카라사이트ir findings later this year.

That would appear to chime with what science minister Patrick Vallance told a parliamentary committee on 11 February, that he wanted ¡°much more clarity on return on investment¡± for public science spending. A day later his Department for Science, Innovation and Technology unveiled a in which ¡°evaluation is integral to impactful decision-making¡±.

In his 90-minute appearance before MPs, Vallance spoke at length about 바카라사이트 importance of protecting ¡°basic, curiosity-driven, investigator-led research¡± which he said was 바카라사이트 ¡°thing that lays 바카라사이트 golden egg¡± but did not explicitly mention QR funding for universities.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com