As well as the changes at the ESRC, the other Research Councils have announced changes to their funding priorities in light of the Government’s budget allocation, which saw 3% cut from all except the MRC:
AHRC:
- Capital funding will be cut entirely;
- It will ditch the Creative and Performing Arts Fellowships, Practice-led Research Grants and Applied Route KT Fellowships and Catalyst schemes;
- It will introduce 4 priorites: digital transformations; translating cultures; care for the futre, and science in culture. In addition, it will invest in 3 areas of ‘strategic need’: modern languages, design and heritage.
- It will also increase investment in cross council programmes, especially ‘connected communities’, ‘living with environmental change’ and the ‘digital economy’.
- It will up its investment in ‘impact’ activities, including knowledge transfer, and ‘creative economy hubs’.
BBSRC:
- There’s a suggestion in the Plan that it will move away from blue skies research: “The intention over this period is to effect a greater alignment of the basic underpinning bioscience investment into the critical strategic priorities within the available funding envelope.”
- Most of the funding cut will be shouldered by research grants (cut by 6%), although fellowships will take a bigger percentage hit (from £9m to £6m);
- As with the other councils, it will plough more into impact/knowledge exchange activity;
- Thus, its priorities will be industrial biotechnology, food security and bioenergy;
- It will also increase its contributions to cross-council programmes;
EPSRC:
- EPSRC is positioning itself as a ‘sponsor’ rather than a ‘funder’, so it’s seeking to provide more strategic leadership, and encourage collaboration with industry.
- Capital funding cut by 50%. The EPSRC wants to see more sharing of facilities as a result;
- It will focus on 4 main themes: maufacturing, energy, the digital economy and healthcare technologies. Funding in these areas will increase over the period, whereas more general responsive mode funding will decrease by c£58m pa by the end of the period (2015);
NERC:
- Big cuts to its own institutes;
- However, it will increase external grant funding by £23m by end of period (2015);
- The Plan seems to draw back from international focus, instead emphasising the importance of meeting national objectives;
- It also wants to ‘concentrate’ funding in fewer organisations, although it already gives 4/5ths of its money to just 25 institutions;
- As with others, it’s encouraging more interaction with external organisations, for instance in renewable energy and risk management.
MRC:
- MRC was the only Research Council to see an increase in funding.
- Much of the income rise is set to come from a change in policy that will see the council keep more of the money it makes from commercialisation. This will be reinvested in developing translational medicine.
STFC:
- STFC has split its budget into three streams in order to protect its grants funding from the demands of international activities and currency fluctuations, from which it has taken a hit in the past.
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