Efforts to shore-up political support seem likely to grow.
This week, Ben Johnson (@ersatzben.com) and Laura Ryan launched a new science policy body which Johnson said would be “looking at what the research base needs to do to prepare for a general election [and] for potential different outcomes”
Pretty notable how close government policy on R&D is to Mandelson's positions
- Call for UKRI to be given more govt direction
- Tying R&D funding more closely to economic growth
- Call for a dedicated missions R&D fund
All pre-dated Epstein revelations, but suggests how much influence he had
This quote from @rschrobuk.bsky.social on the wider shift in academic publishing in the UK is striking
“We may have already passed the high water for immediate open access to research outputs in the UK”
As well as unis dropping deals, funders (UKRI and CRUK) are adjusting their support for gold OA
Patrick Vallance has twice written to MPs saying the budget for curiosity-driven research “will grow as the economy grows”
But UKRI has flat cash for curiosity-led research through to 2030
When @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social asked DSIT where the growth would come from, they had no answer
A mystery
“We have enjoyed strong cross-party support for R&D, but we can’t assume that’s going to continue. If the public aren’t seeing the value when there are difficult choices to be made with public finances, I think that’s a real threat,” Welham told @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social
Full piece here:
The Tories have already said that they would carve £6bn off the UKRI budget over the next 3 years and give it to the MOD for defence R&D instead
Meanwhile, Reform and the Tories praised a Policy Exchange report saying just 22 unis should be allowed in the REF (and presumably get QR funding)
There's growing unease that the UK's political consensus on support for R&D is fraying, and the rise of populism could break it altogether
In our lead Research Fortnight story today, the new president of the Royal Society of Biology, Melanie Welham, warned “political buy-in could weaken”
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Robin Bisson
Robin Bisson
Robin Bisson
Robin Bisson
Robin Bisson
Johnson said Science Works will aim to navigate “a very fundamental legitimacy crisis [in R&D] and move away from narrowly arguing our stakeholder interests to politicians who may not be sympathetic to British institutions as a force for good”
UK research may have to gear up to get more political
Robin Bisson
Robin Bisson
Current decision-making not “sufficiently evidence-based”, say founders of new “policy and research studio” Science Works
Dsit unable to explain Vallance claim on curiosity-led growth.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
University of Nottingham drops five publishing deals.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
UKRI lacks ‘heft and punch’, Peter Mandelson told Patrick Vallance.
Disgraced former US ambassador pushed for more ministerial direction at national funder, new documents show.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
