Universities UK has today written to the government seeking
urgent clarity on the future of funding for UK science and
research.
Although the government’s Integrated Review – published today – reaffirms
its aim to secure the UK’s position as a global science
superpower, the announcement coincides with reports that the
government is preparing to significantly cut the budget for
research. This comes hard on the heels of a confirmed £120 million
shortfall for research funded from the overseas development
budget, which has forced universities across the country to
abandon current research projects with international partners.
Writing in a letter to the Prime Minister, Professor
Julia Buckingham, President, Universities UK said:
“…[universities] are increasingly alarmed by reports that the
Treasury has not made funding available to support the UK’s
association to Horizon Europe.
“If this position is maintained, it will amount to an effective
cut in excess of £1 billion, equivalent to cutting more than
18,000 full-time academic research posts and weakening the UK’s
attractiveness as a destination for talented researchers and
private and foreign investment. It will also undermine the
credibility of the government’s expressed ambitions to provide
global scientific leadership, set out in today’s Integrated
Review.”
The letter concludes by urging the Prime Minister to intervene in
discussions between the Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy and HM Treasury, to prevent this outcome.
Other points made in the letter:
- A £1 billion reduction in domestic research funding is roughly
equivalent to the total research and innovation budgets of the
Medical Research Council and Science and Technology Facilities
Council combined.
- It would also lead to a further reduction of up to £1.6 billion
in private R&D investment which would have been stimulated
through public investment.
- The cut comes at a time when the UK’s largest international
competitors – including the United States and China – are
currently ramping up their investment in science.
ends
Notes to editors
- Universities UK is the collective voice of 140 universities
in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its mission is
to create the conditions for UK universities to be the best in
the world; maximising their positive impact locally, nationally
and globally. Universities UK acts on behalf of universities,
represented by their heads of institution. Visit: www.universitiesuk.ac.uk
- The full letter to the prime minister is attached to this
email and will shortly be published on the Universities UK
website.
- The government’s Integrated Review, published today,
highlights the critical importance of research and innovation in
securing the UK’s national security and future prosperity. While
universities welcome these ambitions, there are concerns that the
rhetoric is not matched by the reality.
- Indicative scale of the cuts compared to current research
council budgets
- According to the UKRI
Corporate Plan for 2020-21, the total research and
innovation budget for UKRI was £5.747 billion.
- Of that, the total R&I budget for the Medical Research
Council (MRC) was projected to be £637m and the Science &
Technology Facilities Council (STFC) was £451m.
- This means that the likely £1 billion cuts to R&I
funding that would be required if no additional funding is
secured would be approximately equal to the total R&I
budgets of the MRC and STFC (£1.09 billion).
- Indicative scale of the cuts in terms of full-time
research-only staff employed by UK universities
- According to HESA, there were 42,080
full-time research-only staff employed at UK institutions in
2019–20.
- The median salary for these staff in the £34,189-£45,892
range. Using the midpoint of this range gives an estimated
salary of £40,040.
- Employer costs (NI and pensions) are estimated at 35% – so
an estimate for the per FTE cost is 40,040 x 1.35 = £54,054.
- Therefore a £1 billion cut is equivalent to the total cost
of 18,500 research staff - or 44% of the full-time
research-only staff employed by UK universities.
- Multiplier effect of public investment in science and
research
- Research undertaken by Economic
Insight on behalf of BIS (2015) found that an extra £1 of
public funding for R&D gives rise to an increase in private
funding of between £1.13 and £1.60.
- As such, a £1 billion cut in public investment could mean
£1.6 billion less of private investment.
- Cuts announced last week to
funding for international research collaboration already pose a
significant challenge to our reputation and relationships with
partners in developing nations. Last week’s announced cuts to
ODA funded research leave a £120 million gap between the
commitments that have already been made to projects which are
currently underway, and the funding available. As a result
universities across the country are having to suspend research
projects before they have produced results, cut staff and
withdraw from important international research partnerships in
areas like infectious disease and climate change.
- Universities are also urging government to back the statement
of intent set out in the IR by making a clear and unambiguous
commitment to properly funding our participation in Horizon
Europe and restating its commitment to grow public investment in
R&D to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
