Research funding

EU officials want to take money for Chips Act, but government purseholders have ruled out using unspent project funds to replace it

Close reading of ERC Starting Grant proposals finds secrets to success and raises concerns about smoke and mirrors from narrative CVs

Parliamentarians clash on funding discretion and whether it should continue, but agree on need for ARC review

Grant reviewers should close the circle by evaluating final reports, and recipients should spend the money as they see fit

Approach will aid those who are already able to get ahead, critics warn

Research-intensive universities step up Russia boycott measures as UK Research and Innovation turns off funding over Ukraine invasion

Uncertainty around UK’s future in EU research, plus shortage of domestic funding beyond Oxbridge, drove ERC grant holder to swap Southampton for Bergen

Veto powers not unique to the ARC, medical research funder says – although they are not exercised elsewhere

‘Big-picture thinkers’ would set national priorities, sidestep electoral cycles and deal with ‘boundary issues’ involving indigenous knowledge

While most submissions support legislation to end ministerial veto rights, some urge middle ground approach

Researchers support drive for quality over quantity but warn of unintended consequences

Higher education systems that are free to evolve have improved and adapted as times change, but more are seeing ministers determined to set the course

Scientists should strive for real impact, not to impress a panel of busy peers, with their agendas, biases and blind spots, says Pedro Domingos 

Impact of cuts to in-flight research mitigated by additional money but future budgets for aid-funded projects still uncertain, says UK science funder

All types of institution must be welcome if new funder is to achieve its true potential, sector groups say

Stick to Science campaign launches with more than 200 signatories covering industry, charities and academia

There is no simple answer to entrenched inequities in research funding, Australian agency finds

Business secretary reportedly concerned by Jonathan Michie’s ‘left-wing’ associations

Vice-chancellor criticises ‘bipartisan support’ for rules enabling ministers to intervene in grant awards

Comparison with current data suggests government proposals are ‘not exactly a revolution in the funding balance’, say experts

Science minister George Freeman claims academics may warm to leaving EU research scheme if homegrown alternative offers attractive global opportunities

Forty per cent increase in investment by 2030 pledged, with BEIS ring-fencing majority of its spending for areas beyond golden triangle

Universities across Europe to launch ‘Stick to Science’ campaign warning against ‘politicisation’, as football-style ‘transfer market’ emerges to tempt away UK-based researchers

British-born computer scientist Peter Highnam to lead ‘high-risk, high-reward’ agency

But critics say windfall won’t compensate for the money stripped from basic research

EU universities bidding to attract UK-based researchers as Brussels-Westminster wrangles delay research deal

With key funding scheme already months behind schedule, a Christmas Eve resolution could be optimistic

Significant additional funding needed to realise Canberra’s commercialisation goals, say scientists

Tardy response to UKRI request meant greenlit research projects on pandemic could not begin, investigation concludes

Backlash grows to include proposed legislation to remove ministers’ power to cancel funding applications

Ex-prime minister says cancellation of funding ‘betrays government’s hostility to higher education’

Trudeau government set to fulfil campaign promise for version of legendary US innovation agency, amid mixed expert assessment of its wisdom

Leading scholars from Australian universities have joined scientific bodies to demand reversal of pre-election veto of humanities grants

Success rate for prestigious starter grants drops below 10 per cent

But experts warn there is little hope of progress while relations remain in ‘freezer’

Six humanities projects reportedly vetoed and China collaboration nosedives as Discovery outcomes finally see light of day

Thousands of researchers face Christmas crisis as grant announcements languish

Castaway from EU programme must paddle harder to keep up and remain an enticing partner for the future, says university leader 

Benefits of innovative grant selection method must be balanced with risks to funders’ reputations, explain research leaders

Outgoing director of top US research funder holds firm on China crackdown, regrets state of racial equity and keeps pondering more holistic approach

Canberra demands revamped governance and more applied focus

European research institutions want question of association to be separated from broader talks on political relationship

Canberra accepts advice of more than 10 reviews

NIH vows shifts after years-long assessment finds top-cited scientists rarely share data and measure up poorly when they do

Commission haste in Horizon lump sum rollout could pour cold water on innovative consortia, groups warn

New lease of life for lucky six as committee overturns scrapping of their funding applications

Government promises stopgap funding for first wave of successful UK-based applicants, as European Commission keeps schtum on full association

Massive cuts to GCRF-funded research hubs will not continue next year after they won praise from a Whitehall review, UK Research and Innovation confirms

Economic and Social Research Council will look again at criteria that exclude PhD graduates from most modern UK universities from applying for postdoctoral funding

Green paper ‘asks the right questions’, including whether crown research institutes should collocate with universities

Maria Leptin says that if improving success rates means expanding the funder’s budget, voters could play an important role

UK scientists may increasingly want to take the £7 billion for research offered by Treasury rather than wait for EU wrangling to finish, say research experts

Ninety per cent federal funding cut will leave research projects unfinished and cause massive brain drain, experts warn

Funding changes will help generate ‘intellectual infrastructure’, but universities harbour reservations

Philanthropist outlines details of five-year investment but says government spending cuts will demand ‘ruthless’ funding decisions

Sector expresses relief that investment will increase to £20 billion by end of parliament, but fears investment not enough to maintain ‘superpower’ aspiration

Chancellor confirms delay to funding increase but says government will maintain commitment to overall target

Emphasis on student earning outcomes risks overlooking the bigger picture, say academics

Continuing delays on Horizon Europe association could strengthen hand of Westminster figures who were ‘never that enamoured’ about joining

Commons committee chair also raises concerns about UKRI chair’s lobbying of ministers ahead of spending review