RCUK Grants to be Delayed 'Until the First of Never'

A successful Research Council applicant awaits his grant.

Following on the heels of the BBSRC's announcement that it would be delaying the start of responsive mode grants until after 1 January 2016, the umbrella organisation for the Research Councils, RCUK, has gone ones step further. In a press release written in crayon it stated that all seven of the Councils would delay the start of grants 'until the first of never'. 

'In order for the Research Councils to manage their budgets effectively,' ran the statement, '[and] allowing for additional investments whilst also maintaining their responsive mode commitments and success rate, we are intending to not actually hand out any money.'

What Does £5bn Buy You?

Buddy, can you spare a £5bn?

Earlier this week the Higher Education Statistics Agency announced that income from research grants and contracts totalled £5.08bn in 2013-14.

This is an impressive amount, but if you were a Russian oligarch and had a spare £5bn to splash, what else could you spend it on, if you didn't want to bankroll the cost of pushing forward the boundaries of knowledge? It's always useful to be prepared should you ever be asked, so here's the Fundermentals cut-out-and-keep guide:

'I'll Name that Scheme in One, Tom...'

Interesting news from the beleagured David Willetts. Research Fortnight was reporting on Tuesday that he'd asked readers of the Times to help him name the new 'British Nobel' prize (you'll need to subscribe to the Times to see the original article, here). The prize was announced in the 'Plan for Growth' at the time of the Budget in March. It's intended to kick start a buzz around engineering and science. Allegedly. The prize is likely to be awarded every two years and could be worth up to £1 million.

Now two things occurred to me about this. Firstly, at a time when small grants are being cut left right and centre, bunging £1m at one scientist every couple of years doesn't seem like a great use of public (or private endowment) funds. Wouldn't it be better to - say - fund 100 pilot projects? Or 500 young scientists to go to conferences, now that the Royal Society is cutting its funding for conference attendance?

Secondly, what is it with people asking us to name things? Willetts' request came shortly after the EC's competition to find a new name for FP8. Is this the Big Society at action in research funding? Pitch in and help, everyone! Feel involved! Though of course there's no money available at the end of it...

Pre-Budget Report - £600m Cut to HE and Science

Last week's Pre-Budget Report was every bit as sobering for higher education as had been expected. The Chancellor Alistair Darling said that £600m would be saved "from higher education and science and research budgets from a combination of changes to student support within existing arrangements; efficiency savings and prioritisation across universities, science and research; some switching of modes of study in higher education; and reductions in budgets that do not support student participation."

However, it's not clear beyond these broad brushstokes as to how these cuts will be divided. It's got the sector worried though; have a look at the various people quoted by the BBC .

There's talk now about 'discussions with stakeholders' about how best to wield the scalpel. Watch this space.