Hot news over at EPSRC: 'responsive mode' funding has now become 'research base' funding. I phoned them to check whether this was a fundamental shift in their priorities: did it, for instance, indicate a crunching of tectonic plates, a la the Wellcome move to fund investigators rather than projects? After some confused, muffled discussion at their end (hand over the mouthpiece, shouting across to colleagues on the other side of Polaris House, you know the kind of thing), they said that no, but that there'd been an updating of the website and this 'must be part of that.'Reassuring to know they're all on message with this change. If it's not a significant change, then why bother? If it is significant, then shouldn't their staff be better briefed?
