Research funding

Research England makes one-off awards for government priorities but no uplift for recurrent research funding

Australian researchers’ funding hopes hinge not on whether rule was wrong, but on whether wrong rule was applied correctly

Ministerial response offers ‘no comfort that there is not a plan afoot to abandon that very specific promise’ on science spending, says ex-minister Greg Clark

But thousands of Australian researchers remain in limbo, with reviled rule still in force for grants under consideration

The EU’s massive cash injection with double Italy’s languishing higher education budget, says Ferruccio Resta

Fears for physics pipeline as 32 researchers relinquish up to A$22m for citing preprints

Long-standing challenge on research disclosures grows more urgent with rising China tensions and anti-Asian discrimination

Government told to disclose impacts on academics as outrage escalates over preprints rule

ARC says it communicated rule change clearly, but applicants say it forces them to plagiarise to qualify for funding

Education minister concedes impact of plummeting international enrolments, but says things would be worse without intervention

Publishers criticise continued embrace of ‘green’ model alongside ‘gold’, but funder insists it has struck the right balance

Policy revamp aims to tackle gender inequality

Overall funding decisions more than double to almost 40,000 thanks to Covid-related grants

Formalised defence R&D ties could recoup one-quarter of the research funds lost from Australia’s ailing international education industry

For the first time prestigious funder has explicitly told academics they must not include metric when applying for grants

Tens of millions of euros in grants were still agreed by 2020, but UK collaborations may have been affected

Outgoing UKRI chair says this autumn’s spending review will be a ‘make-or-break moment’

Trudeau creates mandatory review ahead of grant awards, aligning nation closer to US in suspicion of China

Funder’s policy lead on open access talks of ‘ring-fenced path’ to cover costs

Academic scientists, frustrated by years of lean budgets, again urged to value stimulating corporate innovation

Wave of money is ‘truly unprecedented’, says Italian rectors’ head, but some worry the money is too focused on technology transfer and that national plans overlap

Boris Johnson’s new ministerial council has revived discussion over who controls science spending and whether industrial strategy requires government to start ‘picking winners’

Scientists for EU says country now needs a plan to regain lost ground as Horizon Europe kicks off

Applicants will have to certify that they have not been found guilty of bullying or harassment under new policy

New programme for universities modelled on version that increased racial equity within NIH’s own laboratories

Mandatory reporting of abuse allegations and anonymous whistleblowing that have led to action in US should be considered, say campaigners

Going Global session also told that funders should pool resources to ensure longer-term stability  

Polish professor warns of increasing ‘tension’ between national research funding and global science

Tally of cases since 2018 largely stems from anonymous hotline and mostly involves sexual misconduct

Recent cuts and scares have cast doubt on ministers’ commitment to harnessing science in pursuit of a levelled-up, post-Brexit innovation economy. Questions also remain about how funding should be distributed and directed. Jack Grove examines the lessons from history and from overseas

The science base, public and private, needs certainty over how promised funding increases will be spent, says Chris Skidmore

Holyrood administration announces extra cash to assist with applications to Horizon Europe

Funder’s reduced budget for 2021-22 reflects loss of pro-science adviser and mindset of new Treasury boss, say Whitehall and research council insiders

Latest attempt to replicate Darpa brings bipartisan praise but also wariness of potential harm to basic health research

Japan could take inspiration from European models, says former Max Planck head

No explanation for delay that kept 15 academics on tenterhooks for months

Total budget for UK’s main public research funder is down 5 per cent

Senior leaders question why research funder has not tried harder to save at-risk projects

Funding body confirms expected dates for cuts to overseas research projects

Researchers press for ministerial code of conduct amid fears that latest political intervention may never be resolved

Chief executive Dame Ottoline Leyser says existing ban on sharing project responsibilities does not help science

Changes to funding mechanisms can feel like a threat, but Aria will be a blast of fresh air for science and technology, says Tom Stephenson

Exclusion of science minister from Downing Street meetings is cause for concern, says former political aide

Bath academics say journals should standardise conflict of interest policies, but Philip Morris-funded foundation warns against boycott

Research council head calls for ‘long-term vision’ to end cross-border funding ‘volatility’

Imminent research cuts linked to GCRF reductions could fall heavily on UK’s regions, figures show

Vice-chancellor says philanthropy has been especially transformational in low-income countries

With suggestion that academia profits from ‘slave labour’, senators back new threat to research ties

Trudeau backs spending despite deep deficit, yet still disappoints academic researchers

Sir Adrian Smith tells MPs that scientists must redouble efforts to win European grants to offset huge drop in science funding

Senators warm to massive federal funding hike, but with greater share for non-elite institutions

Future association funding ‘fairly secure’ but must be discussed again with Treasury, says business secretary

The UK has an ambitious R&D road map but the necessary steps must be taken by politicians and funding bodies, says Andrew Thompson

Three countries even received double-digit increases in 2020, but with so much new government debt, some fear cuts could be in store further down the line

Research England head believes science funding ‘will increase in the way government has said, but perhaps not as frontloaded as we had hoped’

Higher education priorities include racial and economic diversity, and science

‘Unpredictable’ sequence of cuts and increases for UK science budgets is undermining faith in spending promises, say sector leaders

Long-term public and economic health depends on empowering universities, businesses and health systems to work together, says Michael Spence

Cost of associating to EU programme coming from BEIS budget, but £250 million injection topped up from other sources

With overseas enrolments hitting the buffers during the pandemic, debate rages over whether higher education’s excessive reliance on this income stream is self-inflicted – and how universities can keep themselves on the financial rails in future. John Ross reports