Several organisations have urged UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to reform its eligibility rules, which they say prevent newer research bodies competing directly for its funding.
An open letter to UKRI chief executive Ian Chapman says requiring newer organisations to show three years of audited accounts and evidence of research income or expenditure averaging £500,000 annually amounts to a “de facto ban on supporting new organisations”.
“UKRI’s eligibility rules mean that new research organisations can only access taxpayer-funded infrastructure, facilities, and funding calls via university partners if at all, and not independently. This is true even when those new organisations are explicitly backed by government and are home to some of the UK’s best scientists,” says the letter, which was organised by research policy thinktank Science Works.
The signatories, which include the Royal Academy of Engineering, Convergent Research and 14 other groups, point out that most funding flows to universities.
“While universities are home to many genuinely world-class research capabilities, not all research is best done in academic settings by researchers responding to academic incentives,” it says. “New research organisations can do things differently and will be a better fit for some types of science and technology.”
