Brexit policy series – Collaborating on research internationally whilst cultivating it domestically
As part of our series on our policy advocacy work, our Senior Policy Advisor on Research Landscape, Mindy Dulai, looks at the future for R&D funding in light of the UK's exit from the EU.
We already know from engagement with our community and analysis that UK participation in EU Framework Programmes is very important for chemistry. We know that it enables researchers to jointly tackle global issues such as searching for a cure for Alzheimer’s or supports UK businesses to figure out how to crack the market in other countries.
It also helps to make sure that the UK stays competitive - playing in the Champions League of global research – to date, 19.4% of the prestigious European Research Council funding in the area of chemical sciences was awarded to researchers based the UK, more than to any other country.
Since the EU referendum, we’ve worked with you to show why preserving international collaboration through the EU Framework Programmes is vital and conveyed this message to government through engagement with officials and at Ministerial level via the High Level Stakeholder Working Group on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation.
The UK and EU start negotiations on their future relationship next week. We say that full UK association to the next EU Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, must be part of this. And we’ll keep working with you to make sure that our asks on association continue to reflect the community’s needs as negotiations progress. If you want to share your experiences of collaborations moving from Horizon 2020 towards Horizon Europe, then please get in touch, using the contact form on the left of this page.
What's the alternative?
We also know the UK Government is considering alternatives to continued participation in the EU framework programmes, including a spectrum of possibilities short of full association. Last year’s independent Smith-Reid Review examined these.
The government has yet to respond to the final report from the review, published in November 2019, but crucially a number of the recommendations focus on changes to R&D could be implemented irrespective of the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
The review recommended the introduction of substantial additional funding for basic or discovery research, acknowledging that much funding for this kind of research in the UK originates from the EU.
We agree – whilst it’s great that the government is committed to increasing public investments in R&D to 2.4% GDP by 2027, any future increase must recognise the importance of sustained funding for discovery research. Discovery research is what builds the foundations for truly transformative advances.
Without the discovery that the molecular orientation of liquid crystals could be controlled by applying an electric field, we would not have seen their eventual use in flat-screen displays, an industry now worth billions globally and enabling us to carry cheap, user-friendly screens in our pockets.
Opening a digital shop window
A crucial part of reaching 2.4% is attracting private investment. In our budget submission to Treasury we call for a ‘digital shop window’ that brings together and sets out all available public funding streams and grants, their purpose and source budgets in an easily navigable, transparent way. This will help make clear to researchers, innovators and investors what the UK’s research and development offer is, helping to attract further investment.
We are also calling on government to increase quality related funding (QR) by at least 13% to reverse the recent real terms decline. QR funding is distributed to institutions that take part in the Research Excellence Framework. It provides a flexible source of baseline funding that can be used to support a verity of outcomes. It can be used to train the next generation of researchers, to fund cutting-edge infrastructure or support early career researchers to obtain those crucial initial research results that will help them to win grants in the future.
Enabling opportunities
The forthcoming budget statement represents an opportunity for government to show that they recognise and back the ability of R&D investment to contribute towards ‘levelling up’ regions across the UK. At this stage little is known about the proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UK SPF), which will replace EU structural funds aimed at reducing regional economic and social disparities.
Evidence shows that funding R&D via EU structural funds enables universities to work with local SMEs, supporting their development. The UK SPF needs to support R&D across the UK at a scale at least equivalent to that of European structural funds.
It’s now less than 2 weeks until the new Chancellor delivers his budget statement. We’ll be watching closely to see whether the announcements made match our asks on providing the holistic support to R&D and education that will make sure that the UK continues to be both a global R&D partner and leader.
