million+ praises decision to fund excellence in all universities
Responding to the announcement of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) grant allocations for 2009/10 today (Thursday) which included new allocations for research funding, million+ praised the Government and the funding council for ensuring that excellent research is funded throughout the sector.
The grant allocation from Hefce is the annual recurrent funding for widening participation, teaching, research, and business and community engagement activities in universities. Research funding is awarded on the basis of the results of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The RAE2008 found excellent quality research spread throughout the sector.
Pam Tatlow Chief Executive of university think-tank million+ said, “Post-92 universities have paid back with abundance the very modest levels of research funding received in the past by establishing centres of internationally excellent and world-leading research. This settlement will boost innovation and deliver better access for business and the public sector to the excellent research available in post 92 universities throughout the country. It is also good news for the international partnerships and collaborations which these universities have promoted.
“The Government’s decision to ring fence the budget for science and research is the right one for the UK but there cannot be any return to universities having to deliver innovation and research on a shoestring if Ministers want to exploit the vast amount of unrealised potential in the sector. Proposals to promote collaboration between universities must not be an excuse to revive greater selectivity or to dilute the economic benefit of funding excellent research wherever it is found.
“The funding council’s decision to fund postgraduate research students in all departments that have received research funding is also welcome. It would have been nonsense if world-leading researchers had been denied access to funding for their doctoral students and it would have limited access to postgraduate opportunities for students.
“With rising levels of redundancy and unemployment it is disappointing that universities are still having their ELQ funding reduced and that students have to pay increased fees to return to study to up-skill or re-skill.”
Notes to editors:
- million+ is a leading university think-tank, with 28 subscribing universities, working to solve complex problems in higher education www.millionplus.ac.uk
- The full details of the allocation of funds to universities can be found on www.hefce.ac.uk
- The funding council is still being required by the Government to stop funding the teaching of students studying for qualifications equivalent to or at a lower level than the qualification which they have previously gained (ELQ)
- The letter to Hefce from the Secretary of State John Denham which sets the funding priorities for higher education can be found here www.hefce.ac.uk/news/hefce/2009/grant/grant_letter_0910.pdf
- For more information please contact Gemma Tumelty, Public Affairs Officer on 0207 7171657 or 07900277819