Substantial cuts to research budgets at some of the UK’s main funders are likely to worsen “a growing disconnect” between frustrated university leaders and government ministers who insist science is enjoying major funding uplifts, it has been warned.
While politicians have been bullish about their financial backing for Britain’s “science superpower” ambitions, with science minister George Freeman recently trumpeting the “incredible wall of money” heading to science as investment hits £22 billion in 2024-25, budgets for some of the funding councils under UK Research and Innovation will fall next year.
Data collected by Times Higher Education from strategic delivery plans outline how budgets at three councils – the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) – will dip in 2024-25 as several UKRI-wide programmes from the Cameron and Johnson governments wind down.
One of the biggest losers is the EPSRC, which received £53 million from the Strategic Priorities Fund and £50.4 million from other time-limited funding streams in 2022-23 on top of its core funding of £620 million. While its core funding will rise to £661 million in 2024-25, the removal of about £100 million in additional funds will see its research budget, excluding infrastructure, drop from £723.9 million to £704.5 million over the two-year period – a 2.7 per cent cut.
