A new UK government Department for Science, Innovation and Technology means the sector might have to guard against increased political direction of the research system, according to the chief executive of Universities UK.
Rishi Sunak created the department on 7 February as he broke up the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which was previously responsible for research funding. He appointed as secretary of state in the new DSIT Michelle Donelan, who dismayed many in the sector with a perceived “culture wars” approach as higher education minister.
The shake-up was driven by calls for a secretary of state with a Cabinet seat – rather than a junior minister – to be responsible for science, to gain “the political authority to crack departmental heads together” as the Conservative government pledges to make the UK a “science superpower” and dramatically increases research spending.
One immediate departmental priority will be the question of whether the UK associates to the European Union’s Horizon Europe research programme – an issue entangled in the Northern Ireland protocol dispute – or pursues a “Plan B” alternative, with a proposed scheme under development.
