{UAH} RESEARCH FUNDING IN THE UK

Sallong Villager/Robert Atuhairwe/Ikanos/Frank Mujabi/Simon Peter Okurut

Here is a snapshot on how the UK funds research. You will see the process is very clear and agreed well in advance. There is no possibility of the sort of debacle we see at MISR happening in any UK University. Any one who wants to undertake higher degree research knows they will by and large be working to the MISSION, GOALS AND STRATEGIES of the University, and the University also knows it has to work to the overall Philosophy and Guidance set up by the State and renewed at every general election. In Uganda, it seems the Ministry of Education no longer has any role to play in Higher Education. yet it is this Ministry that should be the engine for ideas on education, its genesis and development. The Ministry of education should be setting the agenda for higher education in Uganda, but is it doing this? We have been sleep walking to disaster for 30 years and we are now teetering on the edge of the abyss.

Bobby

How we fund research - Higher Education Funding Council for ...
www.hefce.ac.uk/rsrch/funding/‎Cached
25 Mar 2015 ... Public funding for research in English higher education is ... Under this system,
HEFCE provides annual funding for English ... To assess the quality of research
for funding purposes, we and the other UK funding bodies, run a ...


How we fund research
HEFCE's research funding is intended to strengthen and support a world-class research base in English higher education institutions. These pages explain how we calculate research funding at HEFCE and how this fits into the broad approach to public funding for research.
Research
How we fund researchMainstream QR fundingSupport for research degreesCharity support fundingBusiness research The 'dual support' system
Public funding for research in English higher education is administered under a 'dual support' system. Under this system, HEFCE provides annual funding for English institutions in the form of a 'block grant'.

This supports their research infrastructure and enables ground-breaking research in keeping with their mission.

The Research Councils, charities, the European Union and government departments provide grants for specific research projects and programmes.

'Quality-related' research funding
We distribute the majority of our funds for research on the basis of research quality, and take into account the volume and relative cost of research in different areas.

This is called 'quality-related research funding'. To assess the quality of research for funding purposes, we and the other UK funding bodies, run a periodic assessment exercise, the most recent was the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014).

The results of the REF were published in December 2015 and are used to determine funding for 2015-16.

Each year, the money available to allocate as quality-related funding is determined with regard to the grant letter from the Secretary of State to HEFCE setting out the total level of funding and associated guidance on policy priorities.

In 2015-16 we will distribute £1.6 billion quality-related research (QR) funding. This breaks down into the following elements:

Full details of these figures, and the annual quality-related research funding data are published as part of our annual funding allocations.

We also provide funding to cover infrastructure costs:

•Capital
•UK Research Partnership Investment Fund
•Museums and Galleries
•National Research Libraries
Principles of quality-related funding
•We allocate funding selectively by reference to robust judgements of research quality.
•We fund research of the highest quality wherever (and in whichever discipline) it is found.
•Our allocation process is robust and transparent, based upon clearly defined criteria and avoiding undue complexity.
Why this method?

Our method for calculating research funding enables a degree of research stability and independence not provided by other funding sources.

The method is stable because the results of the research assessment are used over a prolonged period. It gives institutions independence because they can do what they want with the money and it is not directed to particular research programmes.

It also ensures that universities:

•drive innovation and respond flexibly to changing needs as autonomous institutions
•invest in new and emerging areas
•grow and support new talent and protect important research areas.
The flexibility of this funding provides universities with the resources to:

•support the cutting edge of knowledge
•sustain responsive research
•sustain a world-class research environment
•develop people and skills.
Page last updated 25 March 2015
Related content
Annual funding allocations
Postgraduates: policy and funding
Capital and other sources of funding

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