CaSE welcomes House of Lords committee report on higher education science funding

We welcome the recommendations of the House of Lords Science & Technology Committee report on research funding in Universities, published today.

The report reviewed the state of science research funding in universities, both now and in the future. We very much welcome the recommendation that Quality-Related funding should increase at least in line with inflation and that the real-terms deficit created since the turn of the decade should be addressed. 

We also welcome the recommendation that the Government should seek to associate with Horizon Europe as a priority, and in outlining the importance of international mobility for research and innovation.

Commenting on the release of the report, CaSE Assistant Director Dr Daniel Rathbone said: 

“CaSE were delighted to be able to contribute to this inquiry and we welcome the report published today. Universities play a crucial role in the UK’s research ecosystem and it is right that any changes to their funding arrangements should very much consider the impact on their ability to do cutting edge research. 

QR funding is particularly important for Universities as it allows them to operate flexibly in choosing which areas of research to fund and I am pleased that the Committee recognised this and called on the Government to increase QR funding as part of the package of public investment needed to reach the target of spending 2.4% of GDP on R&D by 2027.”

Our Executive Director Dr Sarah Main gave oral evidence as part of the inquiry, which can be found here.