Anxiety ‘understandable’ but science money ‘is there’ – Vallance

Science minister Patrick Vallance has acknowledged that UK researchers are facing an “uncomfortable period” in the transition to new funding structures but insisted “the money is there” to support them.

Appearing alongside science secretary Liz Kendall at the House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee on 3 March, Vallance explained he “absolutely get[s] the anxiety” of those who had raised concerns about potential cuts to science funding and grant funding pauses since UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) unveiled a shake-up of how it would allocate research council budgets.

“I was an academic for long enough – we care a lot about whether grant funding is continuous, whether you are going to have gaps in it and supporting people coming through,” said Vallance, a former dean of UCL’s medical school who later became director of research at GSK.

“It is an uncomfortable period and I absolutely get the anxiety,” he continued, stating that the “terrible comms” related to plans by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to save £162 million by 2029-30, announced in late January, had contributed to heightened uncertainty.

“I think the way that was handled, where a letter went out saying ‘can you handle 30, 60 or 70 per cent cuts?’...that is pretty gruesome and we can’t do that,” he said.

“And the pauses [to grant funding schemes] – that made people think there are other cuts coming. But if you look at the numbers – the numbers all increase,” he said on the total funding available for researchers, with responsive-mode funding increasing from £737 million in 2025-26 to £866 million by 2029-30.

“We got the biggest ever settlement for R&D in a Spending Review that was extremely tight…so there is work to be done to articulate this and frankly make it meaningful for people, because the money is there to support them,” said Vallance.

Reflecting on the changes, Vallance said it was important to recognise the scale of the shake-up being led by UKRI’s chief executive Ian Chapman.

“UKRI is trying to get into the position that Paul Nurse envisaged,” said Vallance, referring to the Nobel laureate’s 2015 review that recommended the creation of UKRI.

“Ian is making that happen in terms of increasing interdisciplinary work and greater transparency – there are some painful trade-offs to make sure we get this right,” he added.

However, Vallance insisted his “number one priority is to protect and grow curiosity-led research” and he would ensure this would happen.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com