Funding research to answer the big questions

1. Copies of the 'Science Budget Allocations Booklet' are available on the DIUS Website. The booklet contains the allocations of all organisations funded by the Science Budget in 2008-11.
2. Details of the four cross council programmes are as follows:

   Ageing: life long health and wellbeing

   Research by the UK research councils is helping to improve understanding of the ageing process and what can be done to keep people healthy throughout their lives. Recent advances include findings that may lead to better ways to treat aortic aneurysms, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, diabetes and stroke.

   Living with environmental change

   An interdisciplinary research and policy programme to increase resilience to - and reduce costs of - environmental change. It will examine the associated pressures on our natural resources, ecosystem services, economic growth and social progress.

   Energy

   The Research Councils' Energy Programme brings together energy-related research and training across the Councils to address the outstanding international issues of climate change and security of energy supply.

   Global threats to security

   This will integrate research in crime, terrorism, environmental stress and global poverty. It will address the causes of threats to our security, their detection, and possible interventions to prevent harm.
3. A further £100 million of planned investment will be spent on multi-disciplinary programmes covering the digital economy (£58m) and nanoscience (£50m). This is in addition to work being undertaken by Research Councils individually in these areas.
4. The case studies below are examples of the kind of research already under way in these areas.

   Energy:

   Hydrogen breakthrough could open the road to carbon-free cars A new breakthrough in hydrogen storage technology could remove a key barrier to widespread uptake of non-polluting cars that produce no carbon dioxide emissions. UK scientists have developed a compound of the element lithium which may make it practical to store enough hydrogen onboard fuel cell powered cars to enable them to drive over 300 miles before refuelling. Achieving this driving range is considered essential if a mass market for fuel cell cars is to develop in future years, but has not been possible using current hydrogen storage technologies.

   Living with environmental change:

   The partnership of key funders in this ambitious 10 year programme are now setting out the priorities for LWEC. Over the next decade they expect to provide research needed to deliver outcomes such as a sustainable supply of clean water to the south east of England, a reduced risk of flood damage from severe weather and sea-level rise, more resilient buildings, a keener insurance market, and sustainable ecosystem use in developing countries that will help alleviate poverty and improve human well-being.

   Global Threats to Security:

   Homeland Security The recent publication on Homeland Security, based on the work of the Economic and Social Research Council, shows how key public and private-sector bodies can prevent, pre-empt, counter and manage terrorist attacks by using a matrix of factors such as types of terrorist networks, tactics and targets. It examines the measures taken since 9/11 to enhance homeland security and considers whether domestic security measures are striking an appropriate balance between homeland security and civil liberties.

   Ageing:

   The Strategic Promotion of Ageing Research Capacity (SPARC) This programme was launched by BBSRC and EPSRC in 2005. SPARC-funded researcher Dr Mark Hollands from the University of Birmingham, is examining how the brain's ability to process visual information, describing environmental features such as obstacles and safe places to step, is affected by ageing and other factors. The aim is to develop diagnostics to identify people at risk of falling, and identify treatments and interventions to promote safety.

   Digital economy:

   Combating credit card fraud Imperial College London, working in collaboration with Capital One, Lloyds TSB, Alliance & Leicester and Abbey are developing a new computer model that promises to identify credit card fraud more effectively that currently possible, benefiting both banks and their customers. Banks already monitor credit card transactions in order to spot anomalies that might indicate fraudulent use. But the Imperial College team are working on a more sophisticated model that can identify much smaller fraud-related blips, giving earlier warning that a card has been stolen.

5. DIUS also announced quality related research funding rising to £1.6 billion by 2010-11 and continuing capital funding of £736 million a year through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to support universities' investment in world class research and excellent and innovative learning spaces for students. We expect that separate allocations will be made by the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This will all be in addition to the Science Budget University Capital stream which has already been announced to provide capital support for Research Council funded research (the Science Budget element is UK-wide, the exact breakdown is still to be determined, but typically around four fifths of this capital stream has been provided through HEFCE to institutions in England).
6. The funding will enable the meeting of an important commitment in the ten-year science and innovation framework concerning support for charitable research. By the end of this financial year a total of £180 million will be allocated to HEIs as part of the charitable support element of this funding stream. And we anticipate that, subject to the outcomes of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, it will be possible for this total to rise to some £270m by 2010/11. This will ensure charities continue their vital role in supporting research, particularly medical research, in Higher Education Institutions and elsewhere.
7. Funding from the Large Facilities Capital Fund for individual projects including the Laboratory of the Molecular Biology and the development of the UKMRC, will be released when business plans for individual projects are agreed with Government.

1These are iterative amounts. The final precise figures will be included in the HEFCE Grant letter.

For media enquiries only please contact Matt Barker in the DIUS press office on 0203 300 8126.