Research Councils UK (RCUK), the strategic partnership of the UK's eight Research Councils, has welcomed the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report, delivered to the House of Commons today.
The Research Councils welcomed the publication of Sir David Cooksey's review of health research, which recommends the establishment of an Office for Strategic Coordination of Healthcare Research to ensure a strategically-coherent approach to UK healthcare research.
Professor Ian Diamond, Chair of the RCUK Executive Group, said: "Research Councils UK looks forward to the opportunity to engage with the new co-ordinating body for healthcare research."
The Treasury has also published the recommendations of the Leitch review of skills. The Research Councils recognise the need to align training with the needs of employers. They currently invest significant amounts of funding in training around 18,000 postgraduate students, a significant proportion of which apply their skills in the private, public and charitable sectors.
Professor Diamond commented: "The Research Councils already produce a large number of well-trained and highly skilled individuals for the UK economy. We currently fund £83 million of collaborative training and 3,000 collaborative studentships with industry and public bodies which means key industrial sectors, such as pharmaceuticals and aerospace engineering, are able to draw on recruits with the exact skills and knowledge that companies need."
The Pre-Budget Report tasked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to develop a set of metrics for the system to replace the Research Assessment Exercise after 2008.
Professor Diamond welcomed this move on behalf of RCUK: "The Research Councils are looking forward to working with HEFCE to develop a robust set of metrics for each subject area."
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Contact
Research Councils UK Press Office
Matt Goode, Tel: 01793 413299
Notes to Editors
Information on the Pre-Budget Report can be found at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pre_budget_report/prebud_pbr06/prebud_pbr06_index.cfm
The eight Research Councils are independent non-departmental public bodies, funded by the Science Budget through the Office of Science and Innovation. They are incorporated by Royal Charter and together manage a research budget of over £2.5 billion a year.
Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the partnership between the UK's eight Research Councils. Through RCUK, the Research Councils work together to champion the research, training and innovation they support.
RCUK was created to increase the collective visibility, leadership and policy influence of the Research Councils; to stimulate multi-disciplinary research that encourages collaboration; to provide a single focus for collective dialogue with stakeholders and to encourage greater harmonisation of internal operations.
The eight UK Research Councils are:
- Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC)
- Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
- Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
- Medical Research Council (MRC)
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
- Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council (PPARC)