The UK's eight Research Councils have today published the first data against their Outputs Frameworks – a set of metrics and narrative information that paint a picture of each Research Council's progress against aspects of their Delivery Plan objectives. The publication of the 2005/06 Outputs Frameworks today represents a ground-breaking initiative to ensure that returns from the funds allocated by the Research Councils is maximised.
The Outputs Frameworks are based around two major objectives –maintaining and improving the health of the UK's research base and improving the exploitation of research so that economic, social and cultural benefits can be realised. Against these two outputs, a number of characteristics, such as scale, quality and agility, are presented.
Each Research Council has specific objectives and performance metrics tailored to their individual missions. This makes the data useful in establishing a benchmark against which performance in subsequent years can be assessed. The Outputs Framework are fluid documents which will evolve as strategic and research priorities change.
Yvonne Hawkins, chair of the Research Councils UK Performance and Evaluation Group, said: "The Outputs Frameworks allows each Research Council to understand the outcomes of the research they fund. With a combined annual budget of over £2.5 billion it is crucial that the Research Councils can draw on data such as this to help inform strategy and funding priorities. The UK is amongst the world leaders in introducing a performance system to help maximise outputs from research investment and it gives us a further boost in our efforts to cement our position as a global research leader."
The Outputs Frameworks will track the activities of the Research Councils as they take on board the recommendations of the recent Warry Group report on 'Increasing the Economic Impact of the Research Councils' as they take steps to improve the economic impact of their research investments.
The Office of Science and Innovation have today also published performance data reflecting outputs of the UK research base at a national level. This is available at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/science/research-councils/index.html
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Contact
Research Councils UK Press Office
Matt Goode
Tel: 01793 413299
Notes to Editors
The Output Frameworks form a part of the Office of Science and Innovation (OSI) Performance Management System introduced across all Research Councils in April 2005. The Output Framework is a suite of performance metrics used to measure progress towards the objectives set out in each Research Council’s delivery plan.
The structure of the Output Frameworks was set out in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Science Budget Allocations booklet (2005/06 – 2007/08) and the Framework is based around the two outputs that flow from the DTI Public Service Agreement (PSA) target - Output 1: A healthy UK research base and Output 2: Better exploitation.
At the higher, PSA level OSI is responsible for ensuring the overall health of the research base and the effective exploitation of the research base to meet national needs.
About Research Councils UK
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.
The partnership is led by the RCUK Executive Group, which meets monthly and comprises the chief executives of the eight Research Councils. The Group is currently chaired by Professor Ian Diamond, Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council.
The Research Councils discuss and coordinate common interests on performance and evaluation through the RCUK Performance and Evaluation Group.
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).