Research grants to reflect changes in inflation

Research Councils UK today announced changes to the annual adjustments applied to research grants and studentships, following a fall in official forecasts of inflation.

Alan Thorpe, Chair of Research Councils UK said: "The UK is now experiencing inflation at a lower rate than previously forecast, and therefore the inflation adjustment to grants will also be lower."

"The Research Councils are committed to ensuring that their investments represent value for money for the tax payer and reflect changes in economic circumstances. The decline in inflation needs to be reflected in the grants we award. All savings made as a result of changing the rate will be reinvested into research and postgraduate training."

The Research Councils will be applying these changes to both new and existing grants and fellowships. The cash indexation applied to new grants will be based on the updated Treasury inflation forecast*. Any grant or fellowship announced using the previous Treasury figures will be re-valued from April 2010 onwards.

The Research Councils will contact research organisations to provide details of any changes this will have on the value of existing grants and fellowships. The reduction will be of the order of 1.2% for 2010/11. Where an award has outstanding payments of £100,000 or less as at 1st April 2010, the award value will remain as previously announced. All other grants will be adjusted at the new rate.

The cash indexation rate applied to new grants will continue to be reviewed annually in response to changes in HM Treasury's inflation forecast. This will ensure that research grant payments in future years are informed by changes in the rate of inflation.

In addition, the Research Councils have considered the impact of lower inflation on adjustments to postgraduate stipends and research fees. In future, the preliminary value of fees and the minimum stipend will be announced in July. The final values will then be confirmed in the following April once the Treasury GDP deflators have been established for the year. This will ensure that the real value of stipends is maintained in line with inflation.

* Treasury GDP deflators for 2009/10 onwards had previously been at 2.75%. These were revised downwards, by the Treasury, in April 2009 to 1.0% for 2009/10 and 1.5% for 2010/11 and subsequent years.

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Notes

Contact:
Chloë Somers
RCUK Press Officer
Tel: 01793 444592

The seven UK Research Councils are:

• Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC);
• Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC);
• Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC);
• Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC);
• Medical Research Council (MRC);
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC);
• Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC).