Press Releases

The main tasks for the Strategic Advisory Group will be to help develop a common strategic approach between the Research Councils, helping the Councils to work together to inform the strategic research priorities that optimise the use of the fund and ensure that it addresses the problems faced by developing countries.

RCUK is seeking members for its new Open Access Practitioners Group to share best practice, discuss issues and provide sector insight to improve the implementation of the RCUK Policy on Open Access.

Researchers can now create or connect their ORCID identifier in the Research Councils’ grants system by logging in to their personal information page. This is an important first step towards improving the flow of research information across the higher education sector.

People living in the cities of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle & Gateshead and York will benefit from a new research and innovation initiative that puts them in the driving seat to help improve their cities’ health, wellbeing and prosperity as they face up to challenges of modern urban living. 

Three large collaborative grants, totalling £9.5m, have been announced by the Research Councils as part of a cross-Council initiative to tackle antimicrobial resistance. The awards together mark one of the biggest investments into AMR since the initiative launched.

The Government has published a White Paper which details its planned policy to reform support for higher education and research, including proposals on the future of the Research Councils. ‘Success as a Knowledge Economy’ outlines how Government intends to take forward the implementation of the recommendations of Sir Paul Nurse’s Review.

Five UK Research Councils have announced the first joint interdisciplinary calls from the new £1.5Bn Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) unveiled by the Government in last year’s spending review.

The UK Research Councils have published their Delivery Plans for the period 2016-2020. The plans outline how the Research Councils individually and collectively will use their allocations from the Science and Research Budget announced in March.

RCUK has today launched an action plan to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in research, recognising its leadership role in driving a change in culture. Alongside this, RCUK have today published its annual data on grants and fellowships applications and success rates by gender, ethnicity and age.

Senior representatives from RCUK and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) celebrated the growing UK-China research partnership and discussed strategic priorities for the future at an event held at the Royal Society in London on 18th April.

The Research Councils have published a collective Strategic Priorities and Spending Plan. The document provides a summary of the ambitions, strategic direction and investment themes for the Research Councils’ collective and individual activities.

Food security, river health, the effects of aerosols on climate and an upgrade to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN are among six new science projects and two other research infrastructures recommended for European-wide funding in a new report.

The Research Councils have recognised the Government’s continuing support for UK research in today’s announcement of allocations from the research and innovation budget. The Councils will collectively publish a summary response on their spending plans and priorities next week.

The Research Councils welcome the Synthetic Biology Leadership Council’s (SBLC) publication of ‘BioDesign for the Bioeconomy’. As the publication states it is important to maintain a strong underpinning research portfolio and the Research Councils are committed to building on their recent investments.

Delegates from both public and private sector will gather together on 14th July at Liverpool Hope University to discuss the importance of science and innovation to the UK economy, and how we future proof our scientific capacity.

A national report shows that UK academics, across all disciplines, are continuing to have high levels of engagement with external organisations and individuals in the private and public sectors. The report was commissioned by the Research Councils, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).

A host of UK researchers will be presenting their research at the prestigious annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC. The Research Councils are hosting an international reception at the AAAS meeting.

The UK Knowledge and Research Landscape: A report on available resources is the first step in refining and bringing together datasets that can be used and exploited further to inform strategic decision-making and enable funders to identify how future funding could be targeted to achieve the best value for money.