Research Council
Encyclopedia
The UK Research Councils, of which there are currently seven, are publicly-funded agencies responsible for co-ordinating and funding particular areas of research, including the arts, humanities, all areas of science and engineering. They have five main functions, which are to:
The funding of the UK's overall academic research via seven autonomous bodies has led to some problems of coordination. The UK government has addressed this since the late 1990s through funding incentives which require cross-Council collaboration on major new research programmes, and through encouragement to set up a formal (but non-statutory) cross-Council secretariat, known as Research Councils UK
(RCUK) to undertake activities that cross the remits of all the Councils, such as creation of a joint electronic grant application process, development of improved impact assessment procedures, and a common international strategy. For the precise distinction, see the official RCUK website http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/ .
incorporated by Royal Charter
. Each is governed by its own governing council comprising a mix of academic and non-academic members, appointed by the Secretary for Innovation, Universities and Skills following a public nomination process. The councils receive public funds from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
, and each reports annually to the British Parliament. In 2008 the combined annual budget was around £3.5 billion. Of this over £1 billion is spent on research grants and training in UK higher education institutions, forming one element of the UK's dual support system of research funding. (The other element is provided through block grants provided by the UK Funding Councils for higher education.)
Research Council grants support around 50,000 researchers through 18,000 grants at any one time. About 8000 PhDs are awarded annually as a result of their funding. The Councils fund only a small proportion of doctoral training places, but their quality assurance processes ensure that all departments eligible to host a Council-funded student provide an excellent training for all doctoral students.
The Councils employ around 13,000 staff directly, of whom 9,000 are researchers and technicians working in institutes and facilities such as the British Antarctic Survey
, the Laboratory of Molecular Biology
, the Roslin Institute and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
. However, in the UK funding system only a few permanent institutes are directly controlled or core-funded by the Councils. These are all in areas where a permanent infrastructure of some kind is required. Most Council funding is allocated on a competitive basis, with few awards lasting more than 10 years. In this way the Councils are able to shape the UK's capacity to meet changing research challenges.
Research council funding decisions are guided by the Haldane Principle
, the idea that decisions are best made by researchers, independently from Government. Research council funding competitions use open peer review.
The MRC
has its head office in central London
and the other six research councils and RCUK operate from a single complex in Swindon
. The Research Councils have run a joint Office in Brussels since 1984 - the United Kingdom Research Office (UKRO) and in 2007 - 2008 set up three further offices: in Beijing, China (http://www.rcuk.cn), Washington DC, (http://usa.rcuk.ac.uk) and New Delhi, India (http://india.rcuk.ac.uk).
In 2007 the Government raised the status of the Technology Strategy Board
(TSB) to become, in effect, a research council for industry. This was motivated by a concern that the seven research councils, with their emphasis on academic excellence, were giving insufficient attention to innovation through the application of research findings. The TSB has set up its headquarters next door to the Swindon offices of the research councils.
in 1675 and continues with increased expenditure through the nineteenth century, including the creation of the British Geological Survey
in 1832, and the allocation of funds in 1850 to the Royal Society
to award grants to individuals.
By the First World War in 1915 claims made about the poor state of British manufacturing industry compared to Germany led to the creation of a unified structure to support both science and innovation in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
(DSIR). It was a part of government, staffed by civil servants who distributed grants to individuals and operated laboratories as well as establishing policy - for example the Radio Research Station
created at Ditton Park in 1924 and later to become the Appleton Laboratory
.
In 1918 Richard Haldane produced a wide ranging report on the machinery of government which included recommendations that government departments undertake more research before making policy and that departments should oversee that specific research while more general industrial and scientific research should be under the control of autonomous Research Councils, which would be free from political and administrative pressures. Lord Hailsham
labelled this separation of duties
as the Haldane principle
when he was Minister of Science in 1964 and it has since been a guiding principle for the Research Councils.
Following the recommendations of the Haldane Report, in 1920 the Medical Research Council
(MRC) was created from the Medical Research Committee which had been established in 1913 to distribute funds collected under the National Insurance Act of 1911. In contrast with DSIR, the MRC was not a government department, its staff were not civil servants, and it concentrated its resources into a small number of central laboratories and a large number of research units associated with universities and hospitals.
In 1931 the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) was established, incorporating 12 major agricultural research institutes that had been created in England and Wales in 1914.
In 1949 Nature Conservancy
was established as a Research Council in all but name. The National Research Development Corporation
(NRDC) was also created to provide financial assistance for the development of inventions.
In 1957 the National Institute for Research in Nuclear Science (NIRNS) was formed to operate the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory
, and in 1962 the Daresbury Laboratory
.
By 1964 there were 14,150 science and engineering graduates in the UK (up from 7,688 in 1955) while annual civil and military research expenditure had risen from £0.6 million in 1913, through £10 million in 1939, to about £76 million. To respond to this growth, in 1963 Sir Burke Trend
chaired a committee to enquire into the organisation of civil science. One major recommendation of the report was that the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
(DSIR) was unwieldy and should be divided into a Science Research Council, a Natural Resources Research Council and an Industrial Research and Development Authority (IRDA) to address scientific research and industrial innovation respectively - with the NRDC being transferred under the Minister of Science to ensure that the transition through the linear model of innovation
was smooth.
After the national election
, the government chose to align scientific research with education in an Department of Education and Science, while the industrial innovation activities were assigned to a Ministry of Technology thereby building a barrier to the smooth transition of research to innovation. Stepping down as science Minister, Lord Hailsham
argued that "Ever since 1915 it has been considered axiomatic that responsibility for industrial research and development is better exercised in conjunction with research in the medical, agricultural and other fields". This conflict between aligning science with academic or industrial policy was to remain a regular tension for the research councils. After 1967 it was relaxed by Solly Zuckerman who chaired a Cabinet
level committee - the Central Advisory Council for Science and Technology - bringing together the interests of the Department of Education and Science with those of the Ministry of Technology.
Under the control of the Department of Education and Science, the Science & Technology Act of 1965 created both the Science Research Council
(SRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council
(NERC). The SRC incorporated most of the science part of DSIR including the Appleton Laboratory, and both the Royal Greenwich Observatory
and Royal Observatory Edinburgh, and took control of Rutherford High Energy Laboratory
, and the Daresbury Laboratory
from NIRNS. NERC incoporporated the Nature Conservancy and British Geological Survey
.
Also founded in 1965 was the Social Sciences Research Council (later the ESRC
) bringing the number of Research Councils to five, divided by disciplines which were not expected to collaborate - Medicine, Agriculture, Natural Environment, Science, and Social Science.
In 1981, the emphasis in policy on innovation rather than pure science increased so the SRC became the Science and Engineering Research Council
(SERC).
In 1983 the ARC also changed its focus to outputs rather than methods to become the Agricultural and Food Research Council
(AFRC).
From 1992 the Research Councils reported to the Office of Science and Technology
in the Cabinet Office
as the
making of government departmental policy by the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser
was merged with the making of national science policy by the Science Branch of the Department of Education and Science
.
SERC struggled to combine three incompatible business models - administratively efficient short duration grant distribution, medium term commitments to international agreements, long term commitments to staff and facilities provision. Given a lack of control over international exchange rates, and the need to meet long term commitments, cuts regularly fell on the short term grant allocation which became unreliable, and so alienated the UK research community which it supported.
In 1994 SERC finally split into the EPSRC
and PPARC
to further separate innovation orientated engineering from pure curiosity motivated research into particle physics and astronomy. One year later in 1995, the CCLRC
was spun out of the EPSRC dividing responsibility for laboratories from those for the allocation of university research grants).
In 1994 parts of the SERC and the AFRC were combined to form the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC).
From 1995 the Research Councils reported to the Office of Science and Technology
in the Department of Trade and Industry as the making of government science policy became more tightly linked to national industrial policy.
In 2002 Research Councils UK
was created to bring together the Research Councils at their higher organisational levels to enable them to work together more effectively to enhance the overall impact and effectiveness of their research, training and innovation activities.
In 2005 the Arts and Humanities Research Council
(AHRC) was created from the former Arts and Humanities Research Board, which had been managed by the British Academy
since 1998, to bring funding of research in these fields into line with that for other disciplines.
From 2006 the Research Councils reported to the Office of Science and "Innovation" instead of "Technology", as the policy focus switched from technology objects to innovation process, although it was still within the Department of Trade and Industry.
In April 2007 PPARC
and CCLRC
were combined to form the Science and Technology Facilities Council
(STFC) to create a single Research Council which provides access for UK scientists to national and international research facilities.
From June 2007 the Research Councils reported to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
as the making of innovation policy was merged with the making of policy for universities and skills training, and separated from industrial policy (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
).
In 2008 RCUK Shared Services Centre Ltd (SSC) was created as a separate company so that the Research Councils could share low level administrative processes, thereby saving costs and increasing their efficiency in procuring research.
From June 2009 the Research Councils reported to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
as the making of higher education and innovation policy (from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
) was merged back with business policy making (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
).
- Fund basic, strategic and applied research.
- Support postgraduate training (PhDs and masters students and fellows).
- Advance knowledge and technology and provide services and trained scientists and engineers to contribute to the economic competitiveness, the effectiveness of public services and policy, and quality of life.
- Support science in society activities.
- Provide access for UK researchers to large research facilities, which it achieves either by owning them and operating them or through international subscriptions to major facilities such as the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)CERNThe European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
and the European Molecular Biology LaboratoryEuropean Molecular Biology LaboratoryThe European Molecular Biology Laboratory is a molecular biology research institution supported by 20 European countries and Australia as associate member state. EMBL was created in 1974 and is an intergovernmental organisation funded by public research money from its member states...
.
The funding of the UK's overall academic research via seven autonomous bodies has led to some problems of coordination. The UK government has addressed this since the late 1990s through funding incentives which require cross-Council collaboration on major new research programmes, and through encouragement to set up a formal (but non-statutory) cross-Council secretariat, known as Research Councils UK
Research Councils UK
Research Councils UK is a strategic partnership between the seven UK Research Councils. It enables the Councils to work together more effectively to enhance the overall impact and effectiveness of their research, training and innovation activities, contributing to the delivery of the Government's...
(RCUK) to undertake activities that cross the remits of all the Councils, such as creation of a joint electronic grant application process, development of improved impact assessment procedures, and a common international strategy. For the precise distinction, see the official RCUK website http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/ .
Organisation
Research councils are non-departmental government bodiesNon-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
incorporated by Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
. Each is governed by its own governing council comprising a mix of academic and non-academic members, appointed by the Secretary for Innovation, Universities and Skills following a public nomination process. The councils receive public funds from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...
, and each reports annually to the British Parliament. In 2008 the combined annual budget was around £3.5 billion. Of this over £1 billion is spent on research grants and training in UK higher education institutions, forming one element of the UK's dual support system of research funding. (The other element is provided through block grants provided by the UK Funding Councils for higher education.)
Research Council grants support around 50,000 researchers through 18,000 grants at any one time. About 8000 PhDs are awarded annually as a result of their funding. The Councils fund only a small proportion of doctoral training places, but their quality assurance processes ensure that all departments eligible to host a Council-funded student provide an excellent training for all doctoral students.
The Councils employ around 13,000 staff directly, of whom 9,000 are researchers and technicians working in institutes and facilities such as the British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....
, the Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Laboratory of Molecular Biology
The Laboratory of Molecular Biology is a research institute in Cambridge, England, which was at the forefront of the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s, since then it remains a major medical research laboratory with a much broader focus.-Early beginnings: 1947-61:Max...
, the Roslin Institute and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
. However, in the UK funding system only a few permanent institutes are directly controlled or core-funded by the Councils. These are all in areas where a permanent infrastructure of some kind is required. Most Council funding is allocated on a competitive basis, with few awards lasting more than 10 years. In this way the Councils are able to shape the UK's capacity to meet changing research challenges.
Research council funding decisions are guided by the Haldane Principle
Haldane principle
In British research policy, the Haldane principle is the idea that decisions about what to spend research funds on should be made by researchers rather than politicians...
, the idea that decisions are best made by researchers, independently from Government. Research council funding competitions use open peer review.
Councils
There are seven Research Councils:- Arts and Humanities Research CouncilArts and Humanities Research CouncilEstablished in April 2005 as successor to the Arts and Humanities Research Board, the Arts and Humanities Research Council is a British Research Council and non-departmental public body that provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the...
(AHRC website) - Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is a UK Research Council and NDPB and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience...
(BBSRC website) - Engineering and Physical Sciences Research CouncilEngineering and Physical Sciences Research CouncilThe Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences , mainly to universities in the United Kingdom...
(EPSRC website) - Economic and Social Research CouncilEconomic and Social Research CouncilThe Economic and Social Research Council is one of the seven Research Councils in the United Kingdom. It receives most of its funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and provides funding and support for research and training work in social and economic issues, such as...
(ESRC website) - Medical Research CouncilMedical Research Council (UK)The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
(MRC website) - Natural Environment Research CouncilNatural Environment Research CouncilThe Natural Environment Research Council is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.-History:...
(NERC website) - Science and Technology Facilities CouncilScience and Technology Facilities CouncilThe Science and Technology Facilities Council is a UK government body that carries out civil research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy .-History:It was formed in April 2007 as a merger of the Particle...
(STFC website)
The MRC
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
has its head office in central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the other six research councils and RCUK operate from a single complex in Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
. The Research Councils have run a joint Office in Brussels since 1984 - the United Kingdom Research Office (UKRO) and in 2007 - 2008 set up three further offices: in Beijing, China (http://www.rcuk.cn), Washington DC, (http://usa.rcuk.ac.uk) and New Delhi, India (http://india.rcuk.ac.uk).
In 2007 the Government raised the status of the Technology Strategy Board
Technology Strategy Board
The Technology Strategy Board is a UK public body operating at arm's length from the Government reporting to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills .- History :...
(TSB) to become, in effect, a research council for industry. This was motivated by a concern that the seven research councils, with their emphasis on academic excellence, were giving insufficient attention to innovation through the application of research findings. The TSB has set up its headquarters next door to the Swindon offices of the research councils.
History
The history of government funding of science in the UK starts with the establishment of the Royal Observatory, GreenwichRoyal Observatory, Greenwich
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich , in London, England played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian...
in 1675 and continues with increased expenditure through the nineteenth century, including the creation of the British Geological Survey
British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS headquarters are in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, but other centres...
in 1832, and the allocation of funds in 1850 to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
to award grants to individuals.
By the First World War in 1915 claims made about the poor state of British manufacturing industry compared to Germany led to the creation of a unified structure to support both science and innovation in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Several countries have organizations called the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR.-United Kingdom:...
(DSIR). It was a part of government, staffed by civil servants who distributed grants to individuals and operated laboratories as well as establishing policy - for example the Radio Research Station
Radio Research Station
The Radio Research Station 1924 - August 31, 1979 at Ditton Park, Buckinghamshire, England was the UK government research laboratory which pioneered the regular observation of the ionosphere by ionosondes in continuous operation since September 20, 1932, and applied the ionosonde technology for the...
created at Ditton Park in 1924 and later to become the Appleton Laboratory
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
.
In 1918 Richard Haldane produced a wide ranging report on the machinery of government which included recommendations that government departments undertake more research before making policy and that departments should oversee that specific research while more general industrial and scientific research should be under the control of autonomous Research Councils, which would be free from political and administrative pressures. Lord Hailsham
Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone
For the businessman and philanthropist, see Quintin Hogg Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG, CH, PC, QC, FRS , formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham , was a British politician who was known for the longevity of his career, the vigour with which he campaigned for the Conservative...
labelled this separation of duties
Separation of duties
Separation of duties is the concept of having more than one person required to complete a task. In business the separation by sharing of more than one individual in one single task shall prevent from fraud and error. The concept is alternatively called segregation of duties or, in the political...
as the Haldane principle
Haldane principle
In British research policy, the Haldane principle is the idea that decisions about what to spend research funds on should be made by researchers rather than politicians...
when he was Minister of Science in 1964 and it has since been a guiding principle for the Research Councils.
Following the recommendations of the Haldane Report, in 1920 the Medical Research Council
Medical Research Council (UK)
The Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
(MRC) was created from the Medical Research Committee which had been established in 1913 to distribute funds collected under the National Insurance Act of 1911. In contrast with DSIR, the MRC was not a government department, its staff were not civil servants, and it concentrated its resources into a small number of central laboratories and a large number of research units associated with universities and hospitals.
In 1931 the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) was established, incorporating 12 major agricultural research institutes that had been created in England and Wales in 1914.
In 1949 Nature Conservancy
Nature Conservancy (UK)
The Nature Conservancy was a British government agency established by Royal Charter in 1949.The Nature Conservancy was superseded by the Nature Conservancy Council in 1973....
was established as a Research Council in all but name. The National Research Development Corporation
National Research Development Corporation
The National Research Development Corporation was a non-departmental government body established by the British Government to transfer technology from the public sector to the private sector.-History:...
(NRDC) was also created to provide financial assistance for the development of inventions.
In 1957 the National Institute for Research in Nuclear Science (NIRNS) was formed to operate the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
, and in 1962 the Daresbury Laboratory
Daresbury Laboratory
Daresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory near Daresbury in Cheshire, England, which began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory by the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Harold Wilson...
.
By 1964 there were 14,150 science and engineering graduates in the UK (up from 7,688 in 1955) while annual civil and military research expenditure had risen from £0.6 million in 1913, through £10 million in 1939, to about £76 million. To respond to this growth, in 1963 Sir Burke Trend
Burke Trend, Baron Trend
Burke St John Trend, Baron Trend, GCB, CVO, PC was a British civil servant and later Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford....
chaired a committee to enquire into the organisation of civil science. One major recommendation of the report was that the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Several countries have organizations called the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR.-United Kingdom:...
(DSIR) was unwieldy and should be divided into a Science Research Council, a Natural Resources Research Council and an Industrial Research and Development Authority (IRDA) to address scientific research and industrial innovation respectively - with the NRDC being transferred under the Minister of Science to ensure that the transition through the linear model of innovation
Linear model of innovation
The Linear Model of Innovation is an early model of innovation that suggests technical change happens in a linear fashion from Invention to Innovation to Diffusion....
was smooth.
After the national election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
, the government chose to align scientific research with education in an Department of Education and Science, while the industrial innovation activities were assigned to a Ministry of Technology thereby building a barrier to the smooth transition of research to innovation. Stepping down as science Minister, Lord Hailsham
Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone
For the businessman and philanthropist, see Quintin Hogg Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG, CH, PC, QC, FRS , formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham , was a British politician who was known for the longevity of his career, the vigour with which he campaigned for the Conservative...
argued that "Ever since 1915 it has been considered axiomatic that responsibility for industrial research and development is better exercised in conjunction with research in the medical, agricultural and other fields". This conflict between aligning science with academic or industrial policy was to remain a regular tension for the research councils. After 1967 it was relaxed by Solly Zuckerman who chaired a Cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
level committee - the Central Advisory Council for Science and Technology - bringing together the interests of the Department of Education and Science with those of the Ministry of Technology.
Under the control of the Department of Education and Science, the Science & Technology Act of 1965 created both the Science Research Council
Science and Engineering Research Council
The Science and Engineering Research Council used to be the UK agency in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities including astronomy, biotechnology and biological sciences, space research and particle physics...
(SRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council
Natural Environment Research Council
The Natural Environment Research Council is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.-History:...
(NERC). The SRC incorporated most of the science part of DSIR including the Appleton Laboratory, and both the Royal Greenwich Observatory
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich , in London, England played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian...
and Royal Observatory Edinburgh, and took control of Rutherford High Energy Laboratory
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
, and the Daresbury Laboratory
Daresbury Laboratory
Daresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory near Daresbury in Cheshire, England, which began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory by the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Harold Wilson...
from NIRNS. NERC incoporporated the Nature Conservancy and British Geological Survey
British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS headquarters are in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, but other centres...
.
Also founded in 1965 was the Social Sciences Research Council (later the ESRC
Economic and Social Research Council
The Economic and Social Research Council is one of the seven Research Councils in the United Kingdom. It receives most of its funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and provides funding and support for research and training work in social and economic issues, such as...
) bringing the number of Research Councils to five, divided by disciplines which were not expected to collaborate - Medicine, Agriculture, Natural Environment, Science, and Social Science.
In 1981, the emphasis in policy on innovation rather than pure science increased so the SRC became the Science and Engineering Research Council
Science and Engineering Research Council
The Science and Engineering Research Council used to be the UK agency in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities including astronomy, biotechnology and biological sciences, space research and particle physics...
(SERC).
In 1983 the ARC also changed its focus to outputs rather than methods to become the Agricultural and Food Research Council
Agricultural and Food Research Council
The Agricultural and Food Research Council , was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture....
(AFRC).
From 1992 the Research Councils reported to the Office of Science and Technology
Office of Science and Technology
The Office of Science and Technology , later named the Office of Science and Innovation, was a non-ministerial government department of the British government between 1992 and 2007....
in the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
as the
making of government departmental policy by the Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser
Government Office for Science
The Government Office for Science is part of the British government. This organisation exists to ensure that Government policy and decision-making is underpinned by robust scientific evidence and long-term thinking...
was merged with the making of national science policy by the Science Branch of the Department of Education and Science
Department of Education and Science
The phrase Department of Education and Science refers to government departments in the UK or Ireland* For the former Irish government department, see Department of Education and Skills...
.
SERC struggled to combine three incompatible business models - administratively efficient short duration grant distribution, medium term commitments to international agreements, long term commitments to staff and facilities provision. Given a lack of control over international exchange rates, and the need to meet long term commitments, cuts regularly fell on the short term grant allocation which became unreliable, and so alienated the UK research community which it supported.
In 1994 SERC finally split into the EPSRC
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences , mainly to universities in the United Kingdom...
and PPARC
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council was one of a number of Research Councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK...
to further separate innovation orientated engineering from pure curiosity motivated research into particle physics and astronomy. One year later in 1995, the CCLRC
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils
The Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils was a UK government body that carried out civil research in science and engineering.- Activities :...
was spun out of the EPSRC dividing responsibility for laboratories from those for the allocation of university research grants).
In 1994 parts of the SERC and the AFRC were combined to form the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is a UK Research Council and NDPB and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience...
(BBSRC).
From 1995 the Research Councils reported to the Office of Science and Technology
Office of Science and Technology
The Office of Science and Technology , later named the Office of Science and Innovation, was a non-ministerial government department of the British government between 1992 and 2007....
in the Department of Trade and Industry as the making of government science policy became more tightly linked to national industrial policy.
In 2002 Research Councils UK
Research Councils UK
Research Councils UK is a strategic partnership between the seven UK Research Councils. It enables the Councils to work together more effectively to enhance the overall impact and effectiveness of their research, training and innovation activities, contributing to the delivery of the Government's...
was created to bring together the Research Councils at their higher organisational levels to enable them to work together more effectively to enhance the overall impact and effectiveness of their research, training and innovation activities.
In 2005 the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Arts and Humanities Research Council
Established in April 2005 as successor to the Arts and Humanities Research Board, the Arts and Humanities Research Council is a British Research Council and non-departmental public body that provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the...
(AHRC) was created from the former Arts and Humanities Research Board, which had been managed by the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
since 1998, to bring funding of research in these fields into line with that for other disciplines.
From 2006 the Research Councils reported to the Office of Science and "Innovation" instead of "Technology", as the policy focus switched from technology objects to innovation process, although it was still within the Department of Trade and Industry.
In April 2007 PPARC
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council was one of a number of Research Councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK...
and CCLRC
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils
The Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils was a UK government body that carried out civil research in science and engineering.- Activities :...
were combined to form the Science and Technology Facilities Council
Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council is a UK government body that carries out civil research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy .-History:It was formed in April 2007 as a merger of the Particle...
(STFC) to create a single Research Council which provides access for UK scientists to national and international research facilities.
From June 2007 the Research Councils reported to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was a UK government department created on 28 June 2007 to take over some of the functions of the Department of Education and Skills and of the Department of Trade and Industry. In June 2009 it was merged into the newly formed Department for...
as the making of innovation policy was merged with the making of policy for universities and skills training, and separated from industrial policy (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry , and was itself disbanded on 6 June 2009 on the creation of the Department for Business,...
).
In 2008 RCUK Shared Services Centre Ltd (SSC) was created as a separate company so that the Research Councils could share low level administrative processes, thereby saving costs and increasing their efficiency in procuring research.
From June 2009 the Research Councils reported to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...
as the making of higher education and innovation policy (from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was a UK government department created on 28 June 2007 to take over some of the functions of the Department of Education and Skills and of the Department of Trade and Industry. In June 2009 it was merged into the newly formed Department for...
) was merged back with business policy making (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry , and was itself disbanded on 6 June 2009 on the creation of the Department for Business,...
).