UK Research Councils - Organisation

Organisation

Research councils are non-departmental government bodies 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.