Developments in HE policy - research and knowledge ...
Developments in HE policy – research and knowledge exchangeJanuary 2020Global Talent Visa:“A new Global Talent Visa, increased investment in mathematical sciences and commitments to strengthen and simplify the research and innovation funding system have been announced by the Prime Minister.A new fast-track visa scheme to attract the world’s top scientists, researchers and mathematicians will open on 20 February. The bespoke Global Talent route will have no cap on the number of people able to come to the UK, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to supporting top talent.It replaces the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route and UK Research and Innovation will endorse applicants from the scientific and research community.”Maths funding:“Also announced by the Prime Minister was a significant boost to the UK’s world-leading mathematical sciences community, increasing support for this key discipline and expanding the pool of trained mathematicians.Up to ?300 million of additional funding will more than double the current funding for the mathematical sciences delivered by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)”.Research Professional say:It is also “subject to business case”, so it might never see the light of day. Nonetheless, the ?60m commitment in principle is to be welcomed, and will provide ?19m of additional funding for PhD studentships (double the existing funding, ministers say). There is also ?34m of additional funding for “career pathways and new research projects”, and ?7m a year extra to be shared between Bristol’s Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research, the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge and the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences in Edinburgh. Reduction of research bureaucracy“In line with the commitment to reduce administration for researchers and innovators,?UKRI has also announced that applicants to UKRI will no longer be required to provide a ‘Pathways to Impact’ plan or complete an ‘Impact Summary’ within grant applications from 1 March 2020.The impact agenda remains incredibly important and UKRI exists to fund the researchers who generate the knowledge that society needs, and the innovators who can turn this knowledge into public benefit.Pathways to Impact has been in place for over a decade and we recognise the research and innovation landscape has changed since its implementation and impact is now a core consideration throughout the grant application process.The move supports UKRI’s ambition to create a stronger research and innovation environment that is focussed on supporting talented people and realising the full potential of their work.”Research Integrity paper: See the paper here: HYPERLINK "" \l "sthash.hE8OVzr5.dpuf" Research Professional say:Universities should be doing more to ensure the integrity of their research and to retain the trust of society at large, says a paper from League of European Research Universities.The Leru paper published on 24 January is co-authored by Antoine Hol, a law professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and Inge Lerouge, an ethics and integrity coordinator at KU Leuven in Belgium, with an input from its thematic group on the issue.“Universities should be at the forefront of developing and implementing new approaches to research integrity that will maintain and strengthen the confidence of the public, governments, research funders and end users,” say Hol and Lerouge in the paper.Among their recommendations are that universities should devise and share research integrity guidelines, appoint specialist personnel on the issue, and make integrity education mandatory for students.Chris Skidmore speech on research and innovation (24th Jan)I have, as science and research minister, commissioned UKRI to publish new data today on how their investments are balanced across the regions. This is a first step on the way to greater transparency of where our money is going…Because it will be crucial, if we are to level up R&D funding, that we not only strengthen existing capacity in every corner of the UK, but also that we can support emerging excellence in universities and institutions that are growing their research capability. We are determined to provide the funding and support to achieve this.Already I have announced a record increase to Higher Education Innovation Funding, bringing it to ?250 million per year, which will turbocharge universities’ knowledge exchange activities. We have launched the first round of the Expanding Excellence in England Fund, we’ve got the first phase of the Connecting Capabilities Fund up and running, and we’re already well into the second round of the Strength in Places Fund.We are embarking on the largest ever expansion of university R&D right across the UK.And when it comes to supporting and growing excellent university research departments all over the country, I fully recognise the value of QR. Perhaps in the past, our focus on challenge-led funds masked a decline in that important mainstream of basic, curiosity-driven research. But this isn’t about picking one type of research over another. All should be lifted if we are to succeed. Already last year I worked to deliver the first real terms increase in QR in England for over a decade. And I want to do so again this year. But I also want to ensure that we are ‘levelling up’ university departments right across the country. Not just making it easier and quicker to apply for funding.But critically, we need to think very carefully about how all of our schemes, including QR, can benefit existing institutions in all regions. I am determined to support existing institutions, right across the country, to work with you to foster and build networks. We can already see how universities are working together in networks like the N8 group of research-intensive institutions in the North, or Midlands Innovation, or GW4 in the South West. I want us to build on these partnerships, to develop new alliances between existing universities, driving up collaboration, developing deeper partnerships with industry, and working together at scale.….Because universities are not just engines of growth, or producers of skilled human capital. They are complex organisations, with complex relationships with those around them. Relationships that need to be nurtured, developed and brought to bear for the benefit of us all.And it’s why it was so important that Research England published the next steps on the Knowledge Exchange Framework last week. It is hard to overstate the importance of this – it is a huge step on the journey towards levelling up. The KEF will provide universities with that all-important strategic driver, putting knowledge exchange right at the heart of universities’ missions, on a par with their teaching and research. Let me be clear – the KEF will not be some meaningless, bureaucratic, tick-box exercise. It is about empowering institutions to shift up to a higher gear, not just in commercialisation or technology transfer, but elevating their entire purpose as institutions – institutions that have such extraordinary potential to make a positive difference to their towns, cities and regions.And our review of HEIF will help us take this even further.…And when it comes to improving academic life, I am committed to working with you to improve your working conditions, to address the issues raised by Wellcome Trust in their report on research culture last week, and again by UCU in their report earlier this week. I want to work with you on developing a Research People Strategy for the next decade, a new overarching approach to transforming research practice and culture.I want more research – but I also want better research. For I want our investment to ensure our R&D landscape is above all sustainable for the future. And that means investing sustainably in people. This is of course about building the pipeline of talent. But I also want to recognise and reward best practice in how research is being administered. So in return for increasing funding, I want to see research departments equally commit to transforming their environments. Not just by reducing bureaucracy, and fully embracing networked and open research. But also by improving reward and recognition for staff. Supporting and nurturing early career researchers who need time and space to develop, but also those with significant experience and wisdom. Giving our backing to initiatives like the Declaration on Research Assessment. And the UKRI committee on research integrity. Adopting modern approaches to knowledge exchange and technology transfer. And tackling long-standing issues around bullying and harassment.Read the full UKRI data: Regional distribution of funding for research and businessThe KEF has landed:The outcome of the KEF consultation in 2019 has come out. UKRI have published the “Decisions for the first iteration”. They have given a very short timeline for the publication of the first set of data and narratives from institutions – they will all be published this summer. Narratives have to be submitted by May. Data will be published for everyone, whether they submit narratives or not. They have also indicated that it is likely that from 2020/21 institutions will have to submit narratives for the KEF to be eligible for Research England funding.This first iteration of the KEF will take place in the current academic year 2019/20. All Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) eligible to receive Research England Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) funding in this current academic year are in scope for this exercise.The KEF is taking a metrics-led approach, although it also includes a narrative component. As previously advised, all proposed KEF metrics use existing data sources that are already collected via existing statutory returns or other means. …. This reflects the minimal burden of this exercise as there is no need for any institution to gather or submit new metrics for this iteration of the KEF.The narrative component of the KEF will consist of three brief narrative statements … we intend to publish in summer 2020 the KEF metrics of all institutions in receipt of HEIF in this 2019/20 academic year. Therefore, institutions in receipt of HEIF in this academic year 2019/20 are strongly encouraged to submit narrative information to contextualise their results….This report will be followed by publication of the narrative templates and final cluster membership in February 2020. If institutions in scope for this exercise wish to have their narrative templates published alongside their results, the completed templates should be returned on Friday 15 May 2020.…Research England will provide further contextual information about the external environment in which the HEI operates that should be considered when interpreting results. This contextual information will be in the form a standard set of indicators at the LEP-region level.Results will be presented through an online visualisation platform displaying perspectives and underlying metrics, as well as narrative statements and contextual informationThe metrics will be reported against “clusters”. They have changed their original cluster proposals somewhat, removing the Social Science and Business specialist cluster - final cluster membership will be published in February with the templates. These clusters have been designed to allow meaningful comparison. When BU responded to the consultation we suggested that it is unhelpful to introduce a third methodology for comparison – the TEF uses institutional benchmarks, something that has challenges itself, and the REF is of course organised by subject. We remain concerned that this will be confusing and not very meaningful for businesses and other organisations (the declared target for this information) who may not find the cluster comparison useful if they only have limited experience with a small number of universities.You will recall that the metrics are grouped into seven “perspectives” – only two will require narratives. The consultation looked at additional metrics but has discounted any that are not already “gathered through existing statutory returns, or available from other UKRI or external sources”. This is because they want to make it a “low burden” exercise. PerspectiveMetrics proposed in 2019 KEF consultation Metrics chosen for first iteration of the KEF to be published in 2020Research PartnershipsContribution to collaborative research (cash and in-kind) as proportion of public fundingContribution to collaborative research (cash) as proportion of public funding Co-authorship with non-academic partners as a proportion of total outputs (data provider TBD)Co-authorship with non-academic partners as a proportion of total outputs (data provider TBD)Working with businessInnovate UK income (KTP and grant) as proportion of research income Innovate UK income (KTP and grant) as proportion of research income Contract research income with businesses per academic FTEHE-BCI Contract research income with non-SME business normalised for institution size by HEI IncomeHE-BCI Contract research income with SME business Normalised for institution size by HEI IncomeConsultancy income with businesses per academic FTEHE-BCI Consultancy and facilities & equipment income with non-SME business normalised for institution size by HEI IncomeHE-BCI Consultancy and facilities & equipment income with SME business normalised for institution size by HEI IncomeWorking with the public and third sectorHE-BCI Contract research income with the public and third sector per academic FTEHE-BCI Contract research income with the public and third sector normalised for institution size by HEI IncomeHE-BCI Consultancy income with the public and third sector per academic FTEHE-BCI Consultancy and facilities & equipment income with the public and third sector normalised for institution size by HEI IncomeSkills, enterprise and entrepreneurshipHE-BCI CPD/CE income per academic FTEHE-BCI CPD/CE income normalised for institution size by HEI IncomeHE-BCI CPD/CE learner days delivered per academic FTEHE-BCI CPD/CE learner days delivered normalised for institution size by HEI IncomeHE-BCI Graduate start-ups rate by student FTEHE-BCI Graduate start-ups rate by student FTELocal growth and RegenerationRegeneration and development income from all sources per academic FTERegeneration and development income from all sources normalised for institution size by IncomeAdditional narrative/contextual InformationAdditional narrative/contextual informationIP and CommercialisationResearch resource (income) per spin-outEstimated current turnover of all active firms per active spin-outAverage external investment per formal spin-outAverage external investment per formal spin-outLicensing and other IP income as proportion of research incomeLicensing and other IP income as proportion of research incomePublic and community engagementTime per academic staff FTE committed to public and community engagement (paid and free) across:? Events? Performances? Museums and galleriesProvisional score based on self-assessment developed with NCCPE. Optional submission to Research England as part of narrative template to be provided in February 2020.Additional narrative/contextual informationAdditional narrative/contextual InformationThe narratives:Public and Community Engagement – a statement: identifying the public and community groups served by the institution and how their needs have been identified; description of the targeted activities that are undertaken to meet these needs;evidence that needs have been met and tangible outcomes achieved.Local Growth and Regeneration – a statement: identifying the geographical area(s) that the institution considers to be its local area;explanation of how needs of the local area(s) that relate to economic growth and regeneration are identified; description of the targeted activities undertaken by the institution to meet those needs and any outcomes achieved. The third narrative will be an institutional context narrative – “setting out the geographic, economic and social context within which the higher education institution is operating…. The information contained within this statement will not be used to normalise any of the metrics or perspectives across clusters.”David Kernohan has written for Wonkhe about it:“The Knowledge Exchange Framework is not (like REF and TEF are) an “excellence framework”. It doesn’t make any judgement on the quality of business and community interaction, just on the proportional volume and likely output of a number of activities described in the HE-BCI survey data. Neither is it of use to professional or armchair rankers – it doesn’t offer named awards or simple stepped gradations that demonstrate one thing is unfailingly better than another.It may eventually be used to support the allocation of the ?200m Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), which is currently allocated using similar data. But for the first year (2020-21) it is for entertainment and edification purposes only.”David summarises the pages of normalisation methodology in the document nicely:“Metrics are a three-year average, mostly …as ratios, which are converted at perspective level into deciles. This reduces a great deal of data and analysis into what amounts to a set of marks out of 10, which are compared to an average mark from comparable institutions (the infamous clusters)”.And the visualisation approach:“Research England has a grand plan to use spider graphs to show institutional scores alongside cluster averages, with an option to drill down into more detailed data on each metric. I’m not as struck by this as they are – the exercise is designed to support comparisons and spider diagrams are an unwieldy way to do this. I also feel like the individual metrics are still fairly abstract, you have to go quite a long way back down the methodology to get something that the mind can easily take hold of.”General update: Summary of current statusGovernment and regulatory priorities – quality of educationManifesto pledgeQueen’s SpeechFree speech, academic freedomOngoing area of focus Will be interesting to see what the government focus is on this in the new year.OFS: report due Feb 2020 -Prevent reviewWe will also strengthen academic freedom and free speech in universities.From the detailed government briefingThe Government will ensure that our universities are places where free speech can thrive, and will strengthen academic ernment and regulatory priorities – industrial strategy and innovationManifesto pledgeQueen’s SpeechResearch structuresOngoing“In line with the commitment to reduce administration for researchers and innovators,?UKRI has also announced that applicants to UKRI will no longer be required to provide a ‘Pathways to Impact’ plan or complete an ‘Impact Summary’ within grant applications from 1 March 2020.Research Integrity paper: See the paper here (Jan 2020)Chris Skidmore speech on research and innovation (24th Jan) – Levelling upResearch investment (Page 40)We will reform the science funding system to cut the time wasted by scientists filling in forms.From the detailed government briefingReducing bureaucracy in research funding to ensure our brilliant scientists are able to spend as much time as possible creating new ideas.REFOngoingOngoingSeparate review of research funding expectedResearch investment (Page 40): We are committing to the fastest ever increase in domestic public R&D spending, including in basic science research to meet our target of 2.4 per cent of GDP being spent on R&D across the economy. [existing policy]Some of this new spending will go to a new agency for high-risk, high-payoff research, at arm’s length from government. We will use our increased R&D funding from Government to attract and kickstart private investment.We will reform the science funding system to cut the time wasted by scientists filling in forms.We will unlock long-term capital in pension funds to invest in and commercialise our scientific discoveries, creating a vibrant science-based economy post-Brexit.From the detailed government briefingTo build on our world-leading excellence in science and deliver solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges we are:Setting out plans to significantly boost public R&D funding. Backing a new approach to funding high-risk, high-payoff research in emerging fields of research and technology. The Government will work with industry and academics to finalise this proposal.Introducing a new fast-track immigration scheme for the best and brightest scientists and researchers.Reducing bureaucracy in research funding to ensure our brilliant scientists are able to spend as much time as possible creating new ideas.Establishing a new National Space Council and launching a comprehensive UK Space Strategy.The R&D funding plans the Government will unveil will help accelerate our ambition to reach 2.4 per cent of GDP spent on R&D by 2027. This boost in funding will allow the UK to invest strategically in cutting-edge science, while encouraging the world’s most innovative businesses to invest in the UK.Under our new funding plans the Government will prioritise investment in industries of the future where the UK can take a commanding lead – such as life sciences, clean energy, space, design, computing, robotics and artificial intelligence. The Government will drive forward development of these technologies by investing in hubs around world-leading universities.Some of this new R&D spending will go towards a new approach to funding emerging fields of research and technology. It will provide long term funding to support visionary high-risk, high-pay off scientific, engineering, and technology ideas, and will complement the UK’s existing world class research system.The Government will increase the tax credit rate to 13 per cent and review what R&D-related costs qualify for tax credits, so that important investments in cloud computing and data, which boost productivity and innovation, are also incentivised.Removing unnecessary bureaucracy in the science funding system will help ensure all UK investments have the greatest possible impact by cutting the time wasted by scientists filling out forms.The Government will unlock long-term capital in pension funds to invest in and commercialise our scientific discoveries, creating a vibrant science-based economy post-Brexit.KEFTo run this academic yearThe outcome of the KEF consultation in 2019 has come out. UKRI have published the “Decisions for the first iteration”. They have given a very short timeline for the publication of the first set of data and narratives from institutions – they will all be published this summer. Narratives have to be submitted by May. Data will be published for everyone, whether they submit narratives or not. They have also indicated that it is likely that from 2020/21 institutions will have to submit narratives for the KEF to be eligible for Research England funding.We are waiting for a response on the KEF concordat consultation by UUK and Research England which closed on 1st July 2019 (see our response here).Industrial strategy TBD – rumours of a relaunchWaiting to see what is in the budget and what the Minister saysLife Sciences Industrial Strategy update highlights progress in delivering the strategy since 2017“Also announced by the Prime Minister was a significant boost to the UK’s world-leading mathematical sciences community, increasing support for this key discipline and expanding the pool of trained mathematicians. Up to ?300 million of additional funding will more than double the current funding for the mathematical sciences delivered by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)”.(Jan 2020)Page 40: We will focus our efforts on areas where the UK can generate a commanding lead in the industries of the future – life sciences, clean energy, space, design, computing, robotics and artificial intelligence.In particular, we will make the UK the leading global hub for life sciences after Brexit.We will use our ?1 billion Ayrton Fund to develop affordable and accessible clean energy that will improve lives and help us to lead the world in tackling climate change. Page 12: Dementia: .. doubling research funding into dementia and speeding up trials for new ernment and regulatory priorities – immigration and mobilityManifesto pledgeQueen’s SpeechImmigrationTBD – waiting for a new BillNew post-study work visa announced but will be implemented as part of an all-new immigration Bill, probably not until 2020. “A new Global Talent Visa, increased investment in mathematical sciences and commitments to strengthen and simplify the research and innovation funding system have been announced by the Prime Minister.” (Jan 2020)Page 20: The small number of the best technology and science graduates from the top universities in the world and those who win top scientific prizes will be offered fast-track entry to the UK –these people can do more than any others to drive scientific progress and help our NHS and our economy.Page 22: Our student visa will help universities attract talented young people and allow those students to stay on to apply for work here after they graduate. [post-graduate work visa policy announced by Johnson government earlier in 2019]You will remember that “The Home Secretary has commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (the MAC) to consider points-based systems, including the Australian immigration system and other international comparators. The MAC is due to report in January 2020.”From the detailed government briefing: “Our new single system will allocate points on a range of criteria in three broad categories and it will be focused on skills and talents, not nationality:Migrants who have received world-leading awards or otherwise demonstrated exceptional talent and sponsored entrepreneurs setting up a new business or investors.Skilled workers who meet the criteria of the points-based system and have a job offer.Sector-specific workers who enter on schemes for low-skilled work, youth mobility or short-term visits. These provide no route to permanent settlement and will be revised on an ongoing basis based on expert advice from the MAC.”And:The UK’s new fast-track immigration scheme for top scientists and researchers will help significantly enhance the intellectual and knowledge base of the UK. The changes to the immigration system will:Abolish the cap on numbers under the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visas;Expand the pool of UK research institutes and universities able to endorse candidates; andCreate criteria that confer automatic endorsement, subject to immigration checks.Under the current Tier 1 Visa system, the immigration system already:Ensures dependents have full access to the labour market;Removes the need to hold an offer of employment before arriving; andProvides an accelerated path to settlement.This new immigration scheme will support our world-leading research by ensuring that UK teams can recruit the best skills and talent from abroad. We will continue to collaborate internationally and with the EU on scientific research, including with the EU through Horizon.Brexit – mobility and research funding Depends on Brexit final dealThe Brexit Withdrawal Agreement was read in Parliament w/c 6th Jan and one of the amendments selected for debate sought to enshrine within law a compulsion for the Government to make staying part of the Erasmus scheme a priority within the Brexit negotiations. The amendment was not passed however as Wonkhe state “Chris Skidmore clarified on Twitter that this does not necessarily end or prevent the UK participating in the Erasmus+ scheme after Brexit, instead stating that the UK’s participation in the scheme will be part of future negotiations with the EU.”Page 40: We will continue to collaborate internationally and with the EU on scientific research, including Horizon.From the detailed government briefing: We will continue to collaborate internationally and with the EU on scientific research, including with the EU through Horizon. ................
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