Universities are cutting back on vital research, with world-leading work on deadly conditions such as cancer and heart disease under threat from an erosion in funding from government and charities, according to a report.
The report, compiled by Universities UK, found that one in five UK universities have reduced their research activity, including cuts to life sciences, medicine and environmental sciences, and many said they were expecting to make steeper cuts in the future because of mounting financial pressures.
Health charities are major funders of high-value medical and life sciences research – including areas such as oncology and dementia – but the report said universities “are backing away from charity-funded research” because of the additional costs involved.
Dan Hurley, Universities UK’s deputy director of policy, said: “There is a real need for us to work with funders and government to address some of the risks here and get under the skin of what this might look like.
“What we do know is that most charity funding is in the medical and health space, so it is definitely having an impact in that area.
“We can’t pinpoint the degree to which this is impacting specific disciplines but the findings in this report are a warning that really difficult decisions are being taken on the ground and if we want to maintain the UK’s international competitiveness when it comes to research then we need to go further to support it.
“While these headline findings are a strong warning in themselves, this is going to require ongoing monitoring.”
The report, done in collaboration with the Campaign for Science and Engineering and the Association of Research Managers and Administrators using surveys of academic researchers, found that “sustained financial constraints” were likely to diminish the estimated £54bn annual contribution made by university research to the UK economy.
The study found there had been a 4% decrease in research staff in the biological, mathematical and physical sciences in the last three years, while staff in medicine, dentistry and health have dropped by 2%, mainly in highly expensive clinical medicine.
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The funding difficulties were undermining university research culture, and managers reported an impact on morale and wellbeing, less participation in conferences and knowledge exchanges, and had particular concerns for early career researchers who were struggling to get the support they needed to establish networks.
One major reason was that UK government research funding awarded on the basis of departmental track records and quality has been severely eroded by inflation, while universities are less able to use international tuition fee income to subsidise research because of falling numbers of overseas students.
“Fluctuations in international recruitment and fees from international students will have an impact on research funding – because universities aren’t able to recoup the full economic cost of research, cross-subsidisation had become a feature of funding for many,” Hurley said.
The report concluded that the UK’s position as a global leader in research and innovation is under threat as research becomes too costly to sustain, and more universities are expected to make “tough decisions” on cuts in the future.
“Universities are doing everything they can to improve efficiencies and address those financial challenges. But what’s clear is that further efficiencies are not going to be enough on their own to address these broader risks to areas of research, with implications for our research system’s international competitiveness.
“So we also need action from the government on the future of quality-related funding, which hasn’t kept pace with inflation for a decade. That’s going to be critical to restoring stability to areas of research,” Hurley said.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has been contacted for a response.
