Liz Kendall promises ‘clear set of science priorities’ for UK New science secretary looks for input from academia but warns some areas will be “deprioritised” www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

International student fee levy would push 14 more universities into deficit, MPs told. Sector slams international student fee proposal as education department promises further details in autumn budget. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Looks like Musk's speech at the far-right march in London could be the last straw for the Royal Society Adrian Smith has written to fellows saying the governing council will discuss on 1 October Great reporting by @francesjones.bsky.social

Nice to have Ian Chapman, UKRI's new chief exec, writing exclusively for @resprofnews.bsky.social. Here's analysis of his comments on UK research "trying to do too many things", calling for focus on world-leading areas, by @robinbisson.bsky.social. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Absolutely baffled by the guy who busks outside Liverpool Street station with a violin, whose hand movements are a total mismatch with the music coming out of his amp If you listen carefully you can hear a load of cronky notes underneath the loud Bach Maybe it's an art piece

Some R&D policy watchers think it won't be easy tho Chapman "may not realise how tough the internal inertia in the current system is” says @johnwomersley.bsky.social “People follow the money but they follow the money whilst managing to do what they wanted to do," says @kieronflanagan.bsky.social

Ian Chapman, the new CEO of UKRI, telegraphs his intention to make the national funder more strategic (as Patrick Vallance has long pushed for) “We need to assess...where the UK can really lead globally, and then fund these areas with critical mass so that we give them the best chance for success”

“This deal is likely to help create new opportunities for cutting-edge research, matching American AI and investment with the UK’s highly capable talent and education system, especially in fields such as healthcare and the life sciences,” says Keegan McBride of the TBI Trump touchdown imminent

Peter Kyle's exit as science secretary might have raised doubts on whether his directive to the Alan Turing Institute to refocus on defence would be seen through Not so. The institute's chair Doug Gurr told staff on Monday it would plough on, reports @francesjones.bsky.social

Ministers "don’t want to be investing in areas of research where we don’t have the quality and we don’t have the scale", Malcolm Press, president of @universities-uk.bsky.social tells @harrietswain.bsky.social Significant when Research England is asking unis to detail how they use QR funding?

Visa applications to study in UK slump over summer. Recovery in student visas falters during crucial months, potentially spelling further trouble for university finances. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Calls to protect QR grow ahead of crunch budget decisions. Spending limits and high inflation weaken prospect of real-terms rise for university research funds. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Liz Kendall to replace Peter Kyle as science secretary. Skills moved from DfE to Department of Work and Pensions, under its new secretary Pat McFadden. By @robinbisson.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Big changes afoot after REF pause Explicit from Research England that the pause is to “ensure alignment with the UK government’s priorities and vision for higher education” Changes may include RE rewarding collaboration and specialisation - exactly direction of HE reforms expected in white paper

7. Labour MPs in university constituencies are unhappy about the proposed levy on international student fees, which they say will "further squeeze finances [and] limit investment in research and teaching for UK students" Skills minister Jacqui Smith met them this week Will the govt see it through?

6. Cracking exclusive by @francesjones.bsky.social on top UK universities losing £millions from science cuts in the US Medical researchers expecting tranches of NIH funding in August have been left scrambling to cover costs and keep their projects running Good to see the Times pick this one up

5. ARIA's top brass have defended the pace of its spending, after RPN reported £600m of the agency's initial £800m budget will be left over Matt Clifford said long notice periods for new senior staff have caused delays, and is “one of the single biggest issues for the R&D ecosystem in the UK”

4. Ministers are on expectation management about HE reforms in the delayed skills white paper Peter Kyle said work on financial sustainability "is taking time, and it will take more time" Jacqui Smith hinted at a move away from the marketised model: "we will say more about that in the white paper"

At the same event, Peter Kyle said he's worried about the trend of unis cutting back on research "It’s bad for discovery and scientific endeavour. It would also represent a tragic missed opportunity for our economy" Eyebrow-raising, given the radio silence from govt on fixing university finances

3. First public comments from UKRI's new chief exec As predicted when he was appointed, Ian Chapman wants to focus on delivery He also agreed with ministers that UK universities should specialise, saying the UK’s research sector has "tried to do more than our budget allows"

2. Jean Innes, CEO of the Alan Turing Institute, is resigning After effectively ordering the ATI to pivot to defence, Peter Kyle got what he asked for when he said new leadership was needed ATI said a new CEO would see it "step up its work on defence, national security and sovereign capabilities"

Back to school and back to a hectic news agenda (not that August was very quiet) Some highlights from this week 1. The REF has been 'paused' for 3 months. Vallance announcing this is 👀 given rumblings over summer

Revealed: Britain has an £800M Brexit border black hole www.politico.eu/article/brex...

Economists (@timjackson.org.uk , @jksteinberger.bsky.social) criticise ESRC head (@stianwestlake.bsky.social) Why? Westlake has said ESRC should set a “high bar against” awarding grants for degrowth-related research Jackson has described the move as “anti-scientific”

Latest from @francesjones.bsky.social on the Alan Turing Institute saga Phase 2 of its reform programme has put 50+ operational staff at risk of redundancy On top of the 143 at risk under phase 1 (focused on research programmes), that's nearly half the workforce No confirmed job losses yet though

ICYMI @sophieatrpn.bsky.social revealed on Friday that DSIT has returned £128m of its £337m global R&D fund to the Treasury, having failed to spend it in time Against expectations, though, the International Science Partnerships Fund will keep its ODA element, despite the govt cutting aid spending

Great scoop from @sophieatrpn.bsky.social here, with 2 parts: 1. More than a third of the £337m International Science Partnerships Fund initial budget got returned to the Treasury because DSIT didn't get it out of the door on time (Perhaps not surprising as the fund was somewhat cobbled together)

Uni leaders being briefed that the people, culture and environment part of @ref2029.bsky.social will shrink from 25 to 20% of overall scores Cue eye-rolling and teeth gnashing Big question is: why? Until now, Research England have been robust about how central research culture is to excellence

Back at my desk after some holiday - feel like I missed something while I was away.. Got a press release saying "we would be very grateful if you would consider publishing this press release free of charge" Is that how it works now?

The govt recently made fresh cuts to ODA funding - already calls for global health research projects have been paused as a result. Projects impacted include study on managing HIV in mothers and babies in South Africa. By @robinbisson.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Cabinet Office partially revises guidance that prevented public sector officials from speaking at events with media present - after an outcry about the silencing of government-employed scientists. An exclusive by @robinbisson.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Cabinet Office rows back after outcry against gagging scientists. The Cabinet Office has partially revised recent guidance stopping government scientists and staff at research agencies from speaking at events after an outcry from the sector. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Quite a blunt statement on where things stand on open access agreements with big publishers from Liam Earney, the guy leading negotiations from @jisc.bsky.social “At the highest level, for the majority of universities that we work on behalf of, the economic model is viewed as fundamentally broken”

Very clear move from Wes Streeting to make the UK's clinical research funder more industry focused The NIHR will be required to “work to a dual health and growth mandate, driving focus on activity which is growth-maximising alongside improving health outcomes" KPIs to be agreed with industry

UKRI's annual report shows a big jump in exit packages last year In 2023-24, there were 38 departures, with exit packages worth £830,000 In 2024-25, there were 141 departures, with exit packages worth nearly £6.6 million Of the 141 departures, 77 left through a voluntary exit scheme

Full breaking story: Commission proposes to double Horizon budget for 2028-34 www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

The steady recovery in student visa numbers since the massive crash last year was checked in June Just before the highest volume months for visas (July to Sept) And just after the govt said it planned more curbs on international student numbers www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Also some top class snark from Patrick Vallance in the same debate... "I thank the noble Lord for his question. I know that he is prone to shaking his head when Ministers answer. I fear that I may give him a neck injury during this answer."

Sometimes you have to love the Lords. Hansard can be like reading Dickens or some Victorian children's book

As the UK pivots to defence, a shift towards research security and away from open collaboration is “inevitable”, says Nicola Searle, whose report found security lapses in “sensitive economic areas” “Everyone’s going to have to work on it more because of regulations” she told @annamckie.bsky.social

Stark stats from survey of UK research institutions: - 48% choosing not to bid for some funding/join collaborations - 44% reducing internal funding schemes - 41% restricting applications for certain funders/grants And these numbers have gone up quickly 1/4

This is wildly outside normality... (also free to read)

Databases ‘compromised’ by US cuts, warns ERC president. Maria Leptin says funding bodies must “do more” to protect research data. #Metascience2025 www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

John Ioannidis - one of science's mavericks (however you want to interpret that) - split opinion with his talk at #Metascience2025 where references were only available on request @chrisjparr.bsky.social talked to him afterwards about why science needs to be open about research waste

Curious argument from Policy Exchange that unis overstate importance of international student fees Their analysis finds top unis make an average surplus of £10,400 per international student, while for lower-ranked institutions the figure is £2,900 Meanwhile unis make a loss on domestic students

Race is on for the next Aria CEO Gur's salary is upwards of £450k - that's not far off twice the amount for the top job at UKRI Meanwhile, the PM's salary is £172k

Thrilled to have my story picked up by @thetimes.com Trump administration axes UK university research projects The original is free to read here, researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

My Research Fortnight leader (politely) takes issue with Augar. Policy failings on fee cap and international students are what drove university finances crisis. Current govt risks inadequate/harmful action. All seeping through to impact research. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

Nine direct stop notices from the US govt have halted projects at Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham and Southampton A further 14 projects at Cambridge and QMUL were halted by US collaborators. One researcher told @francesjones.bsky.social they “felt like their funding had been used as a pawn”

Quite a statement from the author of the last govt review on post-18 education “The sector is going through emergency redundancy programme[s] that proper planning could have avoided...the governance errors in the [2010s] have led to the problems in the 20s” Interview by @fionamcintyre.bsky.social