‘No silver bullet alternative’ to tuition fees, warns David Willetts. Former minister who introduced £9,000 fees says “unloved” model is “deep-seated”, amid student debt controversy. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Latest drop in UK student visa applications ‘deeply concerning’. There were 19,800 applications last month—a 31 per cent decrease on January 2025, when there were 28,700. It is the fourth month in a row that monthly visa applications have been at a four year low.

Free to read: Next EU R&I programme must fund full range of research, says Science Europe www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

UKRI has hit limit in paying for science facilities, says ex-leader. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

ICYMI: Is science really suffering from a reproducibility crisis? After Maria Leptin suggested the crisis was "exaggerated", I spoke to experts including @ludowaltman.bsky.social and @elisabethbik.bsky.social about how big the problem really is. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...

Former UKRI leader Ottoline Leyser talks to @francesjones.bsky.social about the "horrible" funding problems facing Science and Technology Facilities Council. STFC funds major facilities and labs, along with grants for physics and astronomy. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Netherlands news: Dutch universities call for action as student numbers fall www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Netherlands news: AI regulation around theses unclear, accreditation body says www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

With England's system of tuition fees and student loans under fierce criticism, @chrisjparr.bsky.social speaks to the creator of that system, David Willetts. Willetts points out Labour govt has not found an alternative model (though I don't think it has really tried to look for one).

‘No silver bullet alternative’ to tuition fees, warns David Willetts. Former minister who introduced £9,000 fees says “unloved” model is “deep-seated”, amid student debt controversy. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

UKRI has hit limit in paying for science facilities, says ex-leader. Ottoline Leyser calls budget woes at Science and Technology Facilities Council “horrible” and “painful”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Academic freedom in EU ‘strong but eroding’, latest European Parliament monitoring study finds www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Latest drop in UK student visa applications ‘deeply concerning’. There were 19,800 applications last month—a 31 per cent decrease on January 2025, when there were 28,700. It is the fourth month in a row that monthly visa applications have been at a four year low.

Emulating Oxbridge spinout success ‘will take dedication’. Other institutions in Oxford-Cambridge corridor need “same kind of thinking”, says Arc Universities Group director. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Italy news: Ministry sets out ‘revolutionary’ 2026-28 research funding plan www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Partners on Large Hadron Collider experiment warn of ‘severe harm’ from UK pulling funds www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Interview. Duncan Ivison: ‘I have serious questions about the REF’ Manchester vice-chancellor discusses assessment reform, missed education “superpower” opportunity and political perils. Free to read. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Duncan Ivison told @chrisjparr.bsky.social that he has ‘serious questions about the REF’. The University of Manchester vice-chancellor also shared his frustration that the UK is "not grabbing" the opportunity to become a global education superpower. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Australia: health and medical researchers call on government to show them the money in 2026 budget (free to read): www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-aust...

Australia: Atec passes lower house, but Senate not a done deal (subscriber content): www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-aust...

Opinion: Researchers must rise to the nation’s challenges. Shake-up to UKRI brings unpopular consequences, but economic context makes change inevitable, says Richard Jones (@richardaljones.bsky.social). Free to read. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

ICYMI: UKRI funding changes ‘pushing junior researchers abroad’. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Research clout key to City St George’s merger, report finds. Hepi analysis notes concern over long-term finances also influenced merger plans. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

France news: Health research data to be moved to EU servers www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

It's been a busy couple of weeks covering the funding changes at UKRI, to put it mildly Here are my thoughts on how it's played out TL;DR...the message that curiosity-driven research is protected is not going to reassure those who are seeing their funding streams disrupted

Ian Chapman makes the case that he would not be doing his job properly if he didn't deal with the cost overruns at STFC, which are causing so much grief to physicists Physics groups are calling on ministers to intervene (presumably with more cash) And there is now a response from a minister ...

Links between the next EU research and innovation programme and the planned European Competitiveness Fund need ‘much more clarity’, admits Commission expert www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

UKRI funding changes are already causing junior researchers to leave the country. Some STFC-funded research groups are already "haemorrhaging" early career researchers, according to @lucienheurtier.bsky.social. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

It would be "Irresponsible" not to cut costs at STFC, says UKRI chief Ian Chapman. Funder would “have to hit all the other communities” to bail out physics, he says. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

UKRI increases PhD stipend by 4.9 per cent for 2026-27. One of the most-read stories on our site right now. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...

🧵 New Research Fortnight out today! In this issue, we put the spotlight on the impact and implications of major changes to funding being introduced by UK Research and Innovation. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Governments cool on FP10 funding defence projects. Broad opposition to proposal for 2028-34 R&I programme reportedly surprises Commission and MEPs. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Manchester VC Duncan Ivison's comments to me about the REF were spread far and wide yesterday. Today we have more from what was a refreshingly frank conversation with the head of one of the UK's biggest research-intensives. I asked he speaks with the Reform party. "Yes, absolutely."

Warnings that UKRI funding changes are pushing some early career researchers to move abroad. STFC-funded research groups already "haemorrhaging", this researcher tells @resprofnews.bsky.social.

NEW on RPN: Hits to research grant funding at UKRI are already causing junior researchers to leave the country, according to some academics, amid fears that those at the start of their careers are set to be “disproportionately” impacted. #ECRchat www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Governments cool on next EU research and innovation programme funding defence projects www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Von der Leyen: EU must intensify work on competitiveness. Commission president issues rallying cry ahead of meeting of EU leaders this week. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Number of UK universities opting out of Elsevier deal hits nine. Sheffield Hallam and Swansea are the latest to drop agreements with the publishing giant. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...

Australia: medical researchers shocked at unexpected "pause" in commercialisation scheme (subscriber content): www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-aust...

A pleasure to speak with @duncanivison.bsky.social in London recently. Asked if he wanted to see the REF scrapped, he said: “I think it should be seriously one of the options.” Full, wide-ranging interview out on @resprofnews.bsky.social tomorrow. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Physics cuts put livelihoods, investment and reputation at risk Powerful opinion piece from Daria Sokhan, principal investigator of the EIC-UK project (which was one of the infrastructure projects shelved by UKRI) www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

Breaking: Research Excellence Framework director to step down in April. Free to read: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Free-to-read opinion: UK’s ‘sudden withdrawal’ from international Electron-Ion Collider project is causing ‘immense reputational damage’, warns leader Daria Sokhan ‘Will any international collaboration view the UK as trustworthy in future?’ www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

German Science Council sets out 2040 research reform agenda. Suggested focus areas include enabling and simplifying investment and promoting teamwork. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Major UK research resources get long-awaited access to GP data Naomi Allen, chief scientist at @ukbiobank.bsky.social tells me it is a “watershed moment” for the resource and for global health research in @resprofnews.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...

Major UK research resources get long-awaited access to GP data. Government directive for sharing health records hailed as “watershed moment” for projects like UK Biobank. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...

Powerful opinion piece about impact of UKRI pulling UK funds from Electron-Ion Collider project - US-based international facility for research into structure of matter - by Daria Sokhan, principal investigator on EIC-UK.

Von der Leyen says EU must intensify work on competitiveness, ahead of leaders meeting this week www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Scrapping REF should be “serious’ option”, says Manchester VC. Duncan Ivison questions “usefulness” of “massive, bureaucratic” research assessment exercise. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Ninth UK university confirms opting out of Elsevier deal. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...