Nobel prize winners and the Astronomer Royal have joined over 600 other signatories in an open letter addressed to science minister Patrick Vallance demanding the Medical Research Council (MRC) revisit funding changes that could lead to the closure of thriving research units.
There are 19 existing units at UK universities that receive, in total, rolling funding from the MRC of about £100 million annually. Each focus on a specific research topic, such as the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Cambridge, which was founded in 1947.
The MRC announced its new funding model in July 2023 and the Labour government has no plans to change it. Vallance, speaking at a debate in the House of Lords in October, said: ‘It is crucial that we look at the spread of R&D funding. It is the case that it will be necessary, from time to time, to shut some things and open new things. I fully expect there to be a continued pattern of renewed support for some areas and a closing down of others. What is important in the context of this particular scheme is that the same proportion of MRC funding will be spent on these new centres as was spent on the old units and centres.’
However, many in the scientific community are unhappy with the move. Signatories to the letter, which was organised by the University and College Union (UCU), argue that the MRC units are a ‘unique scientific asset’ and losing them would be ‘a tragedy’ for medical research. They are concerned that the process behind the decision to stop funding was not transparent, that important stakeholders were not consulted and that the change was proposed for reasons that are no longer relevant.
The new model was the result of a review of MRC units and centres in 2020 that suggested they could benefit from greater integration and collaboration. The MRC says its new approach will be ‘challenge-led’ involving centres of research excellence (Core) that will focus on ‘distinct, disruptive, or multi- and interdisciplinary activity’ for 14 years. It says the new model is more flexible and offers a more streamlined review process, replacing the five-yearly review with a review at year six, to confirm funding for a further seven years .
The MRC anticipates making up to two awards each year from a £3 million annual budget. The previous system awarded units up to £10 million a year. It announced the first two Cores, which will focus on gene therapies, last December.
Existing MRC units can apply to the new model in competition with other applications. The MRC says there will be transition arrangements for those staff who do not become part of the new model and return to funding from the host institution or through grants.
Patrick Chinnery, MRC executive chair, recognises that introducing the Core model will be challenging for many staff. ‘We are listening, and I am personally listening, to the unit directors – and have been throughout the whole process – and adapting the new MRC Core model in response to some of the questions that they have been asking. For example, the MRC has adapted the model in response to the input that was received around the lack of provision for PhD funding, so that the MRC Core scheme now includes funding for PhD students.’
According to the UCU, all three units that have so far applied for the new Core funding have been unsuccessful. One of these is the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow, which will close later this year with 80 staff facing redundancy, it says.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady says the decision to change the funding model was made behind closed doors by a previous MRC leadership. ‘As evidenced by the hundreds of signatories to our letter, the academic community vehemently opposes the changes and Lord Vallance and Patrick Chinnery now need to listen to those impacted to ensure that there is a proper debate about the impact of the changes and consider an alternative that preserve these national assets. Failing to do so risks irreparable damage to crucial medical research programmes.’
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