Short-term research contracts in science and engineering : eighth report of session 2001-02 / House of Commons, Science and Technology Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology.
Date:
2002
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Short-term research contracts in science and engineering : eighth report of session 2001-02 / House of Commons, Science and Technology Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    eee this the UK is similar to the US and significantly different from France and Germany. Those wishing to pursue basic and Strategic research as a career therefore have to look almost exclusively to the universities and research council institutes. 9. There is an important applied research and development sector within UK industry and Government research establishments, and other science based professional careers in the private and Government sectors. All of these depend on an adequate supply of the high quality university trained researchers at all levels up to post-doctoral positions and beyond. A constant supply of teachers is also required elsewhere within the higher education sector and in other areas of education, where it is essential to ensure that science and mathematics are taught by talented and enthusiastic graduates in the particular subject. Finally, highly trained researchers in all disciplines find satisfying, and often well paid, positions well outside their specialisms such as in general management, accountancy, finance and the public services. It is important to recognise the value both to the country and to science and engineering of having science and engineering expertise throughout the economy. Hence there is a wide range of worthwhile and challenging alternative career paths for academic researchers at all stages of their career. UNIVERSITY RESEARCH 10. University research is funded through three main streams: (i) Funding Councils’ block grant; (ii) short term grants from the Research Councils and, particularly in the biomedical area, the research funding charities; (ili) contracts from industry and Government Departments. 11. Overall there has been a significant increase in university research expenditure, but much of research expenditure is concentrated within 20 or so universities. Over the past 20 years, the proportion funded through the Funding Councils’ block grant has fallen, even taking into account the dual support transfer from the Funding Councils to the Research Councils at the beginning of the 1990s. Hence more research has been funded on short-term money. Furthermore, since much of this money is accounted for at a departmental level and below there may be insufficient scope for handling fluctuations, with examples of world-class research teams being broken up through failure to obtain follow on grants or even because of delays to secure a grant. 12. Another important factor is that the expansion in research activity in many disciplines has been greater than the expansion in student numbers, and it is the latter that broadly determines the number of established academic posts within a Department. This has resulted in established members of academic staff at research- intensive universities supervising an increasing number of research assistants. 13. In the next two sections we outline the requirements of universities and of the researchers themselves and then bring these together in a concluding section. UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS FOR RESEARCH STAFF 14. The research active universities need a range of researchers to maintain and develop their research standing, including already recognised world class researchers, to whom they need to be able to offer attractive established posts; bright up-and-coming research leaders of the future; and support staff at all levels such as post doctoral research assistants, PhD students, graduate research assistants and technicians. 15. The traditional structure of university research is one based on established members of academic staff with both teaching and research responsibilities, who are supported by postdoctoral research assistants/ associates and technicians together with research students. This structure is changing, however, with the formation of larger research groups than hitherto and the formation of formal or virtual research units, particularly in cross disciplinary areas, usually headed by a members of established academic staff, but sometimes by a specially recruited full time director. At the most senior levels some leading research academics have sought to concentrate on their research and have obtained appointments as “Research Professors”, some of which are provided by external funding (eg The Society’s Research Professors). 16. With this varied and changing structure, universities have a wide range of requirements for postdoctoral researchers. First and foremost they require a constant flow of young researchers from across the world to bring in new ideas and techniques. They also need to identify high-flying researchers who will be the academic leaders of the future. Finally there will be a need for competent postdoctoral researchers and professional support. 17. Hence universities need to have the flexibility to: (a) maintain the throughput of young post doctoral researchers; (b) offer a career path to attract and retain high-flyers; (c) offer a career structure to other more senior researchers. 18. We return to these when we have considered the needs of the researchers themselves.