Research Councils UK, sometimes known as RCUK, was a non-departmental public body that coordinated science policy in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2018. It was an umbrella organisation that coordinated the seven separate research councils that were responsible for funding and coordinating academic research for the arts, humanities, science and engineering. In 2018 Research Councils transitioned into UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Function
The role of the RCUK was to: Enabling dialogue about research priorities by facilitating an open and collective approach to investing in multidisciplinary research and training Facilitating cooperation between the research councils and external stakeholders by promoting dialogue, collaboration, and partnership Communicating the activities and views of the research councils to increase policy influence and collective visibility Collaborating with academia and other funders to reduce bureaucratic tape for researchers and university administrators Improving operational performance by sharing best practices
Each of the research councils is an equal partner in RCUK, and each uses its best endeavours to identify and pursue opportunities for mutually-beneficial joint working with one or more of the other research councils.
Organisation
Each research council is a non-departmental public body incorporated by royal charter. Each is governed by its own governing council comprising a mix of academic and non-academic members, appointed by the Secretary for Innovation, Universities and Skills following a public nomination. The councils receive public funds from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and each reports annually to the British Parliament. In 2008 the combined annual budget was £3.5 billion, of which over £1 billion went to research grants and training at universities. This is one element of the UK's dual system of research funding, the other being block grants provided by the UK Funding Councils for higher education.
Research Council grants support around 50,000 researchers through 18,000 grants at any one time. About 8,000 PhDs are awarded annually as a result of their funding.
The Councils directly employ around 13,000 staff, 9,000 of whom are researchers and technicians at institutes such as the British Antarctic Survey, the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, the Roslin Institute, and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. However, in the UK funding system only a few permanent institutes that require permanent infrastructure are directly controlled or core-funded by the Councils. Most funding is allocated competitively and few awards last more than ten years, which allows the Councils to vary capacity to meet changing priorities and challenges.
Research council funding decisions are guided by the Haldane Principle, the idea that decisions are best made by researchers independently from government. Research council funding competitions use open peer review.
Councils
There are seven research councils:
The MRC's headquarters is in central London and the other six research councils and the RCUK operate from a single complex in Swindon. The research councils also have a joint office in Brussels since 1984—the United Kingdom Research Office (UKRO)—and in 2007 and 2008 established three additional foreign offices in Beijing, China, Washington, DC, and New Delhi, India.
In 2007 the government raised the status of the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to become, in effect, a research council for industry. This was motivated by a concern that the seven research councils, with their emphasis on academic excellence, were giving insufficient attention to innovation through the application of research findings. The TSB has set up its headquarters next door to the Swindon offices of the research councils. In 2014 the TSB started calling itself Innovate UK, and in 2018 Innovate UK, the research councils and Research England were formally united into UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
History
Government funding of science in the United Kingdom began in 1675 when the Royal Observatory was established in Greenwich. This trend continued in the 19th century with the creation of the British Geological Survey in 1832, and the allocation of funds in 1850 to the Royal Society to award individual grants.