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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The EU also appears to be clearing the way for wider UK access to both the EIC Fund and the Scaleup Europe Fund. This is on its page about R&I cooperation with the UK: research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/strategy/str...

Regarding the EIC fund, transitional arrangements are in place for award procedures implementing Union budget for the year 2026 and onwards meaning that entities established in the UK will be treated as entities established in an associated country for the purpose of the EIC Fund, including the EIC Scaleup Europe Fund. Nevertheless, any investment decisions will be conditional on the amendment of the UK association agreement enlarging the association of the UK to include the EIC Fund being applicable at the time of such decision.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

We were told at the start of the year that MRC funding boards had been told to recommend far fewer grants for funding than normal It took a while for the data to come through, but they confirm success rates were down by a big margin The question is now whether the new MRC model will reverse that

A far smaller share of applicants were awarded grants by MRC funding boards in Spring 2026 than in previous years

Only 26 awards were made in Spring 2026, compared to 57 in Spring 2024

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

When the STFC crisis hit, someone said on here it was time to "wheel out the Cox" Well he was fully on show to policy types at the Labour conference yesterday, as @johnmorgan3.bsky.social witnessed He also said he had the last STFC crisis to thank for his stardom (HT @mgmcquillan.bsky.social)

In fact, Cox told us he owed his television career to a previous crisis at STFC, on its inauguration, when he appeared on Newsnight to make the case against cuts and the BBC picked him up for a documentary series. Now he is back beating the drum for curiosity-driven research.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Update on the "AI-based triage" which is getting lots of (negative) attention

In recent days, there have also been several reports on social media of applicants seemingly being rejected after “AI-based triage”. The funding, while originating from UKRI, was devolved to the Crane network, which is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to strengthen the UK’s cybersecurity research ecosystem.

UKRI confirmed it did not carry out the AI triage process. A spokesperson said: “UKRI policy does not allow the use of generative AI to conduct application assessment. We are following up with the Crane network to review this situation in detail and ensure compliance with our assessment conditions.”

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Some strong criticism of Aria from Paul Drayson - science entrepreneur, former science minister, HoL science committee member 4/5 winners of £100m for enhancing impact of Aria research - including founding/growing companies - went to orgs outside the UK

“I don’t understand why Aria isn’t using the very strong science and innovation ecosystem on-shore in the UK, especially given the challenges the UK faces economically, and the pressure on UK science funding and our universities. In the context of cuts to physics programmes, for example, it’s very hard to justify why public funding is being used like this,” Drayson said.

“It raises serious questions about what Aria is doing and whether there is enough oversight of it,” he said.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Less than half of people supporting taxpayer funding for research which uses AI at some stage of the process should worry policymakers pushing for more AI in science... That's a massive 35 percentage point drop compared to the general level of support for publicly funded research

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Interesting to see that the "surge in volume of grant applications facilitated by AI" was being discussed by UKRI's board and executive committee in July The board are looking at "impacts to EDI and other considerations", according to meeting minutes www.ukri.org/wp-content/u...

Managing Grant Application Volume
Following detailed discussions between the Board and the Executive Committee on 14 July
2026, Andrew Mackenzie summarised the impact to grant management resources caused
by the surge in volume of grant applications facilitated by artificial intelligence.
The impact to UKRI is not unique but members agreed that UKRI is well-placed to show
leadership in this area and discussion will be ongoing with the incoming Chair. Real-time
monitoring and Board oversight will be needed to track impacts to EDI and other
considerations.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

These are not a happy graphs for universities At the UUK conference, skills minister Jacqui Smith said the UK continues to be welcoming to international students, to groans in the room (HT @chrisjparr.bsky.social)

Home Office data released on 10 September show there were 99,500 applications in August, 17 per cent lower than in 2025 and 32 per cent lower than in 2023.

August is the eleventh month in a row in which visa applications have been lower than the same month in the previous year.

In the 12 months to August 2026, there were 360,700 applications, down from 493,200 applications in the 12 months to August 2023—a fall of 27 per cent.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Hi Clare, the additional info below from UKRI has been added to the story

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It's unsurprising that the physics and astronomy community are hoping Burnham's pledge on Monday to "save" Jodrell Bank could open the door to a wider rethink at STFC But it's also getting some traction in parliament. Yesterday Lord Eatwell urged the chancellor to reverse the cuts

The government is also coming under pressure in parliament to reassess the cuts at STFC. Speaking in the House of Lords on 3 September, Labour peer John Eatwell said the cuts announced in July were “particularly distressing”, singling out funding reductions of 58 per cent at national laboratories, which he said have a history of developing technologies including radar, the computer and high-strength carbon fibre.

Eatwell, who was previously president of Queens’ College at the University of Cambridge, said the cuts were “a signal of the nation’s faltering commitment to industrial strength” and called on John Healey, the chancellor of the exchequer who is due to deliver a major speech on Monday, to “assure the country that the new government will reverse the cuts”.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Never have I been more disappointed in an FOI response Props to UKRI for trying though: "To advise and assist you, I can confirm that any research conducted by NERC on life in extreme environments is already available in the public domain via our grant systems" (Not my request btw!)

This is UK Research and Innovation's response to a freedom of information request
FOI release
FOI2026/00511: Extraterrestrial Presence and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sightings
Some or all of the information requested was not provided because we didn't hold it.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

£6.3bn really is a huge gap for unis to fill on research each year It's sometimes said that's what QR is for, but QR is part of the calculation: without it the gap would be close to £9bn The biggest way that gap is filled is international student fees (yellow bar), but we all know how that's going

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Curious to see a quote from the new science minister Chris McDonald falling back on the old "science and technology superpower" rhetoric in an announcement about Royal Society fellowships That was a boosterism hangover from the Tories which got quietly phased out royalsociety.org/news/2026/08...

Science Minister Chris McDonald said:

"These fellowships will help support breakthroughs that improve lives, whether it's research with the potential to unlock innovative new treatments for mothers and their babies, or early interventions to save communities from natural disasters.

"By backing exceptional scientific talent through the Royal Society, we're making the UK the natural home for the world's best researchers and the discoveries they bring with them, growing our economy and cementing our status as a science and technology superpower."

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

It's been 10 months in a row now that applications have been down, compared to the year before Full story here: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Total student visa applications in the 12 months to July 2026 came to just over 380,000, compared with more than 490,000 in the 12 months to July 2023

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Great day for next year's university students today, but maybe less good for universities? Latest Home Office stats show international student visa applications down again (and July is an important month) Their fees prop up expensive courses like engineering, which saw a 14% uptick in enrolments

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Also feel a bit sorry for the actor playing 'stereotypical racist guy in the pub'

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The forecast cost overruns, before the prioritisation exercise are 2026-27: £96m 2027-28: £199m 2028-29: £197m 2029-30: £192m The 2029-30 costs have risen further “primarily in relation to UKRI’s commitments to international subscriptions and the protection of PPAN grant postdocs”

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Chapman said the following in an open letter to the research community in February www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

In order to remain sustainable, STFC must make significant cumulative savings: a decrease of £162 million relative to our forecasts for their operational costs. The £162 million is the total net reduction in STFC’s annual costs that they must achieve by the end of the 2029 and 2030 financial year. It is not a £162 million saving in each year of the current SR period. Instead, STFC needs to reshape its cost base

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Very clear from Burnham in this written statement to parliament that science has gone into the business department for "commercial application and job creation" Signal of a longer term rebalancing of the science budget towards applied research? questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I think it's interesting how exaggerated it is, given 50% of UKRI spending went to the greater south east in 2023-24, and spending elsewhere has been going up (proportionally) Aria's statement is also an interesting take - quite a lot of research-intensives outside the SE!

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

UKRI has put its money where its mouth is on improving the lot of postgrad research students, hiking up the stipend multiple times in recent years But inevitably this has put pressure on how many new PhDs it can fund each year - there has been a 22% drop over a decade, even as funding has risen 🧵

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

The official statement on this from the Research Funders Policy Group was published today: wellcome.org/about-us/pos... Noteworthy that they say only "enterprise data protected" AI tools will be used in processing grant applications (i.e. not the free ones..)

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Another massive ERC win for the UK in the latest round of Advanced Grants - showing last year was no fluke There are suggestions the UK should look at trying to just join pillar 1 of FP10 because it performs so well in winning ERC/MSCA grants Is it possible the EU would let it though?

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Here's another snap of @johnmorgan3.bsky.social from the awards last night, along with @francesjones.bsky.social who was shortlisted in the best writer in science and technology category Is that a prize bottle of English sparkling wine you see? Yes it is 🍾

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Interestingly, however, the UK Metascience Unit (which is co-run by UKRI) concluded in 2025 that (see assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685a83...)

current weight of evidence does not suggest
that Partial Randomisation is a highly impactful
and effective tool for achieving bias reduction,
novelty, efficiency, or greater fairness

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

'Tortured phrases' was not a concept on my radar until today The editors of this report on forensic scientometrics (i.e. the study of research misconduct) must have enjoyed choosing examples they've cited figshare.com/articles/onl...

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Chinnery said that another "big change", which wasn't immediately clear when MRC announced it has replaced its funding boards with a more flexible college of experts, is that not every application will be peer reviewed

Instead, panels chosen from the college of experts will triage which grants should go through to peer review, after which “they’ll all get invited to interview, and we anticipate that the success rate at interview will be between a third and a half”.

“This makes the system faster and a lot more efficient,” he said.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

On the other hand, more funding will be made available in new 'bucket 2' schemes focused on govt priorities Life sciences has a £1bn budget over the spending review, and Chinnery is heading up the programme to spend it

“MRC researchers will benefit from the life sciences budget that has been allocated [and will] also benefit from other critical techs [such as] engineering biology and AI,” Chinnery said.

“My job, the job of our teams at MRC, is to make sure that our research community benefits from these other resources that are coming into UKRI in this record settlement that we’ve landed, tapping into those technologies.”

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

The MRC budget is £799m in 26/27, of which £415m is for curiosity-driven research Lots of that CDM budget is accounted for by funding for institutes (LMB, Crick, etc.), so there is £113m for applicant-led schemes Chinnery indicated these schemes will be "down a bit" compared to previous years

“It is still going to be down a bit compared [with] where it was—it is part and parcel of redirecting and readjusting our funding into some of the other buckets and preparing those schemes in order to allow bucket two to deliver.”

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Update to this story - the shadow science secretary Julia Lopez has doubled down on the policy Early sign of political consensus around R&D funding cracking?

Lopez told RPN: “The Conservative pledge to direct £2bn per year of UKRI funding into a Sovereign Defence Fund to develop dual use technologies does not represent a funding cut but rather an urgently needed redeployment of public funds into research and development projects that are in our national security interests.

“As the world becomes ever more dangerous, we are clear that we need to focus our remarkable British scientific and technological capabilities more explicitly on defence.”

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

In 2022-23, UKRI and the HE funding bodies provided nearly 60% of all public R&D funding In 2024-25, that fell to just under 50% In terms of where the money ended up, universities still accounted for the biggest share in 2024-25, but far more research happened *within government depts* than before

Universities are still the top destination for public R&D funds, but spending within government departments is catching up

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Here are the real-terms increases across different sources of public R&D spend UKRI (excluding Research England) 2023-24: +0.8% 2024-25: +5.4% Higher education funding bodies 2023-24: -9.3% 2024-25: -1.4% Civil government depts 2023-24: +10.5% 2024-25: +24.1% MOD 2023-24: +23.1% 2024-25: +13.6%

Much of the rise in R&D spending has taken place outside UKRI and higher education funding bodies

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Getting ONS R&D stats 2 years after the fact always feels a bit...old news BUT, I do think there's some interesting stuff in there Namely, that while there were two years of real-terms growth in UK public R&D spending of ~9%, this pretty much took place outside funding for the university sector 🧵

Government expenditure on R&D has risen more rapidly in real terms from 2022 than pre-pandemic

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

It's got to sting for recently rejected ERC applicants that blocks on resubmissions have been extended by a year Maria Leptin said the ERC is making the move because panels are dealing with ~250 applications compared to 50-150 in the past The message is v much 'only apply when absolutely ready':

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

The UK is spending £327m on the Square Kilometre Array Observatory between 2021 and 2030—around 20% of the entire budget SKAO is also headquartered in the UK and its outgoing head, Philip Diamond, is a Brit Diamond told @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social he is worried about cuts to astronomy funding 🧵

“I look at that with concern because, with the large investment that UK taxpayers have put into SKAO, surely the follow-on—the funding of the students, of the astronomy—must be there,” he said.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

There's definitely a reshaping of UK research going on Some of it is intentional - govt encouraging unis to specialise, UKRI directing funds for applied R&I to industrial strategy areas Some of it isn't - unis taking individual decisions to save costs that add up to impact on national capacity 🧵

Speaking to Research Professional News, Marcus Munafò, deputy vice-chancellor and provost at the University of Bath, said: “I think there’s a risk we could end up in a situation where some technologies or certain disciplines fall off a cliff—go past a certain threshold because they don’t have a critical mass of funding to support them.

“That bit seems to be missing from the debate; we need to think about the research ecosystem as national capability and infrastructure that we need to keep healthy to allow us to react to unknown scenarios in the future.”

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

ICYMI (because I certainly did), last week STFC published some numbers about where its cost pressures have come from Increasing costs of international subscriptions is the biggest driver www.ukri.org/publications...

over the last five years, inflationary pressures have increased STFC’s total costs by an estimated £136 million per annum compared to financial year 2021 to 2022
this includes £50 million of increased costs per annum for access to international infrastructures, split roughly fifty-fifty between unfavourable movements in foreign exchange rates and subscription costs
the remaining £86 million includes further cost increases in the rest of STFC’s portfolio, split between staff costs (£34 million), grants (£16 million), utilities (£7 million), net operational costs (£6 million) and inflation on capital (£23 million)

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Top CBA captioning from the Times here

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

While lots of attention has been on expected cuts to the particle physics, astronomy and nuclear programme, hundreds of researchers from other fields are also raising concerns about cuts to STFC-run facilities which they rely on

“Researchers like ourselves, whose curiosity-led fundamental and applied research is funded by other funding councils, rely on STFC-operated facilities,” they wrote. “Without continued access to these facilities, significant areas of UKRI-funded research simply could not proceed.”

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Meanwhile, UKRI's total budget is forecast to rise modestly in real terms through the spending review So STFC will take up a smaller proportion of overall spending by 2030 STFC's woes have been blamed on its growing cost base, but surely decisions made in the allocations process also play a role?

UKRI's overall budget is increasing and is forecast to outstrip inflation

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I think this says a lot about the pressure STFC is under: its budget will not have risen (in cash terms) between 2023 and 2030 Inflation is obviously going keep eroding that, and more so with the Iran war (Details of STFC budget figures over the spending review have not been published before now)

Inflation has piled pressure on STFC's budget, which has stayed relatively flat in cash terms

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Hopes for a strong January enrolment period - which sees a moderate peak in applications - to shore up university finances have been dashed Application numbers were down 17 per cent in December and 31 per cent in January compared with the previous year

Student visa applications have been down in most months of the year

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

This comes after a moderate recovery in international student visa applications in 2025 Numbers fell off a cliff in 2023 and 2024, hitting a nadir in November 2024 Applications in the year ending March 2026 numbered 413,100—the lowest total over a 12-month period since January 2025

Applications over a 12-month period have dropped after rallying in 2025

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

We've been tracking applications for UK student visas for many months now and the trend is...not good March figures released by the Home Office today show there have been 6 straight months where numbers were down on the year before 🧵

Monthly visa applications have been lower, year-on-year, since October 2025

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

The panel made very clear statements about cuts: “funding conditions have become beyond what we can class as ‘challenging’ and are now regarded as critical” See www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Double-take detail in this interview with Edith Heard, head of the Crick Her French husband decided against getting a spouse visa because of the UK's "intrusive" immigration rules If that's happening with one of the UK's most senior scientists, how many others are being put off completely?

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