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

Gah, €250 million not €250,000! Friday afternoon maths...

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 · 02/10/2026

And the UK could soon have wider access to both the scaleup fund and the €4bn EIC fund, both of which are up for negotiation ahead of the EU-UK summit, which the Cabinet Office confirmed will happen before Christmas. Perhaps every university spinout is across this, but it was news to me. More here:

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

I did confirm it with the Commission, and the UK (and indeed any non-EU country) can access up to 5% of the Scaleup Europe Fund. That’s a chonky potential €250,000 addition to the UK’s own planned £1bn scaleup fund, with the added advantage of the EU version already existing

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

This is despite lack of access to capital being raised as a massive problem at pretty much *every* R&D policy event I’ve been to in the last…er…5 years?? (And I've been to a lot) It came up repeatedly at the Labour Party conference this week, where ministers were laser focused on commercialisation

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

When I contacted BIST after it was first reported by Sifted, they told me to confirm it with the European Commission, and said “no decisions have been taken while we explore options”

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

Surprisingly, it turns out the UK already has access to the EU’s Scaleup Europe Fund, which is on track to be worth €5 billion. Even more surprisingly, this fact doesn’t appear to be widely known, even in government.

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

And she thinks universities need to change much more on commercialisation, because “we have not modernised in terms of what we allow our professors to do” Darlington said universities tend to look at how they can make money out of commercialisation rather than incentivising academics to do it

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

Darlington also said that she expects the R&D budget to increase at the next spending review because of the need for more military spending But that this will mean greater focus on engineering, quantum and AI, so life sciences “might feel that they’re a little bit left out of that”

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

Indeed, the science minister Chris McDonald told me the UK is “choking at the moment on our lack of ability to commercialise the successful curiosity research” I had asked him whether he thought it was important to increase the budget for curiosity-driven research (which is flat cash until 2029-30)

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

Darlington said that since New Labour, there has been a loss of understanding in HMT, particularly on how long investment to support both initial research and then commercialisation takes Commercialisation and the quest for growth was the overriding theme of many R&D panels at the conference

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

Andy Burnham also seems to be taking his cue on research and innovation from Brown In his conference speech, Burnham said: “I see startups and scaleups pouring out of our world-class universities…As Gordon Brown has said, we can be the world’s innovation nation, and he’s right, we can”

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

Perhaps the most important: she thinks John Healey will be “much more of a Gordon Brown type” than Rachel Reeves, and that’s good for research and innovation Darlington was at HMT when Healey was there as a minister “so he’s seen how that interaction with R&D and innovation used to work”, she said

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

The Labour Party conference didn’t deliver any surprises on R&D, but it was possible to feel which way the wind is blowing I sat down with Emily Darlington MP to talk about it. As an adviser during the New Labour years, both on science and within the Treasury, she had some important insights

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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

More on this and Burnham's conference speech in this morning's 8am Playbook www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-he-govern...

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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 · 29/09/2026

Very clear message from science minister at Labour conference that science is "back in the service of industry" South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard also said "the govt and the system more broadly should not be focusing so much on REF scores; we should be focusing much more on commercialisation"

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

More on the AI-based triage from @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social The Crane network, which carried out the triage, rejecting 50% of proposals using AI, said: "the confidentiality of the proposals was entirely safeguarded in keeping with our privacy policy" More below

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Reposted by Robin Bisson

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

New evidence raises questions for UKRI on edited STFC minutes Funder insists amended minutes are “accurate summary”, despite differing with slide presented to council www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

researchprofessionalnews.com

New evidence raises questions for UKRI on edited STFC minutes - Research Professional News

Funder insists amended minutes are “accurate summary”, despite differing with slide presented to council

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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

Does seem like UK R&D policy has moved on since Aria was founded (largely due to Dominic Cummings) and there is far more focus now on harnessing economic benefits of R&D investment for the UK It was purposefully protected from scrutiny, but perhaps that has also put it out of step with policy?

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

Aria said all the activation partners have to establish a presence in the UK Pippy James, deputy CEO: “These partners will also build a lasting UK footprint, establishing teams and infrastructure here, and developing capabilities that wouldn’t exist in Britain otherwise.”

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

Drayson told RPN: “I don’t buy the argument that we need to attract more foreign investment. We don’t have a foreign investment problem—we have a problem creating sustainable wealth in the UK from our investment in science. That’s the problem we need to fix.”

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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

Paper in Research Policy: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

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

Study author Chris Bretter told @isaacbarbosa1.bsky.social attitudes could change as people get used to AI “Yet, our findings also suggest that there are more fundamental concerns about what AI means for scientific integrity, accountability, and the role of humans in producing knowledge”

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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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Reposted by Robin Bisson

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

New UK research security fund expected to focus on universities. Government responds to sector calls for more support to meet costs of stricter security regime. Free to read. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

researchprofessionalnews.com

New UK research security fund expected to focus on universities - Research Professional News

Government responds to sector calls for more support to meet costs of stricter security regime

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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 · 11/09/2026

I feel like there should be a research office anon bluesky account (a la Fesshole) for people to share them when they crop up. I would definitely subscribe

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Of everything I've read this week, this nugget is by far the best "Anyone who has worked in research funding for long enough will have seen applications that were never remotely competitive. My personal favourite was an application that consisted largely of a drawing of a shoe."

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Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

UKRI ‘exploring’ use of AI in overhaul of grant assessment. Funder announces raft of measures in push to halve processing times for funding. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

researchprofessionalnews.com

UKRI ‘exploring’ use of AI in overhaul of grant assessment - Research Professional News

Funder announces raft of measures in push to halve processing times for funding

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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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Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Chris McDonald: funding system ‘destroying’ value of research. New science minister wants fewer, longer-term grants and a “smoother and simpler system”, he tells Universities UK conference. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

researchprofessionalnews.com

Chris McDonald: funding system ‘destroying’ value of research - Research Professional News

New science minister wants fewer, longer-term grants and a “smoother and simpler system”

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

The subtext was turned up to 11 in Kathleen Fisher's appearance at the Lords science and tech committee earlier Tory peer Kulveer Ranger said Matt Clifford’s appointment at Anthropic had raised “a lot of concern in the industry”. “I understand the concern, and Aria was not consulted,” Fisher said.

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

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

This announcement is all over the shop. The press release says the strategy ropes in £190m from UKRI...but the strategy itself says £421m from UKRI Which one is correct? Who knows! (We're asking, obvs) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a9ed0...

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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 · 02/09/2026

The holding line from govt is that it will wait until the EU has decided on FP10 The standard intra-EU wrangle between the Commission, Council and Parliament is underway, but the signals are that the budget will be significantly higher And 2028 isn't that far away

researchprofessionalnews.com

FP10 to get ‘significant’ funding boost, presidency expects - Research Professional News

Irish minister calls for swift progress on negotiations around next EU research and innovation programme

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

When the govt set out its R&D budget last year, it included ~£2bn for the EU's next Horizon programme in both 2028 and 2029 - the same as it spends on the current programme The problem is the next programme (FP10) looks set to be far more expensive So where would the money come from to pay for it?

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Speaking to people before Jodrell Bank cuts were public, there was a high level of expectation that Burnham would reverse them as PM First Commons speech and he commits to doing so Definitely a Mancunian angle. He told MPs "“Every one of my generation went on a school trip to Jodrell Bank"

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Reposted by Robin Bisson

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Science minister handed levers for growing British companies Chris McDonald given oversight of the Office for Investment and the British Business Bank www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

researchprofessionalnews.com

Science minister handed levers for growing British companies - Research Professional News

Chris McDonald given oversight of the Office for Investment and the British Business Bank

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

There are also ministers in other depts with responsibilities for science and innovation - e.g. Stephen Morgan in DEFRA, Katie White (minister for climate transition) in DESNZ So overall there is a bit of spread on the science brief across government

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