Science funding needs fixing - but not through chaotic reforms

"On 1 February, the country's national science-funding agency, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), announced large changes to how research grants will be judged and awarded. Although the precise details are still emerging, the UKRI open letter states an aim to "focus and do fewer things better" (see go.nature.com/4rnhghn). Support for curiosity-driven research will be preserved, we are told. Investment in applied research will be aligned with the government's industrial strategy."

"The potential consolidation of money into bigger research groups threatens to stifle the development of original ideas and future leaders, too. The United Kingdom punches above its weight in research, relative to the size of its scientific community and the amount of money that it invests in science. Much of this success is to do with curiosity-driven research. And the timing is terrible."

"Medical, biological and physical research will see pauses in major grant programmes. Since April 2025, UKRI has allocated about £9billion (US$12 billion) of public money to projects. Funding opportunities from the Medical Research Council (MRC) are currently closed, with applications under review, for projects in infections and immunity, molecular and cellular medicine, neurosciences and mental health and population and systems medicine - that is, most of the MRC's remit."

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) announced major changes to grant evaluation and allocation, aiming to "focus and do fewer things better" and align applied research with industrial strategy. UKRI indicated that support for curiosity-driven research will be preserved while reallocating investment toward strategic priorities. The shift toward a top-down funding agenda is generating uncertainty across the research community and may reduce the flexibility needed for creative, failure-tolerant science. Consolidation of funds into larger groups threatens original idea development and leadership pipelines. Pauses in major medical, biological and physical grant programmes and current MRC closures have reduced funding opportunities and attractiveness to researchers.

Read at Nature