Lack of enthusiasm for universities within new research ‘road map’ confirms government wish to spend funding elsewhere, says policy expert.

Universities may have “mixed” feelings about a new national plan to turn the UK into a “research superpower” because it confirms the government’s “ambivalent, even hostile, attitude” towards expanding their research funding, a leading policy expert has claimed.

Many of the proposals within the government’s new “research and development road map”, including the extension of post-study work visas for PhD students and the creation of a new “Office for Talent” that will review immigration rules to make them more friendly to international scientists, were warmly welcomed by sector leaders when they were announced on 1 July.

But universities were likely to be less pleased to see how they have been sidelined in the document’s discussion of how the UK will increase its research spending to £22 billion a year by 2024-25, said James Wilsdon, Digital Science professor of research policy at the University of Sheffield.

Noticia en Times Higher Education

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