Thread by @rpancost

It is vital that the press is covering these devastating cuts to global research partnerships. But there are important clarifications required:

theguardian.com/science/2021/m…

First, this article suggests that @UKRI_News has cut research funding. Not quite, no. These are the inevitable consequences of government cuts to international development assistance. It is the latest chapter in the recent walking back of the UK's global committments.

Aside from not blaming @UKRI_News for simply passing on govt cuts, we must hold the government accountable for all of their lapsed promises.

Second, it is research funding that has been cut, not "science". This distinction is vital for all the usual reasons (science is NOT the only form of research and knowledge) but because this scheme was deeply committed to interdisciplinarity.

And through that interdisciplinarity, it was committed to the co-production of knowledge in genuine partnership with global collaborators.

The social sciences and humanities were vital.

In summary - These cuts are betrayals to research and knowledge; to overseas development, global health and sustainable development; and to the principles of collaborative research we've spent the past decade building.