Thread by @rschrobUK

I highly recommend this @hepinews blog for an overview of the current state of research in higher education, based on research leaders' sentiments. A brief thread of highlights and some reflections from me follows... #researchpolicy #researchfunding #researchcareers

https://twitter.com/edhughes71/status/1460879370877390849

30% of the total costs of research are met through surpluses from non-research activity, notably from commercial activity and from teaching overseas students

The money required to support research equates to 15% of all non-research income, so is highly dependent on international student recruitment. For more on this see our report for @SpringerNature on the impact of COVID-19 on the research enterprise: growkudos.com/projects/inter…)

More than half the respondents agreed that their institutions had become more selective in allocating research time and facilities to researchers; a majority also reported that departments, schools and faculties were being asked to do more to justify their resources for research.

Significant shifts in subject mix - 61% of those with STEM in the research portfolio expect it to increase, 41% of respondents expected arts and humanities’ share of their institutions’ research activity to decline. Again this matches findings of our 2020 study above,

Universities are planning to sustain funding for medical research even in the face of reduced funding from medical charities, many of whom have been hit hard by the pandemic (@wellcometrust will be an exception as its endowment has benefited from healthy stock market returns)

Universities are continuing to recruit PhDs and experienced researchers, indicating there is no intention on the part of universities to do less research, despite financial constraints.

The key concern is around conditions facing existing staff, whose workloads have increased making it tough to find time to do research. The survey 'suggests a significant risk of long-term scarring of academic careers as a result of the pandemic'

We found exactly the same in our 2020 study for @SpringerNature. As I wrote then 'Just as a severe economic shock can lead to a ‘scarring’ of the economy, damage to the research system in the short-term also risks a permanent loss of capacity'. figshare.com/articles/onlin…

This prompted me to revisit the recommendations from our 2020 study of COVID-19's impact for @SpringerNature and I think they remain highly relevant - not least the need to tackle instability and structural inequality in academic career pathways bit.ly/3FpJaTu

Kudos to @UKRI_News for commissioning such a timely survey, and securing an impressive response. Overall, it offers much encouragement on the health of the UK research enterprise, but also raises genuine concerns for the wellbeing of the staff that work within it.