APPENDIX 90
Memorandum from Professor Chris Hawes,
Director of Biology Research at Oxford Brookes University
I am writing to you in my capacity as Director
of Biology Research here at Oxford Brookes, as I and many of my
colleagues are getting increasingly concerned about the research
funding policies being pursued by Hefce, which are threatening
to further damage the UK science base. I was extremely saddened
to discover the other week that Hefce now intends to phase out
funding for research students in departments rated 3a in the last
RAE. This is an extremely retrograde step that once again will
have an adverse effect on postgraduate training across the UK
and will further concentrate science research in fewer so called
research active universities. This policy is an insult to the
scientists and lecturers in departments such as mine that are
carrying out excellent externally funded research (both Research
Council and industry funded) and have a long record of training
PhD students to a high level. Indeed would the Research Councils
fund us if we were deemed incapable as Hefce is suggesting by
its actions? There must be many departments and research groups
across the UK that are threatened by Hefce's actions which will
undoubtedly stifle the development of any emerging research in
such units and further deprive undergraduate scientists of any
interaction with the research environment.
Enclosed is a copy of a letter I have written
to Hefce asking them to reconsider this policy. I believe the
time has come where a stand has to be taken against Hefce's policy
of starving high quality research groups of research funding just
because they are not in a highly rated RAE unit. Indeed one could
interpret Hefce's action as a deliberate policy to stop newer
research active departments from achieving the success they deserve.
Can I ask your Committee to look closely at what many scientists
in the UK now perceive to be the ill informed policies of the
funding council, when you scrutinise the methods of research funding
distribution.
February 2005
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