1. We welcome the Committee's urgent attention
to this issue but note that it is difficult to present real data
to evidence a reply at this early stage of the planned retrenchment.
2. Accurate case-by-case estimates of the
economic return on specific research funding are unlikely unless
they are of near-market activities. However, we strongly assert
that the welcome improvement in funding of the general research
and HE environment over the past decade was a critical investment
that has already contributed to real economic growth.
3. However, additional returns on that investment
have yet to be realised and we are concerned that the talent and
environment on which their full development depends should be
protected. We believe that ongoing investment in science skills
and their use can continue to attract inward investment, support
export markets and, very importantly, continue the tradition of
the UK's contribution to global prosperity and well-being. This
is highly valued by the public and internationally respected.
4. The threatened STFC budget cuts have
caused alarm in the HE and research sector which of itself can
be damaging. Already there are threats to the integrity of research
programmes with researchers considering moves to other institutions,
including institutions abroad. This will be an evolutionary process
and the stresses applied may well produce quite a different landscape
across some disciplines. We sincerely hope that this can be managed
adaptively to help protect important areas and vulnerable subjects.
5. We are in communication with our members
on these matters and will continue to be so. We hope to be able
to provide sound information to inform judgments on policy implementation
as it emerges. We urge the Committee to maintain its oversight
of this issue.
The Society of Biology is a single unified voice
for biology: advising Government and public bodies and influencing
policy; advancing education and professional development; supporting
biologists, and engaging and encouraging public interest in the
life sciences. The Society of Biology is a charity, created by
the unification of the Biosciences Federation and the Institute
of Biology, and is building on the heritage and reputation of
these two organisations to champion the study and development
of biology, and provide expert guidance and opinion. The Society
represents a diverse membership of over 80,000—including
students, practising scientists and interested non-professionals—as
individuals, or through the learned societies and other organisations
listed below.
The Society of Biology is pleased for this response
to be publicly available and will post a copy at www.societyofbiology.org
when the Committee allows.
| Anatomical Society of Great Britain & Ireland
| Heads of University Biological Sciences |
| Association for Radiation Research | Heads of University Centres of Biomedical Science
|
| Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
| Institute of Animal Technology |
| Association of Applied Biologists | International Biometric Society
|
| Association of Clinical Microbiologists |
Laboratory Animal Science Association |
| AstraZeneca | Linnean Society
|
| Biochemical Society | Marine Biological Association of UK
|
| Breakspear Hospital | Nutrition Society
|
| British Andrology Society | Physiological Society
|
| British Association for Lung Research | RNID
|
| British Association for Psychopharmacology |
Royal Entomological Society |
| British Bariatric Medical Society | Royal Microscopical Society
|
| British Biophysical Society | Royal Society of Chemistry
|
| British Crop Production Council | Science and Plants in Schools
|
| British Ecological Society | Scottish Association for Marine Science
|
| British Lichen Society | Society for Applied Microbiology
|
| British Microcirculation Society | Society for Endocrinology
|
| British Mycological Society | Society for Experimental Biology
|
| British Neuroscience Association | Society for General Microbiology
|
| British Pharmacological Society | Society for Reproduction and Fertility
|
| British Phycological Society | Society for the Study of Human Biology
|
| British Society for Ecological Medicine |
Society of Pharmaceutical Medicine |
| British Society for Immunology | Syngenta
|
| British Society for Matrix Biology | UK Environmental Mutagen Society
|
| British Society for Medical Mycology | University Bioscience Managers' Association
|
| British Society for Neuroendocrinology |
Zoological Society of London |
| British Society for Plant Pathology |
|
| British Society for Proteome Research |
|
| British Society for Research on Ageing |
|
| British Society for Soil Science | SUPPORTING MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
|
| British Society of Animal Science | Association of Medical Research Charities
|
| British Toxicology Society | BBSRC
|
| Experimental Psychology Society | GlaxoSmithKline
|
| Fisheries Society of the British Isles |
Medical Research Council |
| Freshwater Biological Association | Pfizer UK
|
| Genetics Society | Wellcome Trust
|
