The Future of Higher Education

Written evidence from the Research Councils UK (RCUK)

1. Research Councils UK (RCUK) is a strategic partnership set up to champion research supported by the seven UK Research Councils. RCUK was established in 2002 to enable the Councils to work together more effectively to enhance the overall impact and effectiveness of their research, training and innovation activities, contributing to the delivery of the Government’s objectives for science and innovation. Further details are available at www.rcuk.ac.uk

2. This evidence is submitted by RCUK on behalf of the Research Councils listed below and represents their independent views. It does not include, or necessarily reflect the views of the Knowledge and Innovation Group in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The submission is made on behalf of the following Councils:

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Medical Research Council (MRC)

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

3. RCUK considers that investment in attracting, training and managing the next generation of world-class researchers makes a major contribution to the impact of research and benefits the economic and social wellbeing of the UK.

4. RCUK considers that supporting excellent graduates and encouraging them to move into research training and careers develops the next generation of academic and non-academic researchers and helps maintain the capacity and quality of the UK research base. Our vision is :

· to ensure that the best potential researchers from a diverse population are attracted into research careers;

· to enhance the quality of research training and the employability of early stage researchers; and

· to enhance the impact of UK researchers by promoting improved career development and management of research staff by research organisations .

5. The Research Councils fund 25% of all PhD graduates in the UK (44% of UK domiciled Doctoral graduates and 35% of UK/EU domiciled PhD graduates).

6. In our published response to the Browne Review [1] we identified concerns that should be taken into account when implementing the recommendations :

· The ability to continue to achieve widening participation and attract the best people into higher education.

· The impact on funding provision and supply of graduates across all academic disciplines.

· The balance between teaching and research to consider the impact of pressures on both sides as many academics are active researchers and teachers.

7. RCUK has a further con cern about the potential impact of the Browne Review and changes to tuition fees on the whole system, and particularly on research PhDs.  We will ensure that this concern is input to Professor Sir Adrian Smith to reconvene his review panel and consider the issue in the light of the new funding environment.

8. RCUK also provided a significant input to ‘One Step Beyond - Making the most of postgraduate education’ by Professor Adrian Smith. We published a short response to the report on 31 March 2010 . [2] Our input to ‘On e Step Beyond’ described important areas of RCUK activity which influence HE provision and outcomes from postgraduate research training . T hese include :

8.1. Funding and structures for postgraduate training
Research Councils have progressively introduced training- or block-grant models for postgraduate funding that allow flexibility to hig her education institutions (HEI s) to offer longer postgraduate courses including 4-year courses in certain strategic and interdisciplinary areas. Recent developments also include a strong focus on doctoral training centres which may support cohorts of doctoral students in strategic areas or critical mass in selected disciplines and institutions . These and other approaches de liver greater concentration of resources in centres of excellence.

8.2. Destinations of postgraduate researchers
Over half of doctoral graduates take employment outside HEIs. RCUK is helping to build better understanding of career destinations of postgraduate researchers, their career progression and the various economic and social impacts they achieve by undertaking a major longitudinal analysis of doctoral graduates across all disciplines. The results are published in ‘What do Researchers Do? – doctoral graduate destinations and impact three years on . [3] RCUK funds the Vitae Programme which provides careers advice to postgraduate researchers and helps drive HEI s to provide their postgraduates with the employability skills they need to succeed.

8.3. Employability of postgraduate researchers
RCUK have addressed the employability of postgraduate researchers by stimulating a step-change in the provision of a broad range of transferable skills training for postgraduate researchers to ensure that HEI's embrace transferable skills fully in their training programmes. We remain committed to this agenda .

9. RCUK is able to provide the Committee with further information if requested including its input to ‘One Step Beyond’ and welcomes the decision by BIS to reconvene Professor Adrian Smith’s Postgraduate Review in the light of the new funding environment.

10 March 2011