Research Council

The UK Research Councils are government agencies responsible for co-ordinating and funding particular areas of research, including the arts, humanties, all areas of science and engineering. They have five main functions, which are to:

* Fund basic, strategic and applied research.
* Support postgraduate training (PhDs and masters students and fellows).
* Advance knowledge and technology and provide services and trained scientists and engineers to contribute to the economic competitiveness, the effectiveness of public services and policy, and quality of life.
* Support science in society activities.
* Provide access for UK researchers to large research facilities, which it achieves either by owning them and operating them or through international subscriptions to major facilities such as the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory.

When engaging in joint action, the term "Research Councils UK" (RCUK) is used as a collective moniker. For the precise distinction, see their [http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/ official website] .

Organisation

Research councils are non-departmental government bodies incorporated by Royal Charter. They receive public funds from the Department of Trade and Industry through the Office of Science and Innovation and have a combined annual budget of around £2.8 billion. Of this over £1 billion is spent on research grants and training in UK higher education institutions, forming one element of the UK's dual support system of research funding. (The other is provided through block grants provided by the UK Funding Councils.)

Research Council grants currently support around 50,000 researchers through 18,000 grants and about 8000 PhDs are awarded annually as a result of their funding. The Councils employ around 13,000 directly of which 9,000 are researchers and technicians working in institutes and facilities such as the British Antarctic Survey, the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, the Roslin Institute and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

Research Council funding is guided by the Haldane Principle the idea that research funding decisions are made independently from Government.

Councils

There are seven Research Councils:

* Arts and Humanities Research Council ( [http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/ AHRC website] )
* Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council ( [http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/ BBSRC website] )
* Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council ( [http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/ EPSRC website] )
* Economic and Social Research Council ( [http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ ESRC website] )
* Medical Research Council ( [http://www.mrc.ac.uk/ MRC website] )
* Natural Environment Research Council ( [http://www.nerc.ac.uk/ NERC website] )
* Science and Technology Facilities Council ( [http://www.scitech.ac.uk/ STFC website] )

Prior to April 2007 there were two independent councils, PPARC (the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council) and CCLRC (the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils) which primarily funded research in areas of the physical sciences. These were combined to the form the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

The MRC has its head office in central London, the AHRC is based in Bristol and the other five research councils and RCUK operate from a single complex in Swindon. The Research Councils have a joint Office in Brussels - the United Kingdom Research Office ( [http://www.ukro.ac.uk/ UKRO] ).

History

Although the MRC has a longer pedigree, dating back to 1913, the establishment of the other core Councils dates back to the Science & Technology Act of 1965. This created the Science Research Council (SRC) and NERC. Also founded in 1965 was the Social Sciences Research Council, later to become ESRC. The SRC became the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) in the early 1980s and in 1994 split into EPSRC and PPARC.