In a news article on Nature.com, it was reported that Adrian Smith, Director-General for Science and Research at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, had told a recent conference that “serious questions” would need to be asked about how research in the UK would be funded in the future. He stressed the importance of international collaboration and gaining international investment for UK scientific research projects. He also raised the question of the balance between the different government funding streams, where the majority of funding is “quality related” (HEFCE) as opposed to the smaller budgets for technology transfer (Higher Education Innovation Fund) and for business-led projects (Technology Strategy Board). Full article available at nature.com
