Changing the Culture
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The UK should focus more research effort at the boundaries between engineering and science. This should be problem solving, design based, and aimed at the interests of the new high-technology industries. Referees need to be carefully selected to be sympathetic to these aims. In doing more research at the interfaces the UK should not neglect the core. There must be encouragement to import new tools into the field. [Research Councils]top |
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The evaluation of research grants should be based on refereed publications rather than on pre-defined deliverables to encourage innovation. These publications may emerge some time after the grant completion for short grants.[Research Councils] top |
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The UK should pay attention to funding blue-sky proposals, which tend to be supported strongly by one or two referees but can easily be misunderstood by the majority. [Research Councils] top |
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Younger panel members should be included on grant-assessment panels; they could learn much from the experience. [Research Councils] top |
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One-off start-up grants to establish infrastructure and promote critical mass for an interdisciplinary research group would be useful. These are distinct from the continuous funding mechanisms for IRCs, which tend to reduce the number of groups involved, and discourage the emergence of new groups. [Research Councils] top |
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UK industry should support university research through generic support as well as through individual projects. The consortium is a good model to study. UK industry needs to understand better the value of the chemical engineering Ph.D. [Industry] top |