UKRI’s university funding to be ‘less tactical, more strategic’

That’s good to know. So what about ensuring regional and EDIA are also accounted for or are we going to create a mono-dimensional research landscape. Creating specialised clubs in and between institutions with over regulation, will stifle creativity and innovation, which is the core of why we do research.

The downside of this - someone in UKRI decides which uni is their strategic partner. Every other uni in the UK is now excluded from that field. If UKRI makes its decisions wisely, and its people know the field well and change as the data changes - we will be fine. If, on the other hand, the UKRI makes its decisions based on someone's self-interest or spurious interests - we are completely screwed. Trouble is UKRI has been very strongly driven by politics recently. Both internal and from ministers. Nobody who knows them could resonably have any confidence they will pick the true growth areas. They will entrench, and the entrenched groups will hold the line and make sure they keep their entitlements, in the name of strategy. So - this is only a good idea if someone works really hard on supervising the UKRI...

Management verbiage concealing a political agenda

Recent years its has been a waste of effort to write grants. Better focus efforts to write individual papers.