The new chief executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has warned university leaders that their institutions might need to start doing “fewer things but doing them really well”, stating he is wary of a “crumbs for everyone” approach to funding.
In his first public comments since taking over at the ?9 billion-a-year research funder last month, Ian Chapman told Universities UK’s annual conference that the UK’s academic research was, overall, “incredibly good” and “properly world class” but he backed?ministerial calls for institutions to specialise further?on the types of research they pursue.
“For too long we have tried to do more than our budget allows. Frankly we have tried to cover all bases,” said Chapman, a former chief executive at the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
“We should know what we’re really good at and do it really well so I’m a big advocate of doing fewer things but doing them really well. Instead of crumbs to everybody, it [should be a] meal to the things that we have real growth potential in,” Chapman told the event at the University of Exeter on 4 September.
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Urging vice-chancellors to sharpen their institutions’ focus, he said: “I would encourage you to think about what is your specialism, what are you really deeply good at, and invest heavily in that strategy.”
Chapman said he was heartened by ministers’ desire for UKRI to play a role in supporting economic growth through its research funding.
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“What I think is really pleasing about this government is that they are saying these are the things that we want to prioritise. These are our growth sectors, these are the bits that we’re going to double down on,” he said.
“Expect UKRI as a government arm’s-length body to follow that plan – the [government’s] industrial strategy is clear these are the areas that we see as high growth potential for the country, and we will be backing those things,” said Chapman, urging vice-chancellors “to respond in kind” to that call for specialisation.
Chapman, a nuclear physicist, explained, however, that this response to government priorities did not mean neglecting basic research.
“It’s a thing that matters to me personally very deeply. I’ve spent my whole career working in fusion energy. If you want to find a long-term research project then it is the longest of long-term research projects,” he explained on the decades-long search for an alternative to nuclear fission for energy purposes.
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“So I really do believe in the benefit of long-term curiosity-driven research. But…addressing government priorities and helping companies to grow and importantly to scale are super important and we don’t do enough on that,” he said.
Addressing the vast portfolio of research supported by UKRI, which supports about 22,000 projects across hundreds of disciplines, he added: “That portfolio of IP is insanely valuable – if we thought of it as a portfolio, we should be able to do so much more, leveraging both industry participation and, frankly, investment capital into that portfolio. That then allows us to spin the wheels and do more of the curiosity-driven research,” he said.
On winning the case for more research funding, he continued: “We talk about how much money we’re spending, what intervention we’ve made and things that we’ve started but we talk very little about outputs and outcomes. I would like us to think more in terms of delivery and outputs because frankly that is what buys you autonomy. It’s what buys you trust from the government, from our backers.”
Stating the UKRI was there “to serve the taxpayer”, Chapman said it was important to make the case publicly for the value of research by relating it to people’s lives. “We take a lot of taxpayers’ money. We need to help improve the lives and, even more importantly, the livelihoods, the economic opportunity for the taxpayer. We’re entrusted with a lot of public money and so we need to deliver outcomes and outputs for them,” he said.
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“Being crystal clear about what we’re trying to get out and being focused on driving that to the very end, rather than worrying about the next thing we can start – this would be certainly a thing I want to imbue in my organisation,” he said.
Rather than seeking to “do more”, universities should “focus more”, said Chapman. “I firmly believe that if you focus and you deliver, then you buy trust – you buy trust from your investor, which is the taxpayer in our case.”
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“If they say, OK, we see how this is a benefit to us and it’s helping to drive the economy – and we feel it and see it – then the government puts in more money and allows you to do more,” he said.
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