UK “sleepwalking” into loss of research assets, ARMA warns

The Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA) has released a new report on the financial sustainability of research following a set of workshops with research management professionals from across the the higher education sector.

The report suggest that the risk of the permanent damage to the UK’s research base arising from university cost saving measures has already materialised:

“Workshops highlighted that financial pressures across higher education are no longer a future concern but are already influencing behaviour across the research lifecycle. Institutions are making difficult decisions about where to direct limited resources, resulting in changes to research priorities, support structures and investment decisions.”

Workshop participants also reported that while work demands are going up, particularly in post-award activity, capacity is being reduced. This was said to be leading to a situation where there is now “a real risk of weakening delivery capacity at precisely the point when the sector needs it most, potentially undermining both the effectiveness and sustainability of future research activity.” Concern was also expressed about the impact of financial strain on research culture and researcher career progression.

ARMA’s recommendations include greater consistency of approach between funders – such as explicit guidance around costing – as well as review points for longer awards to allow budgets to be revisited in the event of significant upward cost pressures. Institutions are asked to invest in skills and capacity, and to strengthen their costing, pricing and cost recovery policies.

Demand management is said to have been a “strong theme” in the workshops. Imposing limits on applications was seen by some as increasing the burden of work on the staff at individual research institutions. in response, funders are asked to state “clearly and early” whether and how demand management applies to a given funding opportunity.