The Science is Vital campaign group has issued a report on the legacy of the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review for UK science. The science budget saw a cash freeze in 2010, but this has been a 10 percent cut in real terms. The report shows that, as a result, researchers are reporting a drop in grants, difficulty in finding money for equipment and consumables and a struggle to recruit PhD students.
In response to the report, the chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Dr Robert Parker said that the findings outlined in this report are deeply concerning. This is the first attempt that has been made to find out what is really happening in universities across the UK as a result of the 2010 science budget freeze.
What is most striking and concerning about the feedback from researchers in this report is that the UK looks to be facing a knowledge drain, Dr Parker continued. There is a clear feeling that the science funding situation in the UK is worse than in other countries, and that young, talented scientists are feeling forced to leave the UK to pursue their careers abroad in countries like the USA and Australia, or to leave science altogether.
The UK currently spends less than 0.6 per cent of GDP on funding for research - lower than the average EU spend and lower still than the average G8 spend on government science funding. Science is Vital is calling for a goal to meet the G8 average of 0.8 percent of GDP.
Dr Parker called for politicians to commit to increase UK science spending to the EU average, 0.7 percent of GDP, by the end of the next Parliament in 2020.
