UK chief science adviser to head new overarching funding body

UK government chief science adviser Mark Walport has been picked to head UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a new umbrella body bringing together seven research councils, the innovation agency, Innovate UK and research funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, that will oversee a £6 billion research budget annually.

John Kingman, acting permanent secretary to the Treasury, was confirmed as the body’s first non-executive chair.

While still subject to the passage of a bill through parliament, UKRI promises a big shake up how the country’s research is funded. It is supposed to ensure greater co-ordination on science investment and greater engagement of politicians.

However, some academics fear the new body could rip up a system regarded as one that works well and undermine the hallowed Haldane Principle, which holds that the government has no say on what areas of science national research funding is spent.

The appointment of Walport and Kingman, who both work in government roles, may do little to quell this particular concern.

Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge who has spoken out against the new structure, said, “[Walport] now finds himself holding that extremely powerful new position. One hopes that he will be mindful of the concerns about how this unwieldy conglomerate will operate, and the widespread view that the individual research councils should not be downgraded.”

Walport played down fears research funders would lose their independence. “We must ensure that we maintain the autonomy of individual Councils, including Innovate UK and Research England,” he said.  “UKRI will support the excellent work of the nine councils, but it will also challenge them to ensure that the whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts. It will work [….] to ensure that proposals do not ‘slip between the cracks’ between the constituent parts of UKRI.”

As well as his science advice duties, Walport co-chairs the Council for Science and Technology, which advises the prime minister on scientific matters. The government has not clarified whether he will retain his current roles.

There was a positive reaction to Walport’s appointment from some scientists. “It will be a very difficult role but if anyone can do it, Mark can,” said Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Professor of Psychological Medicine at King’s College London.

Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, said, “Mark should also be well placed to address the concerns of the science community about ensuring that establishing UKRI causes minimal disruption to an already highly efficient research ecosystem and protects the autonomy of the individual research councils.”

The new funding arrangement was recommended by Nobel Laureate Paul Nurse, who leads London’s Francis Crick Institute, in a review of UK research councils published in 2015.

Before he was appointed chief scientific adviser in 2012, Walport was director of the medical research charity Wellcome Trust.