Research money shouldn't be used to fund Big Society

UCU today said that research funding mustn't be used to fund the government's political projects, and called for legislation to protect the independence of research councils.
 
Responding to reports that the Arts and Humanities Research Council will be forced to commission research in to David Cameron's Big Society, the union said any such decision would be a clear breach of academic freedom and a worrying development for the sector.
 
UCU said the Haldane principle - a convention that for 90 years has protected the right of academics to decide where research funds should be spent, had been stretched to breaking point and that new measures were needed to protect the integrity of UK research.
 
The news comes just a month after universities minister David Willetts announced that 20% of future research would be assessed on 'economic impacts', despite over 18,000 academics, including six Nobel Prize winners and more than 3,000 professors, signing a UCU petition against impact proposals. More on that can be found here
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'This is further evidence of the government trying to micro-manage research funding and raises serious questions over academic freedom. Academics should be in the driving seat when it comes to deciding where research funds are spent and money shouldn't be siphoned off in to politically driven projects such as the Big Society.
 
'The government mustn't use its control of the finances to ensure compliance with its own political agenda. There is a clear need for legislation to protect the independence of research councils.'