On Tuesday 2 July the Universities and Science Minister, Chris Skidmore, announced additional research funding for universities of £91m.

Artists impression of the new Enterprise Centre.

The announcement is accompanied by a letter from Research England setting out how this will be reflected in institutional allocations for 2019-20.

The minister indicated that about half the additional funding will be allocated towards supporting general research within universities, the so-called QR (quality related) funding, which is based upon the subject-based research excellence found within institutions.

In addition, a number of specific projects are being funded to address important challenges at the heart of the government’s Industrial Strategy, including financial support for Royal Holloway’s Cyber Security Innovation Centre.  The Centre is part of the university’s proposed Enterprise Centre, with the government’s funding coming via the Local Enterprise Partnership. 

The Minister is quoted as saying: “The additional funding will give universities more capacity to invest in the people, partnerships and infrastructure that are essential for delivering cutting-edge research that brings real-world benefits. For example, past funding has supported the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, based at the University of Manchester, that is improving clinical care and treatment for cancer patients, and the funding underpins the work of the Cyber Security Innovation at Royal Holloway, University of London, to carry out research into pressing cyber security problems across a number of industries.”

Professor Paul Layzell, Principal of Royal Holloway, said: “The increase in general funding for research is very welcome supporting colleagues to continue to explore new ideas, from blue skies thinking to applied research.  The commitment to support our Cyber Security Innovation work is an example of funding that is focused on a set of specific outcomes that will bring benefit to a wider range of industries, as well as improving the cyber security of individual citizens.”