Author: /u/ManiaforBeatles
^- ^WW2 ^Tweets ^from ^1940 ^(@RealTimeWWII) ^| ^March ^22, ^2018
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national funding agency for science and research, has recently released a 30 page review of its funding policy (and a two page summary) for current doctoral students, the key takeaway of which is that it will not be providing funding extensions for the majority of doctoral students that have lost research time due to the pandemic. This will have a significant negative effect on large numbers of student researchers who have lost 6+ months during the university closure earlier this year, meaning either many will struggle to finish their degrees or standards will have to be greatly lowered. At a national level either option will damage the UK's position as a world leader in research, and will potentially damage our ability to deal with future crises where scientific knowledge is crucial. At a more personal one it introduces a whole range of problems for current students (see this guardian article for a few examples).
There can be little doubt that a significant proportion of UK researchers working on coronavirus and COVID-19 had their PhDs funded through UKRI agencies such as the Bioscience and Biotechnology Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). It seems unwise to handicap the next generation of researchers just as the importance of science and research is being demonstrated more clearly than ever before. While obviously the pandemic has put the public finances under a huge amount of pressure, the cost of providing a 6-month extension to a few thousand PhD students with stipends comparable to minimum wage is miniscule compared to the furlough and eat out to help out schemes.
I’m sure salaries are expensive, but I can’t get my head round the rest.
