North-South research divide

Citation

(2000), "North-South research divide", Education + Training, Vol. 42 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2000.00442bab.006

North-South research divide

North-South research divide

Keywords: Research, Funding, United Kingdom

University researchers in the South East attract more research funds and are more highly rated than their academic colleagues in the Midlands and the North, according to figures complied by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Researchers in the East received an average of £29,000 of funding council grants last year, while academics in the West Midlands received only £16,000 - £6,000 less than the national average.

While research funds accounted for about 30 per cent of total funding-council income in the East, South East and London, in the Midlands and North East it made up less than a fifth of council grants for universities.

Four-fifths of all researchers in English university departments which secured top five-star rating in the last research-assessment exercise are base in the East, South East and London.

The figures show that £250 million is being channelled into London institutions for research in 1999-2000. This is almost a third of the funding council's budget, and reflects the concentration of universities and large medical schools in London. But the statistics show that the weighting of resources towards the South is not only because of the greater number of researchers, but also their ability to attract funds.