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Workshop 4: Research priorities in the public sector

21st & 22nd July 2005

The fourth workshop dealt with processes of setting agendas and priorities for publicly funded research. What are the criteria involved (for instance, relevance, value, public good, topicality, capacity building, etc.) and how are these operationalised in practice and in different institutional settings? How do research funders interpret and respond - either directly or indirectly - to non-academic priorities? To answer these questions, this workshop compared the strategies and experiences of government departments, research councils (in the UK and other European countries), and those who support international research activity, focusing on a selection of recent examples.

Bringing together participants from research councils and priority boards and from a range of government departments, this workshop reviewed and reflected on the processes involved in producing an agreed call for proposals for an integrated research programme, and/or in choosing between competing priorities for funding. Going beyond the mechanics (consultation meetings, background papers etc.), the aim was to show when and how academic and non-academic considerations interact in determining why one path is taken and not another.

Resources

Programmes workshop agenda (144 k)

Programmes workshop discussion paper (251 k)

Research Programmes, presentation by Jim Skea, UKERC (164 k)

Government Research Programming, presentation by Jenny Grey, DfES (595 k)

Science Policy and Agenda-Setting, presentation by Barend van der Meulen, University of Twente (86 k)

Programmes workshop report (106 k)

Video

Vicki Nash interviews Jim Skea from the UK Energy Research Centre

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Download Low resolution Mp4, (requires Quicktime 7, 48 MB)

Download Higher resolution Mp4, (requires Quicktime 7, 115 MB)