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HEFCE research funding

We provide quality-related (QR) funding to universities as a block grant, which allows higher education institutions (HEIs) the freedom to decide how they use these funds.

Autonomy and flexibility

This enables a degree of research stability and independence not provided by other funding sources, and ensures that universities:

  • drive innovation and respond flexibly to changing needs as autonomous institutions
  • invest in new and emerging areas
  • grow and support new talent and protect important research areas.

The flexibility of this funding provides universities with the resources to:

  • support the cutting edge of knowledge
  • sustain responsive research
  • sustain a world-class research environment
  • develop people and skills.

Securing world-class research in UK universities

Produced in collaboration with Universities UK and the other UK funding bodies, our publication 'Securing world-class research in UK universities: Exploring the impact of block grant funding' illustrates the wide variety of ways in which universities use this funding. It highlights how QR funding underpins the most productive and efficient publicly funded research system in the G8 and enables the UK to continue to compete and thrive on the world stage.

Please note that the following amendment was made in November 2009:
name corrected for Goldsmiths, University of London.

Securing world-class research in UK universities: Exploring the impact of block grant funding

[ Adobe PDF 393K | MS Word 34K ]

HEFCE research funding 2009-10

In 2009-10 HEFCE will distribute £1,572 million quality-related research funding. Details of how this money has been allocated are provided in our announcement on recurrent grants (HEFCE 2009/08).

This quality-related funding is made up of the following elements:

  • £1,074 million for mainstream QR grant
  • £32.3 million for London weighting for mainstream QR
  • £202.7 million for the research degree programme (RDP) supervision fund
  • £193.6 million for the charity support element
  • £62.9 million for the business research element
  • £6.5 million for research libraries.

The annual quality-related research funding data and funding method are available.

More information on HEFCE's funding method is available in 'Funding higher education in England' (HEFCE 2008/33).

Last updated 26 November 2009