The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has published a report arguing that UK government research funding is encouraging “pointless” research and skewing research priorities as Universities strive for ever higher REF (Research Excellence Framework) ratings.
But this raises a few fundamental questions…
Today, the IEA published a report entitled, “Abolishing the higher education Research Excellence Framework (the REF).”
The Research Excellence Framework assesses the research generated by UK universities and is used to help allocate between one fifth and one quarter of total Government research funding.
The argument is that, despite its relatively modest financial impact, the REF swallows significant resources and distorts resource allocation within the higher education sector away from teaching and knowledge dissemination.
It also exerts a greater influence because it is used as a form of independent endorsement by universities marketing themselves to prospective students.
The IEA goes on to argue that “there is a strong case for reducing the total amount of government subsidy for research and expecting universities to generate their own funds for research and scholarship or support it by reducing overhead costs.”
Unsurprisingly, the UK press has been quick to point the finger at “silly” and “pointless” research, done for its own sake – diverting academic attention away from teaching to vanity projects for themselves and their university.
But when is research pointless?
The biggest scientific discoveries have been made by accident. If all research was forced to follow an incremental process of investigation, where would the quantum leaps in discovery come from?
The Telegraph points the finger at research looking into “why cookies crumble” – which certainly sounds silly.
The project, at the University of Loughborough in Leicestershire, was designed to discover why biscuits are often broken whilst still in their packets. It learned that it was not primarily caused by packaging or transport, but because of fault lines within the biscuits during manufacture. By adjusting temperature and humidity during baking, manufacturers could in theory produce the perfect biscuit all the time.
Highly practical and valuable to industry – not at all silly.
I would argue that research is never pointless if it extends our understanding – after all, isn’t that what research is all about?
Links -
Abolishing the higher education research excellence framework - IEA
Universities wasting public money on pointless research - The Telegraph
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