Research England creates and sustains the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and knowledge exchange system in English universities.
We do this through:
Providing performance-based, institution-focussed funding to deliver excellent research and high-performance knowledge exchange, unlocking potential, generating economic and social impact, and meeting national priorities and global challenges. This includes a strong focus on high-value, strategic and agile funding streams such as the £1.6bn quality-related research funding and the £200m Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF).
Higher Education sector analysis: Gathering evidence of the interactions between research and innovation policy and English university sector activity, including on effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact. This includes delivering the Research Excellence Framework (REF) that underpins the UK’s performance-based research funding and leading the development and analysis of the Higher Education – Business and Community Interactions (HE-BCI) survey in partnership with the devolved HE funding bodies and the other councils of UK Research and Innovation.
Engagement with universities: Developing an understanding of institutional strategy, capability and capacity. We do this by implementing policy to support effectiveness, efficiency and continuous improvement in the English university sector. This includes working with the Office for Students to gather a complete institutional picture across research and teaching and mobilising the enterprise, skills and innovation contributions of universities, researchers and students to deliver the UK’s Industrial Strategy.
Advocacy and Challenge: We work with representative bodies from all parts of the HE sector to present the opportunities which English universities can offer to the international and national research system and to national and local innovation infrastructure. At the same time, we will challenge universities to tackle the priorities set by UK Research and Innovation’s overarching research and innovation strategy.