Enable charitable research funds to be spent only on research
Charities are valuable funders of research in UK universities.
Medical research charities contribute approximately one third of all public expenditure on medical and health research in the UK. They spend more than 80% of their research funding in UK universities in the form of research grants, support for staff and infrastructure.
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Recognising this, the government partners their investment with a funding stream directed towards charity-funded research.
This funding, know as the Charity Research Support Fund, meets the indirect costs of this research, such as maintaining general university infrastructure, which fall outside charitable objectives, so cannot be covered by charities.
In practice, charities fund up to 60% of the full economic cost of research in universities, although individual charities' grant terms and conditions will vary.
The British Heart Foundation funds over half of all cardiovascular research taking place in universities in the UK. The Charity Research Support funding this attracts is a key part of the block Quality Related (QR) funding universities receive, which they are free to strategically invest in their infrastructure and develop world-leading research centres.
The BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre is funded jointly by the British Heart Foundation and the University of Glasgow.
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UK Health Research Analysis, UK Clinical Research Collaboration; 2006
BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre»
The Charity Research Support element of Quality Related funding aims to bring charity funding in universities up to the 80% of the full economic costs of research that research councils provide.
Breast Cancer Campaign is funding research at Leicester University which is helping identify those likely to develop heart disease as a side effect of radiotherapy for breast cancer.
This research, which was elible for Charity Research Support funding, could lead to a test to identify these women and work to reduce their side effects.
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AMRC support our member charities on funding research in universities in the UK.
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In our policy activities we raise awareness of the Charity Research Support Funds with universities and institutions, government and policymakers.
Charities are concerned that limited awareness of the funds means that they may not receive requests to support the excellent research that their donors want to support.
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Charities are committed to maintaining long-term funding pledges in the current economic recession.
54% of AMRC member charities were able to maintain their funding profile throughout 2009-10; and looking ahead to 2010-11, 63% were expecting to keep their research expenditure at 2009-10 levels, 21% planned to increase research funding and only 8% planned to reduce their funding.
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