Government departments slash research
The government has come under renewed pressure this week over its swingeing cuts to departmental research and development, shown by the Science, Engineering and Technology statistics released last year.
The cuts have been highlighted by articles in the Financial Times, Research Fortnight and a follow-up blog post from the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE). Scienceogram produced the following graph, showing the disproportionate cuts to departmental R&D when compared to cuts to overall budgets in those departments.
‘It’s difficult to marry the Chancellor’s enthusiasm for science…with the severe pressure on departmental R&D both through budget cuts and consideration of the future of our national research institutes,’ CaSE Director Dr Sarah Main told Research Fortnight.
Freedom of Information requests by CaSE also showed that these cuts to R&D had occurred without any of the departments consulting the Treasury or the government chief scientist, contravening official guidelines.
We at Scienceogram also responded to the SET Statistics when they were released last year.
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