• UK govt announces £600m of new science spending
    19 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20614925[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]Chancellor George Osborne has announced a £600m injection into the UK's scientific research infrastructure in his Autumn Statement.[/B] The money is directed at eight strands of research outlined by the Chancellor in a November speech to the Royal Society. These include synthetic biology, energy storage and advanced materials. The commitment brings the total capital spending in science since the 2010 spending review to more than £1.5bn. The Comprehensive Spending Review had seen the £4.6bn annual science and innovation budget [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11586995]ring-fenced and frozen in cash terms[/url] - effectively representing an annual cut by the rate of inflation. But Wednesday's announcement dwarfs the [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15939275]£200m allocated in the 2011 Autumn Statement[/url]. It will be spent over the course of three years, with £10m, £282m and £308m annual expenditures. It adds to the £300m commitment [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20250533]made at the November speech[/url], in which the Chancellor pledged to increase the UK's spend in the space sector by £60m annually over five years. Scientists and learned societies welcomed the news. "It will support high-tech areas where the UK's research base and industry can gain a competitive advantage," said Science Minister David Willetts. "This will drive growth, create the jobs of the future and help us get ahead in the global race." President of the Royal Society, Paul Nurse, said that the new investment "will hopefully help ensure that our world-leading scientists have world-leading facilities with which to work". "We have some way to go to match the public and private investment levels in research and development of some of our competitor economies but we have the advantage of already being truly world class in many areas of science," he said. However, he warned against focussing disproportionately on the eight areas of excellence outlined by the Chancellor in November ("big data" computing, synthetic biology, regenerative medicine, agricultural science, energy storage, space, robotics and advanced materials including nanotechnology). "We must also make sure that we maintain capital and other support across a broad range of science. We must not narrow our focus too much and risk sacrificing the ideas that will create growth decades from now."[/quote]
[quote]These include synthetic biology, energy storage and advanced materials.[/quote] Very useful fields.
Didn't this happen last month?
[QUOTE=mac338;38713482]Didn't this happen last month?[/QUOTE] [quote]It adds to the £300m commitment made at the November speech[/quote] £900m if you count that
Wow, the U.K's been on the ball lately with all of this stuff.
Throw some money at NASA please. Our own government won't.
I bet it gets cut before it can be used.
[QUOTE=venn178;38713967]Throw some money at NASA please. Our own government won't.[/QUOTE] Strikes me we'd be better throwing it at the ESA, y'know?
Oh wow we did something productive. UK most innovative country 2012
This is awesome, I just found out today that my uni wants to set up a research group on novel materials to be used in Energy production and storage and high capacity and speed solid state memory, hopefully we'll be able to grab some of this dosh.
Having had massive numbers from other news articles thrown about so much I keep losing track of how much this actually is :v: That's a lot of money!
Meanwhile, us Americans are fighting about whether or not gays should marry
[QUOTE=zombays;38714625]Meanwhile, us Americans are fighting about whether or not gays should marry[/QUOTE] I imagine America puts a hell of a lot more into science than we do. Plus the UK has it's own political issues, some of which are pretty similar to the issues you lot have with republicans.
I have to admit I think we're on a bit of a rise socially/economically. There's been a lot of good news about our country lately.
[QUOTE=carcarcargo;38714729]I imagine America puts a hell of a lot more into science than we do.[/QUOTE] Nope, science is for sinners
[QUOTE=zombays;38714625]Meanwhile, us Americans are fighting about whether or not gays should marry[/QUOTE] Don't worry, we're doing that too. More Americans have access to gay marriage than British people do.
[QUOTE=Medevilae;38716521]It's really not as much money as you think it is[/QUOTE] It really isn't when we're talking about government spending. UK is going to spend 30 billion £ alone in paying debt [I]interest[/I] this year.
[QUOTE=zombays;38714625]Meanwhile, us Americans are fighting about whether or not gays should marry[/QUOTE] Don't forget, the Federal Government just pledged more than $500,000,000 in research grants for larger, more efficient batteries as part of a project dubbed the "Manhattan Project" of our time.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;38716962]Don't forget, the Federal Government just pledged more than $500,000,000 in research grants for larger, more efficient batteries as part of a project dubbed the "Manhattan Project" of our time.[/QUOTE] That was $120m
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.