Stephanie Smith
@PolicySteph
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Deputy Director of Policy @RussellGroup. Chair of school governors @TheBridgeMAT. All tweets in a personal capacity.
London
Joined May 2013
The first #RPNLive2025 panel session sees UCL’s Graeme Reid, University of Manchester’s Andy Westwood, Case exec director Alicia Greated, N8 director Annette Bramley and the Russell Group’s Stephanie Smith research and inclusive growth.
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Welcome confirmation at @ResProfNews conference that @UKRI_News will take steps to strengthen financial resilience of research including making clear where match-funding is not an expectation or requirement for funding.
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Really helpful explainers from @MartinSLewis below. The measures we have taken today allow us to stabilise universities, target more support to those who need it most and begin the work of reform, to build a system that ends the cycle of students paying more while getting less.
Just to be really clear if you asked me "Is it worth raising max tuition fees by 3.1% to get a 3.1% rise in maintenance loans (both now confirmed)?". My answer is YES. Tuition fee rises don't effect most 1st time students (unless so wealthy they opt not to get loans), they
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A promising new drug developed by researchers from @UofGChem, @UofGARC and international colleagues could help combat the spread of treatment-resistant malaria. Read more ➡️ https://t.co/VjKlly2QFU
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Just a couple of days left to apply to join the fantastic @RussellGroup policy team!
Applications close at 5pm on Wednesday for the role of Policy Manager. We're looking for someone to work across research and innovation policy, managing a challenging and varied portfolio of work. See our website for details👇
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The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network has been selected by @UKRSAvitae to host the 2025 National Postdoctoral Conference, an event with a special focus on the Early Career Researcher journey, at the British Academy on 19 September 2025. Stay tuned for more info.
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‘Core research’ funding of £6.1bn confirmed - my understanding is that this is defined as @UKRI_News and @ResEngland (not Innovate) funding
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Hugely welcome protection of R&D budget has been announced.
WATCH LIVE: Chancellor @RachelReevesMP delivers the Autumn Budget 2024 to the @HouseofCommons.
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"We need to be alert to the risk that the UK starts to fall behind its world-leading position... R&D is an investment, not a cost". In @guardian this weekend, Prof Sir Andre Geim and Prof Dame Nancy Rothwell @OfficialUoM urge govt to back research funding for the long term.
Scientific research needs robust government backing, not Treasury penny-pinching | Andre Geim and Nancy Rothwell
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Tough choices ahead, but I’ve every faith this govt is thinking long-term so will pull back from harming sources of growth.
I wholeheartedly agree. Cutting U.K. R&D funding in today’s highly competitive and indeed dangerous world would be nothing short of idiotic.
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R&D is an investment, not a cost & short-term penny pinching will only harm the economy in the long-term say Nancy Rothwell and Andre Geim:
theguardian.com
Research and development is an investment, not a cost, and if the UK is to maintain its world-leading position it must commit to long-term funding, say academics Andre Geim and Nancy Rothwell
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We're hiring for a new Policy Manger to lead our research work @RussellGroup - do DM me if interested in finding out more!
We're recruiting for a new Policy Manager to work across our research and innovation policy briefs. If you have good project management skills and experience of working in policy analysis and development, find out more information and apply by Wed 6 Nov. https://t.co/03yagFp7N3
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📢 Don't miss the @_OxCo_ showcase happening TODAY, with speakers including DSPI colleagues Dr Peter Burr and Dr Isang Awah @GPI_Parenting - find out more ⬇️ #ESRCFestival
🎥 Lights, camera, impact! 🗓️ 23 October: Discover how videos bring social sciences research to life at our "Video for Impact Showcase" with @_OxCo_ and researchers from across Oxford's social sciences - part of the #ESRCFestival 👉Register now at https://t.co/f1dSTUk5O7
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I am hopeful that the current Govt, which understands the value of making policy for long-term prosperity, will judge it unwise to undermine the drivers of productivity.
Indeed - a nice reminder in a week when many of us @RussellGroup @UniversitiesUK and key research funders have signed up to a letter from @sciencecampaign arguing to sustain public R&D spending in the U.K. - economic evidence demonstrates the impact it has on productivity growth.
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As the letter to @thetimes points out, R&D will be key to the Govt's Industrial Strategy & innovation & economic growth agendas. This is why short-term cuts, which risk long-term scarring of the system, are inadvisable.
Concerns about rumoured cuts to the science budget continue with a letter to The Times today, with dozens of high-profile figures speaking out
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Today @ThePhySoc has joined with @sciencecampaign, @wellcometrust @RussellGroup and many UK science organisations in writing to the government ahead of the budget in a couple of weeks. Our joint letter highlights the importance of stable, long term investment in R&D to delivering
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We at @wellcometrust have joined many UK science organisations in signing a letter to the chancellor ahead of the budget at the end of the month. It is crucial that the UK has stable, predictable investment in R&D, not wasteful stop-start funding. https://t.co/S1LXYDI4Md via @ft
ft.com
Tight finances made worse by bill to rejoin EU programme Horizon
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“Multiple sources with knowledge of discussions underway told RPN that with the amount of funding UKRI is already legally committed to next year, a budget squeeze of £1bn could force the agency to stop all spending on new grants in 2025-26.”
researchprofessionalnews.com
Flat-cash R&D settlement could also see universities hit by drop in quality-related funding
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🚨New list of UK Cabinet Committees just dropped - encouraging to see Science & Tech very much still there alongside the new Mission Boards (and still chaired by the PM) Remit is "to consider matters related to S&T, to drive the UK's economic growth and national security".
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