A WINDFALL for British scientists was announced this week by Gordon Brown,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Over the next three years, an extra Ā£1.1
billion will be provided for researchāĀ£700 million from the
government, and the rest from the Wellcome Trust, the worldās largest biomedical
research charity.
Around Ā£600 million of this rare partnership of public and private
funds has been earmarked for refurbishing buildings and buying equipment. āIf
you go round Britainās universities, you see a crumbling infrastructure,ā says
Wellcome Trust director Michael Dexter. āWe couldnāt stand back and allow that
to continue.ā
About Ā£400 million of the governmentās contribution will be distributed
among the research councils, while the remaining Ā£100 million from the
Wellcome Trust will pay for a new X-ray synchrotron to analyse the structures of
biological molecules.
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Dexter says that universities will use open competition to vie for the cash.
A joint executive board representing the Wellcome Trust and the government will
vet bids, which will not have to be relevant to the trustās interests in
biomedicine. āThere are no strings attached,ā says Dexter.
Cabinet minister Margaret Beckett, who is President of the Board of Trade,
describes the new funds as āa real vote of confidence in Britainās scientists
and engineersā. The Save British Science pressure group, which has long
campaigned for increased research spending, also welcomes the news.
