Our policy and research work supports the higher education sector in a variety of ways, from ensuring universities have the funding they need for the provision of high quality teaching to assessing the impact of immigration law on chemistry staff and students.
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Investing in our science skills base
8 November 2017
This report examines PhD training provision in chemistry departments. It is based upon a survey undertaken by 37 UK chemistry departments on those that started their PhD studies between 2011 and 2015. The results reveal the different sources used to fund chemistry PhD students, as well as examining where PhD students come from and where in the UK they are being trained.
Investing in our science skills baseFinances of UK university chemistry & physics departments
5 November 2015
The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics commissioned research into the finances of university chemistry and physics departments in the UK. The report finds most of the UK university chemistry and physics departments studied continue to run deficits in teaching and research and operate at a substantial deficit overall.
The policy briefing accompanying the report calls for support for teaching and research in departments to be maintained and increased so that they can continue to contribute to the economy and increase their capacity. Despite recent increases in the uptake of STEM subjects at university, there is still an estimated annual shortfall of around 40,000 STEM graduates in the UK.
Postgraduate funding: Support for chemistry postgraduate research
May 2015
The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills ran a consultation on support for postgraduate study, as announced in the 2015 Budget Statement. STEM postgraduate studentships are a key component of training a highly-skilled UK workforce in science, technology and beyond, as well as a crucial strategic mechanism to enable the delivery of team research projects and programmes. The essential role played by STEM postgraduate students in the UK means current sources of funding are vital to the supply chain and must be maintained. Whilst we welcome, in principle, the introduction of loans to support postgraduate programmes, it is essential that this would be in addition to existing mechanisms of support that currently ensure a vital supply of high quality postgraduate students in the chemical sciences.
UK Immigration: the impact of UK immigration law on chemistry research & education
1 September 2014
Attracting world-class researchers to the UK is essential to maintaining the UK’s reputation as the best place to do science. The UK must be seen as 'open for business' and welcoming to scientists and researchers. This position statement outlines our recommendations with respect to UK immigration law for ensuring this is the case.
International students: Impact of UK immigration law on the recruitment of international STEM students
21 February 2014
International higher education students make a major fiscal contribution both in terms of the fees they pay to the universities and the broader spending they incur while in the UK - more than £10.4 billion a year by 2015 according to the Government. In 2014, we submitted evidence to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on the impact of UK immigration law on our ability to recruit international undergraduate students.
Supply & demand
Sustainability of expertise: Chemistry as a strategically important and vulnerable subject
October 2013
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) award additional funding to subjects they consider to be strategically important but potentially vulnerable and therefore in need of support (SIVS). Vulnerabilities might include more expensive equipment or a greater number of teaching hours needed to teach a subject at degree level. In 2013 we provided the HEFCE with evidence of the strategic importance and vulnerabilities of chemistry in the UK, particularly on the issue of sustainability of expertise.
Diversity: Women in STEM careers
30 September 2013
The House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee launched an inquiry into the loss of women from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers in June 2013. Evidence relating to the 'leaky pipeline', a term often used to describe the continuous loss of women at consecutive career stages within STEM, was sought.
Our response was based upon evidence gathered from a number of reports, surveys and publications, together with contributions from several members of the Royal Society of Chemistry who are experts in diversity (including gender) issues, and those closely involved in the Athena SWAN application and assessment process. Diversity issues in science extend beyond gender and most of the recommendations in this report could be translated to support diversity more widely.
STEM subjects in higher education: Challenges & opportunities
10 May 2012
The chemical sciences develop an understanding of the world in which we live from an atomic and molecular viewpoint, and, drawing on the development of new knowledge and understanding of the properties of substances and the interactions between different types of matter and analytical and problem-solving skills, help us to tackle societal problems such as health, energy, climate change, resource efficiency, and food and water supply. In 2012 we provided evidence to the House of Lords on STEM subjects in higher education.
Postgraduate funding: EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training
31 July 2012
The Funding Councils currently provide funding for PhD students through three main routes: Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs), Industrial CASE (iCASE) studentships and Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs). DTPs have traditionally been allocated based on the research grant income already held by a research organisation, though most research councils are moving towards allocating funding in a way that reflects their strategic aims. This document outlines the doctoral training landscape and the position that CDTs have within this.
Funding reform: response to the government's proposed reforms to the higher education sector in England
30 September 2011
In June 2011, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills presented a White Paper ("Students at the Heart of the System") to Parliament outlining proposals to reform the higher education sector in England. These reforms were designed to tackle three challenges: making the system financially sustainable by shifting public spending away from teaching grants and towards repayable tuition loans; delivering a better student experience by improving teaching, assessment, feedback and preparation for the world of work; and increasing social mobility. Read below the joint response we issued with the Institute of Physics and the Society of Biology in September 2011.