• Question: how much more funding do you need

    Asked by 268susb38 to Richard on 8 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Richard Simons

      Richard Simons answered on 8 Mar 2015:

      It depends a lot on what position you’re in.
      My work is all simulation based, so besides the cost of a computer and the odd conference I’m quite cheap to run :). Also, as a PhD student I don’t really interact too much with the funding side of research.
      However, I have friends and colleagues who work on experimental projects, and they’re always looking for more funding, research can get very expensive indeed! For these guys and girls funding is essential for new materials & equipment, visits to national centres such as Diamond and ISIS synchrotrons (look them up, they’re really cool!).
      Before any research can start, the principal researcher will apply for a research grant, usually government funded; in this application they outline all the money that they think they’ll need to answer a specific research question, and if that application is successful, they get the money. This means that the majority of researchers have all the money they need to do their work, though there are always bigger questions which they could answer, if only they could get the funding…

Comments

  • Photo: Nicki

    Nicki commented on :

    I’ll try to explain how funding work so this might help understand the question. In essence, all research has to be paid for. My time is taken up with teaching students, administration and some research time. The latter is probably only about 30% of my time and even that probably in my evenings. This is because my teaching and admin take up 90% of my working day, so I struggle to get my research done. However, I am mostly valued as a researcher. This means that I am probably valued the most of the aspect of my work for which I have the less time to devote to it! One way for me to gain more research time is to employ a researcher to help me to do my work, e.g. primary data collection. Of course other aspects of my research need funding; for instance, if I take samples in the field, this has to be paid for in terms of transport etc. To do analyses, I have to pay for the chemicals, lab facilities and specialist equipment etc. Any time I spend on a research project also has to be paid for. What I am describing is a process known as full economic costing of research. The government decided some years ago that most research should be paid for this way. So, in essence, I have to bid for funds to support my research via Europe, and the research councils. But its very competitive – only 10-20% of all proposals are funded. My science is actually quite cheap. Many of my projects costs between £500,000-£1,000,000 for 3 years which is much less expensive than many other areas of science! I hope this helps.

  • Photo: Samuel

    Samuel commented on :

    For most scientists the answer is always ‘more funding please’. Science is an expensive process, so the more funding a lab group can secure, the more projects can be run and the more results can be found! But of course there is only so much money available, so it is very competitive.