BHF comment
Government invests £20 million to support early career researchers
Today the Government has published plans to provide £20 million to support early career researchers funded by medical research charities.
Of the £20 million commitment, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will provide £15 million, together with £5 million from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
But leading charities, including the BHF, have today said that they hope this will be the first step in a longer-term recovery plan.
The investment has been made to help mitigate the “cliff-edge fall” in the research funding provided by charities caused by the pandemic. In its latest estimates, the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) estimates that charity funding for research has fallen by £270m since the start of the pandemic.
This has led to the BHF, alongside the AMRC and other member charities, tirelessly campaigning for the Government to safeguard charity-funded research as the sector recovers from the pandemic.
More details needed
Our Chief Executive Dr Charmaine Griffiths said:
“This funding could be a much-needed step in response to the gravest challenge charity-funded research has ever faced. But we need to see the detail to know the extent to which it will secure the immediate future of promising cardiovascular scientists with the potential to become the research leaders of the future.
“We hope this is just the first step in a partnership between Government and charities to mitigate the cliff-edge fall in funding caused by the pandemic. In 2020/21 alone we had to cut our funding for new research from around £100m to £50m, putting future life saving discoveries at risk.
“If the Government is serious about becoming a scientific superpower, it must work with us to recover future charity research funding. This would signify its intent to invest in science to fuel the economy, protect the careers of thousands of young researchers, and maintain progress in saving and improving the lives of those living with the UK’s deadliest diseases.”