Funders Forum: Terms of Reference
The over-arching aim of the UK Research Base Funders Forum is to provide an environment where the main funders of ‘public good’ research can consider their collective impact on the sustainability, health and outputs of the UK Research Base [1] .
Funders Forum Remit:
The Forum’s initial remit covers two streams of work:
1. Sustainability
a. to address the sustainability of the Research Base in terms of costing, pricing and investment.
b. by the sharing of strategic information, to consider collectively, the financial impact of members’ plans on the system overall, and ensure there is a shared understanding of how all the funding streams for research interact.
c. to share information about funding levels and research volumes and provide a mechanism for wider discussion regarding these issues.
d. to monitor the impacts on overall funding and activity of changes in policy of funders or groups of funders and discuss any corrective actions that may be required to ensure sustainability.
2. Research strategies
a. to share information about members’ research strategies, explore opportunities for collaboration and identify areas of significant overlap, discord, duplication or gaps in research effort.
b. where possible, to share strategic information about members’ forward plans in order to consider the financial and human resource impact on the system overall and the need for major shared facilities or equipment.
c. where possible, to consider whether the strengths in the research base are well matched to the needs of stakeholders.
d. to consider the position of research in the UK in terms of our international competitors.
Funders Forum Structure:
a. the Funders Forum core group members are invited to represent a wider group of those concerned with the health and sustainability of the UK research base.
b. on a bi-annual basis the wider group of members who fund public good research will be invited to attend a meeting of the Funders Forum Plenary Group in order to engage with the core group.
c. the remit of the Forum will be reassessed periodically.
d. summary minutes will be produced for each meeting and circulated to Forum members. Members are asked to circulate their minutes to their stakeholder group.
[1] Public good research is defined as research that has aims such as the production of knowledge, trained people and maintaining a healthy research base. It does not include research commissioned for primarily commercial reasons.