Yesterday the BBC reported that “The Jodrell Bank Observatory, which has housed the UK’s largest telescope for nearly 70 years, has lost its funding and could now close”.
It added that the “funding body, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) agency, said it had to focus investment on projects that deliver ‘the greatest long-term impact’.”
The UKRI is a quango I write about a lot. It has a huge budget – £8.8 billion for 2025/26 – which it distributes through its nine research councils, as well as other channels such as the Future Leaders Fellowships (UKRI FLF).
The issue is that, while the UKRI does fund sensible things, it pours far too much money into its more frivolous wings, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which awarded £841,830 and £668,244 to research projects The Europe that Gay Porn Built, 1945-2000 and Pregnant Men: An International Exploration of Trans Male Experiences and Practices of Reproduction, respectively.
The UKRI FLF isn’t good either – though it doesn’t count as a research council – as you will soon see. It’s another example of money being wasted.
Meanwhile the UKRI has decided the Observatory’s £2.8 million annual budget is too much. But wait until you see today’s examples of what the UKRI chucks money at, including studies that have nothing to do with the UK.
Without further ado:
The Digital Good Network: exploring equity, sustainability and resilience in people’s relationships with and through digital technologies – £3,303,856 (Nov 22 – Oct 27) ESRC
Co-Creating Asset and Place-Based Approaches to Tackling Refugee and Migrant Health Exclusion – £2,124,555 (Feb 24 – Apr 27) AHRC
Multilingualism, Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities of Linguistic Practice and Policy – £2,119,802 (Sept 23 – Sept 27) ESRC
Nation of Refuge – £2,091,892 (Sept 25 – Sept 29) UKRI FLF
Building Desirable and Resilient Public Media Futures: Establishing the Centre for Public Values, Technology & Society – £1,717,002 (Mar 24 – Mar 28) UKRI FLF
Transforming LGBTIQ+ Asylum Policies: A Multi-Country Cross-Sectoral Approach to Research, Policy, and Advocacy – £1,555,506 (Feb 26 – Feb 30) UKRI FLF
Co-Producing EDI Interventions for Virtual Production – £1,275,804 (Dec 24 – Nov 28) AHRC
How can we create a more just society with A.I.? – £1,268,109 (Jul 22 – Jul 26) UKRI FLF
Inclusive Histories – £1,254,813 (Sept 24 – Sept 27) AHRC
Gender, Generation and Climate Change (GENERATE): Creative Approaches to Building Inclusive and Climate Resilient Cities in Uganda and Myanmar – £1,189,986 (Apr 19 – Nov 26) UKRI FLF
Defining Ethnomusicological Action Research through the regeneration of folk singing in England – £1,188,320 (Feb 22 – Feb 27) UKRI FLF
The Cultural Legacies of the British Empire: Classical Music’s Colonial History (1750-1900) – £1,183,769 (May 24 – May 29) UKRI FLF
Decolonising Justice: Vernacular Justice Cultures Beyond the Liberal Order – £1,164,119 (Nov 25 – Nov 29) UKRI FLF
The Abundance Project: Enhancing Cultural & Green Inclusion in Social Prescribing in Southwest London to Address Ethnic Inequalities in Mental Health – £1,056,814 (Feb 24 – Jul 27) AHRC
Resettling the Colonial Lens: Photography and the (re)making of Malaysia’s New Villages – £1,014,696 (Jan 25 – Dec 27) AHRC
Co-Producing Integrated Place-Based Supports to Enable Healthy Ageing-In-Place for Roma Communities – £1,007,541 (Feb 24 – Jan 27) AHRC
The Beacon Project: Using Biodiversity and Energy justice to resolve Conflicts between Sustainable Development Goals – £963,901 (Aug 20 – Sept 26) UKRI FLF
Decolonising Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Higher Education: Interventions in Theory, Policy and Practice – £939,368 (Mar 22 – Aug 26) UKRI FLF
Communication and Creativity: An Arts-Based Study Focusing on Marginalised East African Communities in Kenya, Uganda and the United Kingdom – £847,202 (Dec 23 – Jul 27) AHRC
The Europe that Gay Porn Built, 1945-2000 – £841,830 (Nov 23 – Oct 27) AHRC
(MIS)TRANSLATING DECEIT: DISINFORMATION AS A TRANSLINGUAL, DISCURSIVE DYNAMIC – £839,794 (Nov 23 – Apr 27) AHRC
The Uganda Film Unit Archive: Digitisation, Research and Restitution – £822,621 (Sept 25 – Sept 28) AHRC
Gypsies Forging Sustainable Futures: Representing Romani Environmental Knowledge and Practices Through Traditional Metal Artwork and Dance – £810,703 (Apr 24 – Apr 27) AHRC
Decolonising the Museum: Digital Repatriation of the Gaidinliu Collection from the UK to India (DiMuse) – £805,769 (Nov 22 – Oct 26) AHRC
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