UKRI communicates next stage of ODA funding review

Businessman signing an official document

UKRI has today written to UK higher education institutions setting out the next stage of its review all Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding in the financial year 2021/22.

Read the UKRI letter here.

The letter is focused on a key element of UKRI’s ODA funding – the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) grants, and further letters will follow shortly for other parts of the GCRF and Newton Fund. UKRI will also write to individual grant holders to update on the next stage.

On 11 March, UKRI communicated to partners that it would need to review its ODA funding in light of the significant reduction in UKRI’s ODA allocation from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

UKRI’s International Champion Professor Christopher Smith said:

We are committed to working through these difficult decisions and processes in as fair and transparent way as possible.

The purpose of this next set of communications is to work with institutions and award holders to explore options across the diverse portfolio of UKRI-funded ODA research and innovation, and to preserve as much of the benefit of this funding and our partnerships as possible.

We are very grateful to all those affected for their willingness to work with us to make the best use of the funding we have.

ODA grant holders or partner organisations who have questions should contact odaenquiries@ukri.org. For Innovate UK grant holders please contact support@innovateuk.ukri.org.

Top image:  Credit: ilkercelik/Getty Images

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