§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the Government's research priorities and the research priorities of(a) the United States and (b) Germany. [122133]
§ Ms HewittThis Government's overall priorities for science and technology were set out following the Comprehensive Spending Review in "Forward Look 1999 (Cm 4363)". They are
Maintaining the excellence of UK Science—ensuring UK science is and remains world class;Promoting business exploitation—supporting the development and exploitation of new and existing technologies, particularly through encouraging partnerships and the flow of people between universities and business; andEnsuring effective use of science and technology by Government Departments—in support of their policy, regulatory. and procurement responsibilities.
198W
Science budget funding of HEIs' capital Capital element of research grants to HEIs 1994–95 1995–6 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 BBSRC 8.800 8.100 7.720 6.280 7.470 10.000 11.000 EPSRC 33.296 32.307 33.564 35.585 39.336 33.764 49.627 ESRC 0.100 0.100 0.300 0.600 0.600 0.700 0.800 MRC 11.300 9.950 11.631 11.700 10.182 8.276 7.800 NERC 3.340 6.818 3.087 3.897 3.263 3.805 5.908 PPARC 3.472 6.751 4.363 5.238 5.213 6.039 6.175 Details of the specific research priorities of individual departments, Research Councils and other bodies are also set out in "Forward Look", copies of which are available in the Library of the House. These priorities are being reviewed in the context of the current Spending Review.
In the USA, the main priorities for civilian research set out in the federal budget for Financial Year 2000 are:
All areas of Biomedical research, in particular human genomics and also plant genome research;Fundamental information technology research; andBio-complexity—research on inter-dependencies between the elements of specific environmental systems.The German Federal Government research priorities set out in their 1999 science research budget include the areas of biotechnology, production engineering, marine and polar research, lasers, IT and sustainable development.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been provided by each of the research councils and the four funding councils for spending by the universities on equipment to support scientific research programmes by subject area in each year since 1994. [122135]
§ Ms HewittData in respect of the Research Councils and the Higher and Further Education Funding Council (England) are as set out.
Details of awards so far made from the Joint Infrastructure Fund were provided in my answer to my hon. Friend's written question 121665 answered today, Official Report, column 193W.
The funding of Higher Education Institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the devolved administrations.
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HEFC(E)'s capital funding for research in HEIs Year Mainstream JREI JIF (£ million) 1994–95 62.8 — 17.5 1995–96 67.1 — 29.0 1996–97 45.4 19.8 37.7 1997–98 50.0 25.7 — 1998–99 52.3 25.8 — 1999–2000 53.9 16.3 — 2000–01 54.0 — — 1Round 1 2Round 2 3Round 3
Joint research equipment initiative Calendar year of the award 1996 1997 1998 1999 BBSRC 1.1 1.6 1.5 3 EPSRC 3 4.6 5.4 5.5 MRC 1.1 1.4 1.8 2.1 NERC 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.8 PPARC — — — — Total 5.6 8.2 9.6 12.2 The Research Councils also provide access for university researchers to national and international facilities.