Campaign to promote growth through research seeks members

Nine English universities, eight of which are members of the Million+ group of post-1992 universities, are among the backers of a campaign to drive economic growth with research conducted throughout the UK university system.

The campaign will lobby against the concentration of government funded research at elite centres and aims to recruit companies to back its campaign.

Calling itself Growth by Research, the group suggests five priorities to the UK government and main political parties ahead of the 2015 general election. Two of these relate to the distribution of public funding for research: the campaign is asking the government to “reassert its commitment to the need for a broad and balanced research base, including investing in the research infrastructure of all universities” and to “fund research wherever it occurs so that all universities can support British businesses and public services to capitalise on our country’s scientific discoveries”.