The Academy of Social Sciences is the of academics, learned societies and practitioners in the social sciences. Its mission is to promote social science in the United Kingdom for public benefit. The Academy is composed of approximately 1400 individual Fellows, Member Learned Societies, and a number of affiliates. Academy Fellows are leading professional social scientists from academia and the public and private sectors. The Academy of Social Sciences is responding to the ‘process’ issues of the enquiry of the International Development Committee, relating to the way in which the FCDO made and announced decisions for ODA-funded research allocated by UKRI. We want to be clear that this is not simply a matter of researchers protesting in their own self- interest. We wrote a letter to government Ministers and various select committees about this issue, which is attached. (It can also be found at https://www.acss.org.uk/news/academy- responds-to-ukri-announcements-on-funding-cuts/). It was signed by over 30 of our Learned Society members. We wish to make three simple points. First, the decision to cancel funding for existing projects, many of which were years in development, raises questions about the UK’s standing in the world, and the trustworthiness of its international undertakings. This is quite separate from the decisions to reduce the overall future level of support, which is rightly part of the Committee’s concern. But cancelling funding promises already made, for work which had already started in most cases, has even graver consequences for the UK’s international reputation. Second, many of these projects, funded under UKRI’s Global Challenges Fund, were designed to have real-world impact. They involved partnerships or stakeholder relationships with national and regional governments, the World Bank, various UN Committees, and wider civil society partners, as well as with leading universities across the world. For the UK to be the partner that reneges on its existing funding commitments, when it has required international partner organisations to commit themselves to significant set up costs and partial project funding in many cases, will be shocking to many of these partners and stakeholders. Third, precisely because these projects were designed to lead to improvements in the real world, many involved social science. Some projects, noted in our letter, brought STEM scientists and social scientists together to solve problems that would not only benefit lesser-developed countries but also the UK itself, such as global climate change and antibiotic resistance. Others were social science-led, also involving issues that would benefit both lesser developed countries and the UK, including international security, preparedness for epidemics, and international migration. We know that many UK universities are working hard to salvage something from these projects. If, however, government had followed long-standing precedent and adhered to existing funding commitments, we believe it would have done far less damage to the UK’s international reputation. The text of the letter follows.

1 AcSS response to UKRI announcement on funding research supported by Official Development Assistance The Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS)* strongly urges the UK government to reinstate funding for UKRI’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the Newton Fund and university QR funding for GCRF, to meet its existing commitments. It is vitally important to the UK itself that research and other activities already contractually agreed with underpinning funding from Official Development Assistance (ODA) continue, even before we consider their importance for the wider world. We believe these cuts undermine the Government objective to seek a new role in global leadership and influence and new international economic partnerships. There is a high risk of loss of international trust and damage to bilateral relations resulting from the cancellation of this funding for agreed projects. Our reputation both as a leader of international science andas a reliable trading partner will suffer, and the losses will greatly outweigh the £180m of UKRI funding cancelled. While cancellation of future projects says something about the UK’s priorities, cancellation of existing commitments says something even more profound about our international trustworthiness. With national and regional governments, the World Bank, various UN Committees, and wider civil societies in the partner countries all involved in various GCRF project partnerships, as well as leading universities across the world, the impact on our reputation will be both extensive and profound. For the UK to be the partner that reneges on its existing funding commitments, when it has required international partner organisations to commit to significant set up costs and partial project funding in many cases, will be shockingto many. The ‘Newton Fund’ and other schemes supported by the ODA funds bring hundreds of the research leaders of tomorrow from lower and middle income countries (LMICs) to the UK,at all levels of research and in all disciplines. These placements, also already agreed, are nowat risk too. All those concerned about the UK’s ‘soft power’ around the world should be deeply worried about this. The GCRF projects also matter to the ‘real world’. They address matters of global importance and many of the existing grants at risk of cancellation are notable because they bring STEM and the social sciences together to tackle issues linked to new technologies, climate change, sustainability and resilience. For example, such GCRF projects potentially atrisk include: stemming wildfires in Indonesia with their impact on local health and global carbon emissions; managing climate change in river deltas where half a billion people currently live; sustainable use of the ocean eco-system on which fishing communities aroundthe world depend; and poultry production in south and southeast Asia, with its profound effects on world health.

2 Other GCRF projects tackle societal issues of benefit both to (LMICs) and to the UK itself. For example, GCRF projects potentially at risk include: research and evidence on security threats; links between trade, development, and biodiversity; water security and sustainable development; preparedness for humanitarian crises and epidemics; interventions to support African adolescents; and better understanding and management of south-south migration. For the UK and the international partners involved, the funding cancellation will affect thousands of jobs and thousands of careers – many of them early career scholars who are the life blood of the next generation of researchers, leaders and innovators. At a time whenUK universities’ international student intakes are responsible for most of the £21 billion theUK gains in education-related exports, and when overseas students are actively being soughtto replace declining numbers of EU students, the effect on the UK’s global reputation in higher education is arguably another own-goal, both in narrow economic terms, and in longer-term reputational damage. Finally, the cancellation of funding raises a question of trust within the UK. How can UK higher education institutions engage in future in good faith with government’s medium and long-term strategies, some involving financial commitment and risks, when government has now decided that it can withdraw funding that has already been granted? This is a deeply disturbing precedent. The Academy of Social Sciences therefore urges all the government departments involved – primarily the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Treasury, and BEIS – to reinstate ODA funding support for grant decisions already made. We believe they should also consider the issue of future ODA-subsidised funding. But avoiding immediate global reputational and real economic damage to the UK should be even more of a pressing concern to UK policy-makers.

Professor Roger Goodman FAcSS Dr Rita Gardner CBE FAcSS President, Academy of Social Sciences Chief Executive, Academy of Social Sciences and signed by the following Member Learned Societies:

Association of Law Teachers (ALT) Association for Psychosocial Studies (APS) Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth (ASA) British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA)

3 British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE) British Academy of Management (BAM) British Educational Research Association (BERA) British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES) British International Studies Association (BISA) British Sociological Association (BSA)British Society of Criminology (BSC) British Society of Gerontology (BSG) British Society for Population Studies (BSPS) British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA) Development Studies Association (DSA) Economic History Society (EHS) Housing Studies Association (HSA) Joint University Council (JUC) Political Studies Association (PSA) Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) Royal Geographical Society with IBG (RGS-IBG) Regional Studies Association (RSA) Regional Science Association International - British and Irish Section (RSAI-BIS) Royal Statistical Society (RSS) Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Society for Studies in Organizing Healthcare (SHOC)Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Social Policy Association (SPA) UK Association for Language Testing and Assessment (UKALTA)

* The Academy of Social Sciences is the national academy of academics, learned societies and practitioners inthe social sciences. Its mission is to promote social science in the United Kingdom for public benefit. The Academy is composed of approximately 1400 individual Fellows, Member Learned Societies, and a number ofaffiliates. Academy Fellows are leading professional social scientists from academia and the public and privatesectors.

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