Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 79133 on universities: research, what assessment she has made of the impact of the MRC funding model changes on universities.

The change to the Medical Research Council's (MRC) funding model was informed by the findings of the 2020 MRC Unit and Centre Review. This found that a new model could support more strategic investment in medical research, enable closer collaboration with industry, and help researchers be more agile in their work.

MRC Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) are a new way of funding bold and ambitious science, tackling the most important challenges by delivering transformational impact in biomedical and health research. Establishment of the new CoRE funding model is a change in the mechanism of support and does not in any way change MRC’s intent to continue supporting high quality research. Existing units are invited to secure continued, long-term investment through the new CoRE model, while other research activities are invited to transition onto MRC grant support. The MRC continues to provide routes for sustained research investment, mitigating the risks to universities as much as possible.