This report by RAND Europe for Research England summarises the interim findings of our evaluation of UKRPIF, including an overview of the programme. Our interim findings suggest that UKRPIF has significantly enhanced UK research infrastructure. This improved infrastructure boosts research capabilities and capacity, attracts talent and increases national and international recognition, aligning with UK research and growth ambitions.

Evaluation of the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund

Interim Report

Katie O'Brien, Emily Hutton, Tamara Strabel, Billy Bryan

ResearchPublished Dec 10, 2024

The UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) aims to address the need for support and investment at the mid-range scale for higher education capital projects. It is designed to promote partnerships, support research collaboration and drive non-public investment in Higher Education (HE) research facilities. £1bn has been awarded to 59 projects over seven funding rounds, and the double match funding requirement means over £2.5bn has been committed in co-investments by industry, charities, philanthropy and more. Research England administers UKRPIF on behalf of UKRI and in partnership with the Department of the Economy Northern Ireland, Medr and Scottish Funding Council.

Research England commissioned RAND Europe and Frontier Economics to evaluate the UKRPIF programme's effectiveness in achieving its objectives. This interim report focuses on the emerging impacts of rounds 1–6 of UKRPIF. A final evaluation will take place in 2027/28, including an economic evaluation.

Overall, UKRPIF is a long-standing scheme that is in good health. It has enabled Higher Education Providers (HEPs) across all four nations of the UK to establish high-quality research infrastructure, enabling high-quality research. It is also a popular programme, with proponents keen to emphasise its strengths, only highlighting minor limitations. The UKRPIF programme has positively contributed to enhancing research infrastructure and facilities at awarded HEPs, which are recognised as centres of research excellence by academic and industrial collaborators.

Ultimately, UKRPIF projects have yielded outputs and outcomes with the potential to catalyse local, regional and national economic growth, leading to early socio-economic benefits.

Key Findings

Enhanced research facilities

  • All HEPs that had completed building their UKRPIF projects felt that the funding had enhanced their research facilities. Upgraded facilities have also helped HEPs enhance their reputation and visibility in the global research community. Many HEPs (59%) reported they are financially able to adapt their new facilities to meet growth and changing research demands, and 95% reported they can maintain the facilities financially.

Capability and capacity for world-class research

  • HEPs significantly expanded their physical research spaces. HEPs reported a statistically significant increase in the number of staff associated with the facility, including PhD students enrolled (79%) and awarded (156%), as well as postdoctoral (53%) and senior researchers (68%).

Partnerships, co-location and knowledge exchange

  • Over 85% of HEPs reported an increased number of partnerships with other HEPs (4x more than baseline). HEPs reported a statistically significant increase in the numbers of partnerships with the private and third sectors (both 2.2x more than baseline). UKRPIF has increased the number of co-located staff from 33 to 215, including 53 more in industry.

Leveraged research income, investment and socio-economic impacts

  • Projects supported by UKRPIF have seen a marked increase in UK industry research income (£68m, 1.9x more than baseline) and overall overseas research income (£139m, 4.9x more than baseline). HEPs reported a net increase of £92m in domestic investment compared to baseline and £33m from overseas (both mostly from industry). UKRPIF enabled HEPs to commercialise 9.7x more research outputs (e.g. patents) compared to baseline.

Recommendations

  • A key identified challenge is the double-match funding requirement, which can be particularly difficult for smaller or less established HEPs. It has been suggested that the eligibility criteria could be eased, potentially by adjusting the threshold based on the size of HEPs, allowing alternative forms of co-investment or looking at a tiered funding model.
  • By encouraging partnerships and collaborations, the UKRPIF could help smaller institutions meet the financial and research excellence criteria, enhancing their chances of securing funding.
  • A running cost component could be introduced alongside the capital investment component, which could be provided on a needs basis.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: Research England
  • Publisher: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Year: 2024
  • Pages: 104
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RRA2796-2
  • Document Number: RR-A2796-2

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

O'Brien, Katie, Emily Hutton, Tamara Strabel, and Billy Bryan, Evaluation of the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund: Interim Report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2796-2.html.
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This research was prepared for Research England and conducted by the Science and Emerging Technology Program within RAND Europe.

This publication is part of the RAND research report series. Research reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND research reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

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