MRC funding changes spark opposition from researchers concerned by unit closures

Nobel prize winners and the Astronomer Royal have joined over 600 other signatories in an open letter addressed to science minister Patrick Vallance demanding the Medical Research Council (MRC) revisits funding changes that could lead to the closure of highly successful research units.

There are 19 existing units at UK universities that receive, in total, rolling funding from the MRC of about £100 million annually. Each focuses on a specific research topic, such as the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Cambridge, which was founded in 1947.