The role of funders in shaping the UK research landscape

Starting with some background literature about research directionality and impact, the chapter explores how the roles of research funders have been tackled in the literature. Secondly, the chapter characterises the funding landscape within the UK, accounting for its variety of players (i.e., research councils, large and smaller funders from the charitable sector, etc.). Thirdly, the chapter then explores the diversity of research funders in this landscape, the variety of funding instruments they use, and how they collaborate to deliver their respective strategies. The chapter ultimately reflects on the positioning of research funders as a collective and their broader role as part of the academic system, and how their funding decisions may more broadly influence the directionality of research.