Buildings, boats, planes and labs

Think of science and laboratories and white coats normally spring to mind. But labs are not the only terrain of research, as some of the exotic new ‘infrastructure’ funded through the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) illustrates. Among these items were a remotely operated submarine for investigating the deep sea floor, a refurbished icebreaker for studying the behaviour of the world’s oceans, a new aeroplane for atmospheric chemists, a refurbished telescope at Jodrell Bank, and a high-tech laboratory deep underground in an abandoned potash mine in North Yorkshire.

A £750 million partnership between the Wellcome Trust, the UK Government and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), JIF was a response to a perceived crisis in UK university research infrastructure, suffering from serious decline due to years of underinvestment. This decline was significantly hampering the ability of UK scientists to remain internationally competitive. The landmark Dearing Report in 1997 captured the prevailing view that there was a serious research infrastructure problem in UK universities.

In 1998, the Wellcome Trust and the UK Government combined forces to assess what could be done, discussions that ultimately led to the establishment of JIF, with £300 million committed by the Wellcome Trust and £300 million by the Department of Trade and Industry on behalf of the Research Councils; HEFCE later contributed £150 million to join the partnership, bringing the total of the fund up to £750 million.

JIF was launched as a competitive scheme, supporting new buildings, refurbishment and major equipment. The Wellcome Trust handled all applications in the biological sciences, on behalf of the biologically oriented Research Councils. An International Scientific Advisory Board was established to make recommendations on the biological applications, following international peer review, and final decisions were made by the Joint Executive Committee, which considered applications across all areas of research. In just five meetings between 1998 and 2000, the Joint Executive Committee committed the £750 million – a heady £300 000 or so a minute.

Where the money went

The Wellcome Trust contribution could only be used to support research of biomedical relevance, so was concentrated on traditional laboratory space – although the flexibility of the partnership enabled the Trust to contribute to facilities of value across disciplines, such as supercomputers, and thereby encourage interdisciplinary working.

In sum, JIF provided an enormous boost to biomedical research the length and breadth of the UK. Centres in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as England all made successful applications. Not surprisingly, existing world-renowned centres of excellence, such as Oxford, fared well in the competition, but as the following text indicates, many universities put together high-quality applications and received funding. In all, 27 institutions received funding from the Wellcome Trust through JIF. The smallest award was for just under £1 million, the largest project £58 million (£30 million from JIF coffers); Wellcome Trust funds supported significant new buildings – in excess of £18 million – in Birmingham, Cambridge and Sheffield.

Scientifically, JIF came at a propitious time, enabling several universities to establish or upgrade facilities aiming to make use of genomic data in a biological context. It is striking how many applications included ‘functional genomics’ or ‘post-genomics’ in their title. These approaches are fundamentally dependent on large-scale, high-throughput techniques, and often correspondingly expensive pieces of equipment. There is no doubt that the UK is now in a much better position to take advantage of the wonderful new biological resource created by genome sequencing.

It is also noticeable that several successful applications aimed to bring different groups together, to foster greater cross-disciplinary working. JIF provided an opportunity to rethink existing departmental structures, and to bring together individuals with complementary skills working on different aspects of a biological problem. In practical terms, it also enabled laboratories to think more about how laboratories should be arranged – not just so researchers have enough space and easy access to equipment, but also so they can interact with colleagues, share information and ideas, and generally work together more effectively as a team.

In terms of disciplines, most were well represented in JIF awards, evidence that the UK is strong across broad areas of biomedical science. As well as functional genomics, neuroscience, immunology, developmental biology all fared well. Several proposals were based on biological imaging facilities of various kinds, and the number of applications involving the application of chemistry to biology was also noticeable. Specialist areas also got a look in – for example, a new ‘ancient biomolecules’ centre is being established at Oxford. And the UK is getting its first 900 MHz NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) facilities, enormously powerful tools for deciphering the structures of complex biological molecules.

Beyond JIF

JIF threw up several surprises, one of which was the sheer extent of the infrastructure deficit. Applications to JIF in total actually exceeded £4 billion, and as a result many highly rated applications had to be turned down. In response, the Government established a successor to JIF, the £1.1 billion Science Research Investment Fund to which the Wellcome Trust committed £225 million.

The principal aim of SRIF was to support highly ranked applications that were not funded through JIF, particularly those aiming to improve otherwise poor working conditions. Universities have also had to contribute to the project costs. Through SRIF, the Wellcome Trust has committed £150 million to 34 projects at 25 universities, and again most areas of the UK have benefited. The remainder of the Wellcome Trust SRIF money is going towards equipment funding through the Trust’s usual routes.

Having made such a major contribution to JIF and SRIF, the Wellcome Trust has no further plans to invest heavily in the UK research infrastructure in this fashion, as it looks to the UK Government to put in place long-term recurrent funding of science in modern facilities.

In conclusion...

The JIF timetable, imposed because of Government financial spending systems, was hectic, for funders and applicants alike. Universities had to put together detailed bids very rapidly, and in many cases coordinate bids between several different departments. Funders had to establish new committees, and new ways of working with one another, while handling all their existing commitments.

An emphasis on good procurement practice has helped ensure that every possible benefit is squeezed from JIF and SRIF monies – and has made Professor George Duncan at least a happy man. His team’s bid from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, was held on the Wellcome Trust’s JIF reserve list, and thanks to procurement savings will now be funded.

As a result of the hard work and endeavour of many parties, new and refurbished laboratories are opening on a regular basis throughout the UK, and will continue to do so for the next few years as the larger and more complex projects reach fruition. JIF and SRIF have had a major impact on the UK research landscape – and on the physical landscape as new buildings have gradually risen from building sites on former car parks or neglected plots. Universities have shown great ingenuity squeezing in new buildings into tight corners, and in putting together intellectually stunning applications. The successful ones can now look forward to being equally ingenious in their research in commensurately smart surroundings.

See also

• Young, gifted and very, very well equipped: Article on the diary of a JIF awardee part 1
• The space age: Article on the diary of a JIF awardee part 2
• Progress of a kind…: Article on the diary of a JIF awardee part 3
• Topped off: Article on the diary of a JIF awardee part 4