Sustainability of Research Centres - Advisory Science Council

Therefore, post the initial fixed term of base-centre-funding, centre sustainability is for the most part
reliant upon some further awarding of base-centre-funds either through public programmes or as a result
of the host institution’s strategic plans.
Other countries/regions do not assume that all centres will be funded by base-centre-funding support
programmes indefinitely nor that all centres will survive post base-centre-funding. In the absence of
continued base-centre-funding, some centre facilities and staff will be absorbed back into their hosts,
taking with them the skills and experience acquired (as in other countries). Others will continue at a
smaller scale based on competitive and/or private funding. This allows programmes/funders to fund new
centres in different fields ensuring that the portfolio of centres continually evolves to meet national
needs.
Thus, it needs to be recognised in the Irish system also that not all research centres can or should survive
indefinitely. However, if the sustainability of at least some graduated centres is desired, it requires that
the three features of a research centre as outlined in section 4.3 are in place and, therefore, funding
must be sourced to cover the costs of each feature. Methods to meet the three requirements are different
in each of the four research centre groups (as defined in this study) and, furthermore, the very
requirement for sustainability itself is not the same.
It needs to be recognised that in order for a centre to be sustained after completion of a fixed term base-
centre-funding period there is a need for centres to have access to some level of base-centre-funding.
These centres would then be expected to leverage the base-centre-funding so as to sustain themselves in
some form into the future. In a healthy research environment a diversity of research centres in terms of
scale and mission is both normal and desirable and so the opportunity for base-centre-funding post
graduation of a centre should be addressed for each group.
For provision of base-centre-funding for graduated Group 1 centres, it would seem reasonable for HEIs to
prioritise, for funding from the HEI block grant and central budgets, those areas of strategic importance to
each HEI and, in many cases this would align with the significant investments made under PRTLI in
particular. It is noted that this approach, and steps being taken to enable this alignment, could be
addressed as part of the strategic dialogue process between the HEA and HEI. This latter process is a key
component of the process to implement the National Strategy for Higher Education.
For graduated Group 2,3 and 4 centres, the State funders of research centres need to recognise that a
level of base-centre-funding is required if centres are to continue to deliver the same type of outputs as
required under the initial base-centre-funding programme.
The following options for continued base-centre-funding (upon graduation from a fixed term of base-
centre-funding by a Government department or State agency) should be considered by HEIs and State
funders for centres in each group:
Group 1: significant investments have been made in the research infrastructure which should not be
disregarded. Once established the academic centres form part of the research landscape more
Sustainability of Research Centres 44 June 2012