A high-profile health research unit in Glasgow is closing down, putting dozens of jobs at risk and potentially bringing decades of expert research to an end.
The University of Glasgow’s Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (SPHSU) is to close as of 2025, a decision triggered by a change to the UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council (MRC) funding model that has sustained it for decades.
The unit is operated and staffed by the university, but receives funding from the MRC, which recently announced that it will be changing the way it funds long term research.
Sources close to the research unit in Glasgow have said that the new model for funding applications will make it difficult for existing research units - of which there are several, including SPHSU - to qualify for new rounds of funding.
Rather than be subjected to regular reviews every five years, units will be governed by a 14-year model with a review in year six. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has said should help deliver on specific objectives within smaller time windows.
A spokesperson for UKRI explained that funding will be on a competitive basis and existing units will have the opportunity to “reshape themselves” to apply for new funding.
They added that the move to a new Centres of Research Excellence (CoRE) model represents a change in “the way that MRC funds long-term research, not whether it does.”
“All existing units have the opportunity to reshape themselves to secure new MRC CoRE funding and deliver against the most important questions in their fields.
“It is also important to allow for new ideas to be considered and tensioned against existing investments, so existing MRC units will compete alongside all other applications for MRC CoRE support through the same independent assessment process, although they do not compete for the same budget.”
But Dr Eric Silverman, Workstream Lead for Modelling Complex Systems in the SPHSU and Vice-President of the UCU branch at the University of Glasgow, said that there are worries among existing units that they will struggle to secure funding under the new system.
This is in part due to the long-term nature of their work, which is not necessarily geared towards the same timeframe that the CoRE model is encouraging.
Instead, he is concerned the closure of the SPHSU could be the first of many.
He said that the closure of the SPHSU at Glasgow puts decades of impactful administrative, technical and research experience at risk and raises questions about the viability of long-term research.
"Our Unit was something rare and unique in academia - it provided job security for researchers, and strongly supported long-term, revolutionary thinking in public health research.
“I left a permanent lectureship at another University to come to Glasgow, specifically because the Unit was offering such phenomenal support for my work from day one.
"Now that the MRC funding has disappeared, the University has chosen not to support this long-term thinking any further, and the stark reality is that they are aiming to make the overwhelming majority of Unit staff redundant.
"This will damage profoundly not only the health of our field, but the health of our nation as well."
The SPHSU has been actively conducting research in some way for almost 30 years, focussing on how social, behavioural, economic, political and environmental factors influence health.
The unit has contributed expertise on health inequalities in Glasgow and across Scotland, and provided key input on Scotland’s minimum unit pricing policy and understanding of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Another staff member who is part of the SPHSU and wished to remain anonymous said that there is a feeling among staff that the university could have saved the unit, despite the MRC's funding changes.
"There’s a feeling that the university could have done more. Health inequalities is a priority for them, and there are particular reasons why, because health inequalities in Glasgow are historically poor.
"The unit is built on decades of expertise and experience across all job families and grades and to destroy it at a time when health inequalities are widening around the world, and in particular in Glasgow, seems incredibly short-sighted."
A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow said that the closure of the SPHSU will take effect in 2025, and that it is attempting to retain staff in other departments where possible.
"The Social and Public Health Sciences Unit is funded by the Medical Research Council and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office.
"The MRC is now changing the way it funds long term research and is ending its funding for Units.
"In response, the University has worked extensively to extend individual contracts where possible, while also retaining a number of staff permanently.
"We are aware of the impact this funding withdrawal may have on colleagues, and will continue to transition staff members to more secure employment arrangements wherever possible.
"We continue to offer support to staff alongside consulting with trade unions.
"Currently no other department or project funded by the MRC at the University of Glasgow is impacted.”
There are at least 19 units overseen by the MRC in this way operating in the UK, including four in Scotland.
Although there are no concrete decisions about the future of other units, union representatives have expressed concern that it is only a matter of time before time runs out for others.
Mary Senior, Scotland official UCU, said: “These unnecessary changes to Medical Research Council funding is resulting in drastic cuts to vital research in universities including Glasgow University’s Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, and leaves dozens of skilled workers facing redundancy.
“Researching and understanding public health inequalities should be a policy priority in Glasgow, not a target for savage cuts.
“It’s not too late to reverse this decision, but with the current plans we’re at real risk of losing expertise, skills, and vital research at a time we most desperately need it.”
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