The final report of the independent review of research bureaucracy review (Tickell review) has been published today.
The review, launched in March 2021, was commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It was tasked with identifying any unnecessary bureaucracy across the research system that has become a barrier to effective working and efficiency.
Findings and recommendations
An overview of the review’s findings and recommendations can be found within the executive summary of the report starting from page eight.
The review divided its work into six key themes:
- assurance
- applying for funding
- grant implementation and in-grant management
- digital platforms
- institutional bureaucracy
- communications.
This report builds on the findings from its interim report (published in January 2022). It identified a set of principles underpinning the approach to tackling research bureaucracy and identified key facets of the system, including application processes, assurance and in-grant management.
This work was led by Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham and former Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sussex.
Welcoming the report
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Chief Executive Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser said:
We warmly welcome this thoughtful and excellent review.
I would like to thank Professor Tickell and his team for their thorough work and carefully considered recommendations setting out how the research and innovation community can work together to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.
The review’s recommendations and the principles that underpin them, strongly align with ongoing work at UKRI, such as our Simple and Better Funding programme.
By working in partnership across the UK research and innovation system we can catalyse transformational change, maximising the value from record-breaking levels of public investment in R&D.
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