{"id":41700,"date":"2022-04-01T12:08:07","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T11:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfc.6bdv.ws\/blog-89537\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T11:58:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T10:58:03","slug":"blog-89537","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sfc.ac.uk\/gd\/blog-89537\/","title":{"rendered":"A new direction for Scottish research collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dr Cat Ball introduces the new Alliances for Research Challenges (ARCs) \u2013 a new way of supporting research collaboration.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sfc.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Upload\/New_SFC_Banners_News.jpg\" alt=\"Banner image for A new direction for Scottish research collaboration\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ae_image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sfc.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/Upload\/Blog-01042022.jpg\" alt=\"Blog-01042022\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The critical opportunities and challenges facing us as a society demand focus from the research community &#8211; I have no doubt that everyone reading this will recognise that. From the Covid-19 recovery, to the climate emergency, and the necessary just and fair societal transformation that will be required to ensure everyone can prosper, it is more important than ever before that research plays its full role in contributing to our society and economy.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Accordingly, the research funding system, both in the UK and internationally, is shifting towards challenge-led and mission-oriented approaches. Scotland has historically been very good at leveraging in available funding from this system, a fact that we\u2019re rightly proud of. This has been driven by our world-class universities and our distinctive collaborative ethos, supported by structures including research pools and others.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"color: #6f2283; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-weight: 600;\">Introducing SFC Alliances for Research Challenges\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>In this context, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is taking a new and exciting direction in how we support research collaboration with the launch of new Alliances for Research Challenges (ARCs). ARCs will span the research landscape making connections and encompassing different disciplines, sectors, and places to boost Scotland\u2019s research funding leverage and pursue big societal challenges. Their introduction is part of the continuing implementation of the recommendations within our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfc.ac.uk\/gd\/web\/FILES\/Review\/coherence-and-sustainability.pdf\/\">Review of Tertiary Education and Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re focusing on societal challenges, where research has a key role to play, and harnessing Scotland\u2019s research excellence and collaborative ethos to facilitate multidisciplinary and multi-institutional connections and collaborations that support and develop highly competitive Scottish-led bids for challenge-led research funding.<\/p>\n<div><span style=\"color: #6f2283; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-weight: 600;\">Fostering coordination and connection to boost Scotland\u2019s research funding leverage\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>ARCs will be led by our world-class universities and involve cross-sector partners including Scottish innovation centres, colleges and research institutes as well as industry and policy-makers where appropriate. We also anticipate that some research pools, given the role they have played in delivering high levels of collaboration within the Scottish research system, are likely to be involved in the leadership and delivery of ARCs as they transition to become fully university \u2018owned\u2019. Although our focus is very much on Scotland\u2019s research landscape (the clue\u2019s in the name \u2013 the Scottish Funding Council), we want ARCs to involve organisations from other parts of the UK and internationally, where it means that Scotland\u2019s opportunities are boosted.<\/p>\n<p>Defining the challenge areas is critical for success and so we want to hear ideas in response to this first stage of development. We\u2019ll then identify up to four challenge areas before we issue a full call for proposals in the summer. It\u2019s hard to imagine that net zero won\u2019t be a key feature of the challenges that we take forward, and we explicitly want to draw on Scotland\u2019s strengths in the arts, humanities and social sciences.<\/p>\n<h3>Connecting to SFC\u2019s wider ambitions and the way ahead<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">In promoting research connections, ARCs will play a role in linking to our knowledge exchange and innovation investments, themselves also undergoing development. We recently <a tabindex=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfc.ac.uk\/gd\/publications-statistics\/consultations\/2022\/SFCCN012022.aspx\/\">consulted<\/a> on these investments, exploring how we can look through a lens of national challenges to better support ideas into impact through knowledge exchange. With a focus on top priorities of a green recovery, a well-being economy and transition to a net-zero carbon society, our KE&amp;I portfolio will be working with and alongside ARCs to help make real the contributions of research to our lives.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">But, behind all the acronyms, initiatives and infrastructures, we know that it\u2019s the people in our system who drive research and make impact happen. So, we also have ambitions to do to more to support inclusive research culture in Scotland, as was outlined in our Review. This extends to the development of ARCs which will include a focus on supporting early career researchers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">This is a first call for ARCs and, depending on their success and the future fiscal situation, we may develop more in additional challenge areas. But, for now, we look forward to working with the sector to harness the opportunities brought by the changing research landscape and this new direction in SFC\u2019s support for research collaboration.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr Cat Ball introduces the new Alliances for Research Challenges (ARCs) \u2013 a new way of supporting research collaboration.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - 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