Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with UK Research and Innovation on funded extensions to research studentships for postgraduate students whose research has been affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

In order to support students that have been most impacted, UKRI has made over £62 million of financial support available, and it is estimated that this funding is available for up to 12,000 students.

UKRI have recently provided an update by UKRI CEO Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser on its decision-making in providing support for the research system. In this, they note that in making these difficult decisions, they have tried to balance the immediate needs of all current students against those of early career researchers, technicians and Principal Investigators, as well as students’ future needs. You can read the full update here.

We are grateful for the steps students have already taken in adapting their projects to continue their research in these circumstances. I meet regularly with Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, to monitor how the pandemic is affecting UKRI-funded PhD students and the wider research system. We will continue to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 and UKRI continues to listen and respond carefully as the situation evolves.