Motions passed at AMRC's AGM
At our 33rd Annual General Meeting last week, we presented our annual report and accounts and 2020-2025 strategic plan. Attendees also voted to pass two motions: Alyson Fox (Wellcome Trust), Andrew Warren (The Brain Tumour Charity) and Stephen Simpson (Versus Arthritis) were appointed as Executive Council members and a Special Resolution was made to our Articles of Association.

Upcoming annual data collection
From 8 January to 28 February 2020 we will be carrying out our annual data collection. Each member charity will be asked to submit grants and research expenditure forms and complete a survey. We will be sending an email with detailed instructions on 8 January to all formal reps. For further information visit our website or contact our data collection team.

Alopecia UK joins AMRC
We’re delighted to welcome Alopecia UK into the AMRC membership. Alopecia UK funds research into the causes, treatments and psychological effects of all types of alopecia with the aim of finding treatments, and ultimately, a cure. It is a small national charity working to improve the lives of those affected by alopecia through support, awareness and research.

General election today
After five weeks of campaigning by the UK’s political parties, the general election takes place today. It has been described as the most unpredictable and high-stakes contest for many years. The pollster YouGov released their final analysis on Wednesday, cutting a predicted Conservative majority down to 28 seats from the 68 seat prediction made a fortnight ago.

NHS data-sharing concerns
Public concerns over NHS patient data privacy have surfaced during the election period as the Labour party in particular has sought to highlight the issue. Leaked Government documents suggest a UK-USA trade deal could include provisions enabling the USA to capture the value of NHS data and moves away from the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Science funders use grant lotteries
Lotteries are increasingly being used by funders to choose which grant applications should receive money. A number of researchers have analysed various selection methods and suggested that incorporating randomness has advantages over the current system, such as reducing the bias that research routinely shows plagues grant-giving, and improving diversity among grantees.

New UK Standards for Public Involvement in research
More than 40 individuals, groups and organisations have tested the UK Standards for Public Involvement over the last year. The standards, designed to improve the quality and consistency of public involvement in research, have subsequently been refined and finalised and are available on the NIHR website. 

Health Data Access Toolkit
The Medical Research Council Regulatory Support Centre have launched a Health Data Access Tool Kit to help researchers navigate the processes required to gain access to routinely collected NHS health data. The kit signposts approvals required for research and explores the issues that need to be considered during the application processes.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Research
Join us on 24 March 2020 for an all-day workshop exploring current progress on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) within research. This event is aimed at research managers and directors, chief executives, policy teams, trustees who are keen to get to grips with what EDI means for their organisation.