Research Councils UK (RCUK) has just released a ‘beta’ version of a new web-based portal that gives the public better access to information about research funded by the UK Research Councils.
Gateway to Research aims to provide a mechanism for businesses and other interested parties to identify potential partners in universities to develop and commercialise knowledge, and maximise the impact of publicly funded research.
The beta Gateway to Research contains information such as who, what and where the Research Councils fund, as well as details about the outcomes, outputs and impact held on RCUK’s Research Outcomes System (ROS) and ResearchFish.
Professor David Delpy, RCUK Impact Champion, said: “The beta version of Gateway to Research has gone through robust technical testing and is close in look, feel and function to how we envisage the final product, which will launch at the end of 2013. However, it is important that we ensure the data it delivers and its functionality meets the needs of its users.
“We are therefore calling on people to use and interrogate the beta site and provide feedback to RCUK on their experience to inform the development of Gateway to Research over the next year. We would also like to encourage third parties to investigate innovative ways that the data can be used and shared to take it to a broader audience.”
The information contained within the Gateway to Research beta version is a fixed snapshot of available information on research, containing real data from all grants across all seven Research Councils awarded from 2006 onwards.
David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, said: “Providing the public with a single point of access for Research Council information was a key commitment in the Innovation and Research Strategy, and I’m delighted to see RCUK making such excellent progress. The Gateway to Research portal will help business, policymakers and the wider public across the globe tap into the knowledge and expertise of the UK’s world class university research base. This will help them develop networks, foster innovation and drive growth.”
Find out more about the project by reading the latest blog on the RCUK blog site.