NFER is delighted to announce it has been awarded Independent Research Organisation (IRO) status, following an application to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Carole Willis, chief executive of the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) said:
“This is a great achievement, and we join a select and prestigious group of IROs in the UK. It now enables NFER to apply for funding to support our research through UKRI from across the nine UK Research Councils. This will further support our mission to generate meaningful insights that will impact education policy and improve outcomes for future generations everywhere.
“IRO status recognises the high quality of independent research carried out by our expert teams and places us on an equal footing with Higher Education institutes as a research centre for excellence."
- IRO status will allow NFER to apply for opportunities to support high quality research that will inform education policy and practice through UKRI from across the nine UK Research Councils, including the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Innovate UK, and Research England.
- As part of the criteria to secure the award, NFER demonstrated that it has a strong track record of maximising the wider impact and value of its research to the benefit of the UK economy and society.
- NFER also had to make evident that it has the required number of staff, with PhDs or equivalent, who have been Principal Investigator for substantial research projects and have published their research in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.
- UKRI awarded grants of £3.1 billion across 2020 to 2021 and has a £160 million fund supporting international collaborations.