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British government ministers are tired of being told how many alpha-rated
projects the research councils are turning down, according to John McLeverty,
chairman of the chemistry committee of the Science and Engineering Research
Council. And as the numbers of unfunded projects continue to rise, research
councils are wary of saying how many ‘alphas’ they are rejecting, he says.

McLeverty revealed last week that his committee could fund only 59 out
of 250 alpha-rated projects in the year ending this September. Alphas are
rated on a scale going from 5 down to 1. Alphas 1 and 2 now stand no chance
at all of receiving funding, McLeverty says.

This year the chemistry committee has £6.9 million to dispense
in grants. McLeverty says that figure should be doubled. ‘We will always
have unfunded alphas,’ he says. ‘But we would like to fund at least 50 per
cent of alpha-rated grant applications.’