Hundreds of scientists, including six Nobel prize winners, are campaigning against plans in the U.K. to rate and fund university research according to its potential economic impact. The researchers say that many groundbreaking discoveries achieved in the past would not have survived the new test set in the plan, known as the Research Excellence Framework (REF), which was recommended by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Under the plan, 25% of research funding would be awarded on the basis of economic and social impact, and the panel of 14 members who would examine research plans would include only three academics. More than 200 chemists, physicists, and other scientists say the measures will deny funding for the kind of “blue-sky thinking” that led to the discovery of DNA, X-rays, and penicillin. “The REF proposals are founded on a lack of understanding of how knowledge advances,” according to a statement signed by the scientists. “It is often difficult to predict which research will create the greatest practical impact. If implemented, these proposals risk undermining support for basic research across all disciplines and may well lead to an academic brain drain to countries such as the United States that continue to value fundamental research.” The statement adds, “We, therefore, call on the U.K. funding councils to withdraw the current REF proposals and to work with academics and researchers on creating a funding regime which supports and fosters basic research in our universities and colleges rather than discourages it.”<\/p>\n