Following on from the Joint Infrastructure Fund we set up with the Wellcome Trust in 1998 this will enable us to repair the damage done in previous decade. The fund steps up Government's commitment to modernising the science base. Consultation with universities showed that this was one of their most pressing concerns. As well as universities, Government research institutes and large national science facilities will benefit from the new fund. The Chancellor also announced an uprating in PhD stipends for science and engineering postgraduate students.
Postgraduate researchers are the lifeblood of our science base.
We have a proud record. The Government is committed to sustaining our position. This is excellent news for universities and for the research teams themselves. This represents a 55 per cent real terms increase in science base investment in these two years over the previous two years. Decisions on allocation will be made early in 2001-2 on a basis linked to research excellence and the volume of research undertaken.