We are pleased to announce that the UK’s Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, and HM Treasury have approved the case for the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) to become an independent research institute.
CEH will become autonomous from UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), launching as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee with charitable status on 1 December this year.
CEH will continue to deliver impartial, world-class environmental science for a wide range of funders and to collaborate with partners across borders, sectors and disciplines. We will maintain the close relationship we have with UKRI and NERC, and remain the main delivery partner for NERC National Capability research for environmental sciences across land, water and air.
Through our mission, we will enhance our role in meeting the UK’s strategic needs for evidence-based environmental science, providing the observations, measures and data analysis that researchers, businesses and governments need to tackle today’s complex environmental challenges. Scientific integrity and transparency will be, as always, at the heart of how we operate.
While much will remain constant, we anticipate this change will enable CEH to become more agile in how we operate, so that we can better meet our partners’ and customers’ needs. In addition, our new governance structures will give us the freedom and flexibility to work with a greater range of external partners and funders. We will be able to contract more easily with overseas governments and institutions, and with private sector organisations, enabling us to diversify our income and increase the impact of our science.