The
Science and Engineering Research Council (
SERC) used to be the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
agency in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities including astronomy, biotechnology and biological sciences, space research and particle physics. The SERC had oversight of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Royal Observatory Edinburgh, the
Rutherford Appleton LaboratoryThe Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
and the
Daresbury LaboratoryDaresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory near Daresbury in Cheshire, England, which began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclear Physics Laboratory by the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Harold Wilson...
.
From its formation in 1965 until 1981 it was known as the Science Research Council (SRC). The SRC had been formed in 1965 as a result of the Trend Committee enquiry into the organisation of civil science in the UK. Previously the Minister for Science had been responsible for various research activities in the
Department of Scientific and Industrial ResearchSeveral countries have organizations called the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR.-United Kingdom:...
(DSIR) and more loosely with a variety of agencies concerned with the formulation of civil scientific policy. One of the main problems addressed by the enquiry was how to decide the piorities for government funding across all areas of scientific research. Previously this task had been the responsibility of the Treasury without direct scientific advice. The other research councils formed in 1965 were the
Natural Environment Research CouncilThe Natural Environment Research Council is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.-History:...
, and the Social Science Research Council which joined the
Medical Research CouncilThe Medical Research Council is a publicly-funded agency responsible for co-ordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is one of seven Research Councils in the UK and is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
which had existed since 1920, and the Agricultural Research Council.
In 1981, to reflect the increased emphasis on engineering research, the SRC was renamed Science and Engineering Research Council.
Then in 1994 the new Director General of Research Councils was charged with reorganization of the then four
Research CouncilThe UK Research Councils, of which there are currently seven, are publicly-funded agencies responsible for co-ordinating and funding particular areas of research, including the arts, humanities, all areas of science and engineering...
s, and this resulted in the SERC being split into the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), the
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research CouncilThe Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences , mainly to universities in the United Kingdom...
(EPSRC) and the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council is a UK Research Council and NDPB and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience...
(BBSRC). The two Observatories were moved under the aegis of PPARC, and the Laboratories initially into EPSRC and later into their own organization, the
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research CouncilsThe Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils was a UK government body that carried out civil research in science and engineering.- Activities :...
(CCLRC).
In 2007 CCLRC and PPARC were merged to form the
Science and Technology Facilities CouncilThe Science and Technology Facilities Council is a UK government body that carries out civil research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy .-History:It was formed in April 2007 as a merger of the Particle...
(STFC), with responsibility for nuclear physics being transferred from EPSRC to STFC.
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