MRC Advisory bodies
The MRC is advised by a number of expert advisory bodies. Together they help to ensure that our processes are fair, that we fund the most appropriate, high-quality research which is conducted according to ethical principles, and that our strategic direction is in the best interests of science and the UK taxpayer.
Research Boards
Our four research boards represent the main divisions of our research portfolio:
Infections and Immunity; Molecular and Cellular Medicine; Neurosciences and Mental Health, and Population and Systems Medicine Board.
The boards hold their own budgets and manage and review scientific activity within their specialist area, including making funding decisions. Each board is made up of senior scientists from all over the UK and the chair is a member of the Strategy Board.
Overview Groups
The MRC has established four overview groups to ensure that the research boards and other funding committees develop coordinated initiatives and activities. The groups cover the following areas:
Global Health, Population Health Sciences, Training and Careers and Translational Research.
Each group advises the Strategy Board on the allocation of funding and resources in their area. Their job is to review the MRC’s portfolio across the relevant research boards, identifying potential gaps and opportunities, consulting with the wider research community and relevant stakeholders and commissioning studies as needed. Membership of all groups reflects the expertise required in each field, and the chair serves as a member of Strategy Board.
Ethics, Regulation and Public Involvement Committee
The MRC Ethics, Regulation and Public Involvement Committee provide the MRC Council with expert ethical advice on a wide range of issues relating to medical research. For example, in early 2005 it looked at the scientific community’s concerns about the impact of excessive bureaucracy and regulation on research involving patients and produced a MRC position statement on this topic. The statement document was then discussed at a public MRC Council meeting in February 2005.
The committee’s formal terms of reference are to advise the MRC on ethical issues of concern relating to research proposals involving human subjects, personal information and human biological materials, in response to requests for advice from the Research Management Group or Corporate Affairs Group at MRC Head Office, or the MRC Research Boards.
Public Panel
The MRC has a network of members of the public who provide a lay perspective to our decisions.