Comment by noodlesUK

I think one of the core observations in this article is that the ATI is essentially just a funding programme for existing university research organisations.

At least in places like Rutherford Appleton you have a distinct institutional identity and culture, in a place where it feels like stuff is going on (Harwell campus is a pretty cool place for both private and public research). There's an organisation that people work for with distinct aims and objectives. I don't really see how the ATI is much more than a funding brand under EPSRC.

If you set up a research institute, you can do good research in specific focus areas and take credit for it. If you just have a funding body, you're going to feel like a funding body, and very little is going to be attributable to your new institute.

I think the UK could do with setting up a few more proper national labs like the US has with LLNL, Oak Ridge and friends. That's not to say we don't have any, but if we're going to set up an institute, that's the model we should follow.