Concentration versus dispersion of research resources: a contribution to the debate

Using the results of the UK’s research assessment exercise, we show that the size or mass of research groups, rather than individual calibre or prestige of the institution, is the dominant factor which drives the quality of research teams. There are two critical masses in research: a lower one, below which teams are vulnerable and an upper one, above which average dependency of research quality on team size reduces. This levelling off refutes arguments which advocate ever increasing concentration of research support into a few large institutions. We also show that to increase research quality, policies which nourish two-way communication links between researchers are paramount. ∗Laboratoire associé au CNRS UMR 7198