On November 10, 2026, UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds named Professor Christopher Smith as the preferred candidate to become the next Executive Chair of Research England. Professor Smith, who has served as Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) since September 2020, will succeed Professor Dame Jessica Corner when she steps down in January 2027. The appointment expands the role into Executive Chair of Research England and Global Partnerships, combining governance of England’s £2.5 billion annual higher education research and knowledge exchange budget with UK-wide responsibilities for international partnerships, talent and skills, and research culture across UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Parliamentary Scrutiny and the Appointment Process
The appointment is subject to a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing before the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, expected later in November 2026. Pre-appointment hearings allow parliamentary select committees to examine the preferred candidate’s qualifications, strategic priorities, and independence before a senior public appointment is finalized by the government. Following the hearing, the Secretary of State will decide whether to proceed with the formal appointment. UKRI confirmed that an open recruitment process for a successor Executive Chair of AHRC is scheduled to launch in early December 2026.
Candidate Background and Experience
Professor Smith brings extensive experience across higher education leadership, international research administration, and cultural policy. A historian by training, he has served as Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews since 2002 and was Vice-Principal from 2007 to 2009. Between 2009 and 2017, he was seconded as Director of the British School at Rome, the UK’s leading humanities research institute overseas. In 2025, he was appointed Chair of the Board of the National Library of Scotland, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
During his tenure leading AHRC, Professor Smith guided the council through the unified UKRI funding architecture and served as UKRI International Champion and lead for the creative industries. His oversight of discipline-specific funding through AHRC funding mechanisms provides administrative continuity as he transitions from a disciplinary council to Research England’s institutional block-grant remit.
Research England’s Remit and Sector Priorities
Research England holds a distinct statutory position within UKRI under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. Unlike disciplinary councils awarding competitive project grants, Research England oversees institutional funding for English higher education providers. It distributes approximately £2.5 billion annually through formulaic Quality-Related (QR) research funding, the un-hypothecated pillar of the UK dual-support system. QR funding provides universities with flexible block grants that support fundamental research, core laboratory infrastructure, and research staff salaries across the wider grants management lifecycle.
In addition to QR allocations, Research England directs several flagship national programmes:
- Research Assessment: Research England manages the operational delivery of the UK-wide Research Excellence Framework on behalf of all four UK higher education funding bodies. With institutions preparing submissions ahead of REF 2029, the Executive Chair plays an essential governance role in stabilizing assessment methodology and submission rules.
- Knowledge Exchange: Through Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) and the annual Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), Research England benchmarks and finances university-business engagement, local economic regeneration, and commercial spinout formation.
- Capital and Partnership Infrastructure: The council directs the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF), leveraging private co-investment for large-scale institutional research facilities.
Implications for Universities and Research Offices
For university leadership and research offices, the transition comes during significant financial strain across UK higher education. Inflationary pressures on university balance sheets have placed increased scrutiny on the stability and indexing of QR block grants, which institutions rely on to cover the full economic costs of research not met by project grants.
Furthermore, Professor Smith’s retention of the global partnerships and talent portfolios signals an intention to tie English institutional funding more directly to international bilateral research agreements and national research culture frameworks. Research administrators will monitor the upcoming pre-appointment hearing for early indications of how Research England will balance assessment burdens with the sector’s need for sustainable baseline funding.
Sources
Official announcements and statutory background referenced in this report:
- UKRI: Preferred candidate named for Research England Executive Chair (Checked 2026-11-14)
- UKRI: Professor Christopher Smith Biography and Council Profile (Checked 2026-11-14)
- UKRI: Research England Strategic Remit and Council Overview (Checked 2026-11-14)
- UK Parliament: House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee (Checked 2026-11-14)
