Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Young of Norwood Green on 22 October (WA 89–90), whether it is standard practice for social science studies to be funded by the Medical Research Council instead of the Economic and Social Research Council; and how the social science study concerned can be demonstrated to be independent of research funded by the same body that takes place at the same university.
Answer
The Medical Research Council's charter states that the MRC may "promote and support, by any means, high-quality basic, strategic and applied research and related post-graduate training in the biomedical and other sciences, with the aim of maintaining and improving human health....". The MRC does support social science where it is relevant to its mission. The MRC-funded social science study, "An investigation of the experiences of potential in vitro fertilisation (IVF) donors in egg sharing for SCNT", was specifically commissioned by the MRC to learn from women's experiences in relation to the separately funded and separately managed research project and to inform future research involving egg donation and payment of IVF treatment costs. The findings of the social science study will also inform the MRC's assessment of future applications proposing similar or related work. The MRC considers that Dr Haimes and her team at the University of Newcastle are ideally placed to undertake this work, being highly respected in their field and having an understanding of the local environment. The MRC has impressed upon both research teams the requirement that they should be completely independent of each other with no principal investigators in common.