Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Drayson on 3 December (WA 67), who bore the additional cost to allow the completion of the planned research if it was not borne by the Medical Research Council (MRC); and why MRC approval was a factor if no further MRC funding was involved.
Answer
The one-year extension awarded to the University of Newcastle for the project "Improving the efficiency of human somatic cell nuclear transfer" involves no additional costs. The Medical Research Council (MRC) sometimes grants extensions to the duration of research projects, at no additional cost to the MRC, to allow the completion of the planned research. Such a time-only extension is the standard mechanism employed by the MRC for allowing grants to fulfil their original objectives. An extension to the duration of a project allows the host institution to reallocate the original funding awarded by the MRC over the extended time period agreed. Formal approval is required for all proposed changes to the duration of an MRC award.