Inside RDM’s Funding Working Group: Building Financial Sustainability
David Hodson provides an insight into RDM's Funding Working Group which is shaping a long-term approach to financial sustainability. Here’s what the group is focusing on, and why it matters across the department.
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I chair the Funding Working Group which is a brand-new group focused on developing a strategy for RDM’s financial sustainability. The group meets 1-2 times per term and reports directly to the Senior Leadership Team.
The group has met twice so far, in March and April 2026, and another meeting is planned for June.
What does the FWG do?
The group was created to have overview of the department’s finances in order to support the delivery of RDM’s Research Strategy 2025-2030. It aims to maximise, expand, and diversify the department’s sources of income to achieve growth and enable investment in the long-term sustainability of the department.
Who is on it?
The FWG membership aims to represent researchers and academics from across RDM’s divisions. We are keen to get a multitude of perspectives from across the department and often invite colleagues to attend meetings to present their expertise.
In addition to myself, the current membership of the committee includes:
Paul Leeson, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine
Hal Drakesmith, Professor of Iron Biology
Beth Psaila, Professor of Haematology
Mark Evans, OCDEM Business Manager
Lee-Anne Stork, NDCLS Business Manager
Jane Sherwood, RDM Head of Administration and Finance
What are our priorities?
The Funding Working Group identified and agreed a set of strategic priorities in our first meeting on 10th March 2026. Our first priority is to raise awareness of how the department’s finances work and to encourage researchers to learn more about research grant finances to help strengthen their applications and develop in their careers.
We also decided that we would focus on increasing cost recovery on external grants, growing and diversifying the department’s sources of funding, and engaging more deliberately with philanthropy.
What are we doing right now?
The group’s first meeting took place on 10 March and it focused on establishing the group’s remit and priorities for the coming year. The working group approved the terms of reference and looked at an overview of the department’s finances and activity in comparison with other MSD clinical departments.
In April, the committee’s focus was on RDM’s portfolio of industry funding, and we discussed how vital it is for the department to have a balanced and varied portfolio of research income. We also began to talk about how we can get RDM researchers more involved in thinking about departmental finance.
In June, we will continue to talk about mechanisms that we can put in place to increase cost recovery from external grants and about industry funding in particular trying to uncover what the barriers are for researchers in securing funding from industry. We will also continue discussing how we can increase awareness of financial matters among researchers, as well as turning our focus towards our philanthropic priorities for the next year.
Things to look out for
Look out for future communications from the FWG about career development opportunities for researchers interested in increasing their awareness of research grant finances to strengthen their funding applications.
If you have an item you would like to bring to the committee, or any questions, you can contact the committee secretariat sarah.ball@rdm.ox.ac.uk or charlie.knight@rdm.ox.ac.uk.