MANY people in Swindon do not even know they are there, and those who do probably have little idea of exactly what they do.

Yet the five research councils tucked into a corner of North Star are jointly responsible for handling around £300 million of Government money every year.

The projects they commission can literally change the world we live in from space exploration to assessing the affect of global warming on our climate.

But Polaris House where each council is based is not the domain of a mad scientist, concocting strange but wonderful cures in his laboratory or shrieking with joy at his new invention.

In fact, the labyrinthine offices are predominantly filled with administration staff, as no research is actually undertaken their.

The job of the councils is to choose which scientific projects deserve their slice of Government cash and attribute it appropriately.

Each council has its own agenda to work to and has to justify the need for greater research in certain fields of science.

Some areas of research overlap. For example, most councils will have some contribution to genomics, in which scientists try to discover more about genes and DNA.

This is what they do:

n The Particle Physics and Astro-nomy Research Council (PPARC) is focussed on space exploration and discovering more about the very makeup of life itself.

n The Biotechnology and Biologi-cal Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is concerned with plant and animal sciences and has the most involvement with genomics.

n The Economic and Social Res-earch Council (ESRC) concentrates on the everyday world around us, improving research in management, business and household fields.

n The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the largest of the five and is chiefly concerned with improving knowledge in engineering and technology.

n The Natural Environment Res-earch Council (NERC) funds research on the environment, including climate change and future sources of sustainable energy.

There are only two other Govern-ment-funded scientific research councils in the country the Didcot-based Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CLRC) and London-based Medical Research Council (MRC).

Each of the seven are spin-offs from various other less specific research councils, but the first of their kind was the very broad-ranging Science Research Council, which was established in 1965.

Last month, new funding worth a total of £249 million was given to the five Swindon councils to spend on projects over the next three years.

That brought the total amount of Government money to be handled by the North Star workers to more than £1 billion in that time.

That sort of money would be enough to see admin workers at most other companies running scared. But although it is each council's task to allocate millions to universities or firms undertaking the research, the responsibility does not all lie on just a handful of people's shoulders.

When a decision on funding new projects has to be made, a panel of experts in the relevant scientific field is assembled to consider applications.

It remains, however, the council's task to ensure a balanced view prevails from such forums and a fair and correct decision is made.

And ultimately, if the research fails to satisfy the Government, ministers can allocate less funding in that field the next time the budget is announced.