UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has detailed how it plans to invest the record four-year £38.6bn allocated to it from the government.
It has listed three key priority funding “buckets”, each in line with ambitions laid out in the government’s Industrial Strategy in June.
The first is £8bn on targeted research and development addressing national and societial priorities, notably clean energy, health resilience and national security.
The second is £7bn to support innovative company growth. Meaning investments into UK businesses to scale and commercialise new technologies.
Finally, £14bn for the “curiosity-driven” research that is a staple of UKRI’s funding. The remainder will be used for foundational investments that cut across these three areas, including skills and infrastructure.
“We’re aligning our budget to a new single mission, to advance knowledge, improve lives, and drive UK growth,” said UKRI chief executive Ian Chapman.
“Over the next four years, we will scale research and innovation investment to almost £10bn per year and target world-leading areas with the strongest return for the UK.
“The Explainer published today sets out how we’ll be making choices in how we invest, by prioritising areas where the UK can be world-leading and by working closely with business.”
The full explainer is available on the UKRI website.
“There is no route to stronger growth without science, technology and innovation, so we must grasp the opportunities our world class researchers and innovators offer with both hands,” said Tech Secretary Liz Kendall.
“By doing fewer things better and backing winning ideas, this round of record UKRI funding can help more promising UK businesses to scale up while homing in on projects which have the best chance of benefiting us all.”
