£55bn R&D Funding to Fuel UK Health & Clean Energy Innovation Funding boost to drive science & tech breakthroughs, create jobs, and boost economy
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From airport security tech that screens luggage to life-saving medical innovations, the UK's leading inventors and innovators are set to receive a £55bn funding boost to advance their groundbreaking work. This new investment aims to support British science and tech breakthroughs that drive economic growth, improve everyday life, and create high-quality jobs.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has confirmed long-term R&D funding allocations for key UK research agencies. This funding package will focus on sectors that are making significant strides in improving public health, advancing clean energy, and enhancing technological development. The announcement clarifies DSIT's strategic plans for growing the UK's R&D budget, with the overall investment increasing in real terms.
Recent analysis underscores the value of public R&D funding, revealing that for every £1 spent, £8 in net economic benefits is generated over the long term. Public investment is also a powerful lever for attracting private funding, with each £1 of public R&D investment attracting an average of £2 in private sector contributions.
Science and Technology Secretary, [Name], made the announcement during a visit to IBM's London headquarters, where he saw how private investment is amplifying the UK's R&D efforts in fields ranging from quantum computing to robotics. Publicly funded research in the UK has already delivered major breakthroughs, including life-saving cancer treatments that have turned previously fatal conditions into manageable chronic diseases.
IBM is also collaborating with UK researchers via the £210m Hartree Centre, bringing artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and supercomputing technologies to bear on discovering new medicines and breakthroughs in clean energy. Additionally, the company is supporting the National Quantum Computing Centre, which will receive a landmark 10-year government funding commitment.
The government's R&D investments are poised to yield long-term benefits for the UK economy and its people. Research shows that businesses receiving public R&D funding experience a 21% increase in employment and a 23% growth in turnover within six years, compared to similar firms that do not receive such support. Many of the UK's most innovative companies have used public funding as a springboard to success.
Notable success stories include Oxford Nanopore, which is developing the world's first pandemic early warning system, and Cobalt Light Systems, whose technology is used to screen liquids at airports worldwide. Both companies have previously benefited from UKRI funding, with Oxford Nanopore now a FTSE 250-listed company, and Cobalt's equipment used in over 70 airports globally.
This £55bn R&D boost marks a major step in ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation, creating jobs, improving lives, and building a more prosperous future.
Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: "Backing our best and brightest researchers and innovators is essential. They are making the impossible, possible, from health to clean energy and beyond. Their ideas will create tomorrow's industries, boosting growth and transforming public services now and in the future. By investing in their work, we are backing the long-term success of the UK, by paving the way for breakthroughs that will help us all to live and work better."
